ABC Board

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The ABC Board is the body responsible for the operations of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.^[1] It is made up of five to seven directors recommended by the government, a Managing Director appointed by the Board itself, and until 2006 a staff-elected director.^[2][3][4]

Contents 1 Responsibilities 2 Members 2.1 Past Managers 3 Criticism 4 References

[edit] Responsibilities

The board is responsible for ensuring that the functions of the ABC are performed efficiently and with the maximum benefit to the people of Australia, maintaining the integrity and independence of the Corporation, developing codes of practice related to programming (and informing ACMA of these), and ensuring that the Corporation complies with the provisions set out in the ABC Act.^[5][6] The Board is also responsible for ensuring that the gathering and presentation of news and information is accurate and impartial, according to recognised standards of journalism.^[5][6]

[edit] Members

The Governor-General, at the recommendation of the Federal Government, is responsible for appointing members, as specified in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983.^[5][7] The Act specifies that Directors must be experienced in broadcasting, communications or management, or have expertise in financial or technical matters, or have cultural or other interests relevant to the provision of broadcasting services.^[6] Each director services a term of five years, with eligibility for reappointment at the end of this term.^[6]

Directors are expected to follow the ABC Board Protocol, which stipulates responsibilities, expectations, rights, and benefits.^[6]

The board's members, since January, 2007:

Mr Mark Scott - Managing Director, appointed 5 July 2006[8] Mr Maurice Newman AC - Chairperson, appointed January 1, 2007[8] Mr John Gallagher QC - appointed 9 December 1999[8] Dr Ron Brunton - appointed 1 May 2003[8]

Ms Janet Albrechtsen - appointed 24 February 2005[8] Mr Steven Skala - appointed 6 October 2005[8] Mr Peter Hurley - appointed 14 June 2006[8] Mr Keith Windschuttle - appointed 14 June 2006[8]

The board also maintains an Advisory Council, which advices it on matters surrounding the Corporation's programming.^[9] The Council is made up of twelve members, broadly representative of the Australian community, which serve staggered four-year terms. Vacancies are advertised in September-October each year. The Advisory Council's current Chair is Dr Jane Munro, Head of International House at the University of Melbourne.^[9]

[edit] Past Managers

General Managers[10] Sir Charles Moses (1935–65) Sir Talbot Duckmanton (1965–82) Keith Jennings (1982-83) Managing Directors Geoffrey Whitehead (1983–87) David Hill (1987–95) Brian Johns (1995–99) Jonathan Shier (1999–2002) Russell Balding (2002–06) Mark Scott (2006–present)

Chairs[11] Sir Charles Lloyd Jones (1932-34) William James Cleary (1934-45)[12] Sir Richard Boyer (1945–61) Sir James Darling (1961-67) Sir Robert Madgwick (1967-73) Richard Downing (1973-75) Sir Harry Bland (1976) J D Norgard (1976-81) Dame Leonie Kramer (1982-83) Ken Myer (1983-86) David Hill (1986-87) Bob Somervaille (1987-91) Professor Mark Armstrong (1991-96) Donald McDonald (1996–2006) Maurice Newman (2007-present)

[edit] Criticism

Appointments to the ABC Board made by successive governments have often resulted in criticism of the appointees' political affiliation, background, and relative merit.^[13][14] Past appointments have associated directly with political parties - five of fourteen appointed chairmen have been accused of political affiliation or friendship, include Richard Downing and Ken Myer (both of whom publicly endorsed the Australian Labor Party at the 1972 election,^[15] as well as Sir Henry Bland (an adviser to Malcolm Fraser during the 1976 election campaign^{[citation needed]}). David Hill was close to Neville Wran, while Donald McDonald was considered to be a close friend of John Howard.^[16]

In the past, appointments of commissioners and directors also drew criticism.^[14] In the 1932, a majority of the commissioners were publicly conservative.^{[citation needed]} This continued to 1942, when the Curtin and Chifley administrations appointed a more 'politically balanced' commission.^{[citation needed]}

Once elected to power, Labor prime minister Whitlam replaced the entire board - appointed by Liberal governments over the previous 23 years - with supporters of the Labor Party.^[16] His successor, Malcolm Fraser, attempted unsuccessfully to take similar action by replacing the board with politically conservative commissioners in 1976,^[16] but was only able to make new appointments by adding two extra director positions onto the board.^[10][16]

In 1983, Minister John Button referred proposed board appointments to an all-party committee for the first time.^[16] This practice was discontinued before the end of Paul Keating's government.^[16] Alan Ramsey, in a 1996 article for the Sydney Morning Herald noted that:

“

"12 came from overt political backgrounds, among them a former Labor premier,[14] a former Liberal senator, a former Liberal Cabinet minister, four trade union activists, four advisers to various State Labor administrations, and Labor's former opinion pollster, Rod Cameron.[14]" In short, "less than half Labor's ABC appointments over the years have had obvious party political connections, while two of them came from among the ranks of its political opponents."[10]

”

A 2006 restructure of the ABC board, undertaken by the Howard government, abolished the position of staff elected director.^[17] The elected director was previously nominated and elected by employees of the ABC. Nominees for this director office were to have been employed at least 24 hours a week by the ABC and the term of office was two years with eligibility for re-election to a second term. An elected director was not eligible for a third term of office. The last elected director was broadcaster Ramona Koval who had occupied the position for the previous four years amid ongoing intense controversy.^[18] This drew criticism from the Labor Party, Australian Greens, and the Democrats, who saw it as a 'revenge measure' taken against the Corporation.^[19][20]

[edit] References

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