A non-partisan coalition of feminist and LGB groups has written to Kim Williams, ABC Chair, to express our concerns about the ABC’s relationship with the advocacy group ACON. We are especially concerned that the ABC’s membership of ACON/Pride in Diversity and its participation in ACON’s Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) compromises the ABC’s independence and undermines the national broadcaster’s capacity to gather and present accurate and impartial news and information on a range of important matters.
We pointed out the controversy that arose in late 2022 when the ABC’s own Media Watch and Big Ideas programs presented compelling evidence that the ABC’s relationship with ACON had influenced ABC journalists and content-makers to avoid certain topics that conflicted with ACON’s policies and advocacy. These topics include the debate surrounding gender dysphoria treatment in children, and women’s sex-based protections and rights, including in sports.
In response to these 2022 Media Watch and Big Ideas programs, the ABC issued a statement in which the ABC did not deny selective non-reporting of certain issues, but argued that transgender and gender identity issues were complex, requiring careful editorial judgement. The ABC did not address the risk that its relationship with ACON undermined ABC impartiality.
This response left us incredulous. We entrust our national broadcaster to investigate and report on many complex and sensitive issues without self-censoring. We were also disappointed that the ABC did not take the opportunity to address the perception of bias, which its relationship with an advocacy group has created, and which is corrosive to public confidence in our institutions.
We believe that the ABC’s selective and biassed coverage on key issues continues and is evident in its limited and one-sided treatment of the final Cass Review of the Tavistock Clinic and the Review’s adverse findings against Australian Standards of Transgender Care; the proliferation of studies demonstrating that the evidence base for medical interventions is weak and the corresponding trend in many European countries is to restrict medical interventions for children; the lived experiences of a growing cohort of detransitioners who contend they have been harmed by medical interventions; and the revelations of the leaked WPATH files.
Of course, we anticipated that ABC editors would deny this bias, as did the ABC’s editorial director, Gavin Fang, in his response on behalf of Mr Williams to our letter. But whereas in other circumstances we might agree to disagree, the fact that the ABC remains a member of ACON’s Pride in Diversity and is committed to gaining ACON’s approval through its participation in ACON’s workplace equality index (AWEI) means Australians cannot trust the ABC’s impartiality on issues where ACON takes a stance, and Mr Fang’s response does not restore our trust in the national broadcaster.
Maintaining the independence and integrity of the ABC requires the ABC Board to manage both real and perceived conflicts of interest.
Read our full letter and the ABC’s response, below.