Todd Dickinson to take over Ben Roberts-Smith’s Managing Director role at Seven West Media

The man who will replace Ben Roberts-Smith’s role at Seven West Media has been announced, just weeks after the disgraced former soldier lost a landmark defamation case.

Roberts-Smith resigned from his position at Seven earlier this year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Todd Dickinson is set to fill the role left by Ben Roberts-Smith at Seven West Media one month after the former soldier lost his landmark defamation case.

Seven made the announcement on Wednesday with Mr Dickinson, who is currently in the role of Sales Director Brisbane, taking on the position of Managing Director Queensland.

Roberts-Smith had been in the role since 2015.

Todd Dickinson, Managing Director at Seven West Media Queensland. Picture: Supplied, Seven West Media

Roberts-Smith resigned from his position at Seven West Media earlier this year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Mr Dickinson said it was a “genuine privilege” to take on the role, which he has already assumed.

“I am acutely aware of the history of Seven in Queensland and the important role the network plays as part of the fabric of our great state,” he said in a statement.

“That legacy can never be eroded.

“I take that responsibility very seriously and I cannot wait to get stuck in.”

Mr Dickinson has worked at the media giant for 16 years, holding positions such as Group Sales Manager and Sales Manager Brisbane.

The billionaire chairman of Seven, Kerry Stokes, appointed Roberts-Smith deputy general manager at Seven Queensland before he became deputy manager in 2015 with the retirement of Neil Mooney.

Stokes also financed Roberts-Smith’s legal costs in his high-profile defamation case, where several mastheads successfully defended the claim brought by Roberts-Smith.

The owner of Seven West Media said in a statement that the ruling did “not accord with the man I know”.

It’s estimated Seven West Media owner Kerry Stokes has spent about $25m on Mr Roberts-Smith’s legal battle so far. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Justice Anthony Besanko, the judge in the civil case, found the nation’s most-decorated living soldier had murdered unarmed civilians while serving in Afghanistan.

The judge ruled the six articles in question, published across Fairfax’s The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times, were substantially true.

It was found the most serious imputations alleged in the articles had been proven and the newspapers upheld the defence of contextual truth for the remainder.

The former soldier told Nine News in the days after the verdict that he was “devastated” with the result.

Roberts-Smith had been on leave from his position at Seven since 2021 for the duration of the trial but handed in his resignation one day after the judgment was handed down.