ABC changes on-air language regarding LGBTQI+ community

The taxpayer-funded broadcaster has issued directives to staff about how to refer to the LGBTQI+ community and also overhauled its references to Indigenous land names.

ABC chairman Kim Williams. Picture: ABC

The ABC has issued a staff directive about how to appropriately refer to the LGBTQI+ community, insisting that more “inclusive and accurate terminology” must be used.

The latest missive from the broadcaster’s management comes after the taxpayer-funded organisation recently overhauled its acknowledgment of Indigenous names during broadcasts to now also refer to “non-Indigenous custodians”.

On Friday, a message from the ABC news digital day editor was circulated among employees just hours after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that gay, lesbian and bisexual people will be counted in Australia’s next census. The note sent to ABC staff said employees should drop the ‘QI’ and just refer to the LGBT community.

It also stated that many groups including ABC Pride — the ABC’s employee-led group supporting diverse sexualities and gender identities — was “moving away from the acronym as an umbrella term, preferring more inclusive and accurate terminology: sexuality and gender diverse people, those with diverse sexualities and gender identities.”

The message to staff said while it might be more appropriate to go with LGBTQ until “we hear direct advice from Editorial Policies”, staff should stick with using LGBT.

“When we talk about gender, sex characteristics or sexuality, we’re not talking about preferences or choices. We’re just talking about how people are,” the note said.

In another change at the ABC, broadcasts will continue to identify Indigenous land names on which the program is being hosted, but will also acknowledge “other custodians.”

In June the ABC’s chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor announced that the broadcaster was introducing “inclusive team plans” which would ensure that staff used culturally appropriate language in the workplace.

The ABC was contacted about the latest changes but did not respond.

Originally published as ABC changes on-air language regarding LGBTQI+ community