ABC paid Michelle Guthrie $1.56m in FY2019

The ABC paid former managing director Michelle Guthrie a total of $1.56m in the 2019 financial year.

Former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie.

The ABC paid former managing director Michelle Guthrie a total of $1.56m in the 2019 financial year, with the bulk accounting for termination benefits.

Ms Guthrie, who was axed last year in September, received $1.35m in termination benefits, according to the public broadcaster’s 2019 annual report, which was publicly released on Wednesday.

She also received short-term employee benefits totalling $211,983 and superannuation of $4,920 for the financial year ended June 30. That compares to $963,991 in the previous year.

The ABC booked annual income of $38.3m, which was inflated by a $35.5m windfall from the revaluation of its Sydney headquarters in Ultimo and unexpected insurance recovery.

That compares to a $71.2 million loss a year earlier, due to ­un­expected redun­d­ancy costs, ­increases in local content expenditure and a surprise $30m bill to fireproof its Sydney headquarters. 

Stripping out the property and insurance gains, the ABC booked a surplus of $2.7m, compared with a $79.1m deficit last year.

The ABC’s annual report also revealed that the vast majority of its near 3280 workforce is based in NSW. That revelation comes a week after chairwoman Ita Buttrose called for the broadcaster to better represent the nation’s diverse population. The ABC had 1696 staff in NSW, followed by 495 in Victoria and 333 in Queensland. It had 17 staff abroad.

Meanwhile, remuneration for her replacement as managing director, David Anderson, totalled $1.14m in the 2019 financial year, more than double the $508,891 he received for the 2018 financial year, when he did a stint as acting managing director following Ms Guthrie’s departure. The long-serving ABC executive was formally appointed to the role on May 3.

Ms Guthrie’s controversial axing raised eyebrows, and subsequently led to the resignation of chairman Justin Milne, who was replaced by media veteran Ita Buttrose at the end of February.

Ms Buttrose said “staff morale was badly shaken” following the board upheaval and her priority has been to “reinvigorate it by restoring order and enhancing good governance” with the help of Mr Anderson and his management team.

“Our employees, in content areas and vital support functions, need a strong sense of direction and a feeling that management has their backs. I feel we are now providing it,” Ms Buttrose said in the ABC’s annual report.

ABC’s total expenses fell 3.3 per cent to $1.15bn.