ABC chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor warns that it does not have enough colleagues from ‘a diverse background’

Staff at the taxpayer-funded broadcaster have been warned that it does not have enough employees from diverse backgrounds, and immediate action needs to be taken to change this.

ABC management is concerned it does not have a diverse enough workforce and said action must be taken to ensure it reflects “modern Australian in our content and staff.”

On Thursday, the ABC’s chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor sent an email to staff and warned that action must be taken to ensure diversity and inclusion is made a priority at the taxpayer-funded broadcaster.

Mr Oliver-Taylor spoke at the ABC’s Diversity and Inclusion Symposium at ABC’s Ultimo’s headquarters alongside news director Justin Stevens on Wednesday as part of the discussion, “Change takes action – how do we drive change?”

The discussion was moderated by the ABC’s Taiwanese-Canadian-Australian presenter Beverley Wang and live-streamed to ABC staff around the country.

In his email correspondence to staff on Thursday Mr Oliver-Taylor said: “It’s an absolute priority for us to ensure that our workforce and content reflects modern Australia.

“We have to forge a pathway and continue to create and cultivate a workplace culture that supports the talent and diversity of our people.

“Diversity and inclusion are part of the fabric of the ABC, and a big part of this for us is about creating a diverse workforce.”

Mr Oliver-Taylor also told staff in his email: “The reality is, we don’t have enough colleagues that come from a diverse background joining the ABC, and we need to deliberately make that happen.”

The Drum host Dan Bourchier, an Indigenous man, has been among some past and present employees critical of the ABC about diversity, and he said in May regular invitations he received to appear on Insiders were tokenistic and done to simply tick a diversity box.

“I’m dismissed as your diversity pick or a box ticker, that comes from within our organisation and that sends a message that that type of language is normal. It’s not, and it’s unacceptable,” Bourchier said.

In the ABC’s Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Plan 2023-26 that was published earlier this year, managing director David Anderson said the public broadcaster would focus on the following key areas over the next three years: inclusion in practice, a diverse workforce, inclusive content, products and services, connection with Indigenous and diverse communities and accountability and transparency.

“We are committed to better reflecting social and cultural diversity in our workforce,” he said.

“Our teams help drive the national conversation on inclusion, for example through innovative content for International Day of People with Disability, Harmony Week, and mardi gras.”

ABC chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor.

Among its targets include having 50 per cent of executive roles filled by women, 8 per cent of staff with a disability and 30 per cent of content makers filled by CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) employees.

Under the previous diversity and inclusion plan which finished in 2022, the ABC said it rolled out many changes including in its content areas by featuring acknowledgements of country and Indigenous location names across ABC screens and Mr Anderson also held diversity and gender discussion sessions to assist staff.

Mr Oliver-Taylor urged staff on Thursday to complete an “employee diversity and inclusion data collection form” to ensure “the ABC is supporting its people and making our workplace as inclusive, accessible and representative as possible.”

“We’re passionate about this country, and we must reflect the diversity of our community,” he said.

“This also means we’re bringing our audience with us as well.”

In the form it asks staff what language they speak, their country of birth, cultural/ethnic background, sexual orientation, whether they have a disability and if they identify as CALD.

He also urged staff “to be inspired to contribute to the ABC’s vision and speak up if something is not right.”

Under the ABC’s Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging plan, it is also in the process of rolling out cultural guidance advisers to ensure they are the “first point of contact for enquiries about diversity in content, centralising the process and ensuring that advice is consistent.”