ABC’s five-year strategy to respond to efficiency review

The ABC’s five-year strategy is expected to respond to many recommendations in the efficiency review of public broadcasting.

The ABC’s long-awaited five-year strategy, to be released by the end of the month, is expected to respond to many of the recommendations contained in the 18-month-old efficiency review of public broadcasting.

The review is believed to include references to the controversial ABC Life being “further away” from the core duties of the public broadcaster. The strateg­y’s release comes as staff within the ABC’s news divisions question why lifestyle content should continue to be funded while news and current affairs journalists battle budget pressures.

Sources close to discussions said Communications Minister Paul Fletcher had last communicated with the ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, about the matter on May 20.

The efficiency review, which has not been made public despite being handed to the then communications minister Mitch ­Fifield in December 2018, was led by former Foxtel boss Peter Tonagh and ex-media regulator Richard Bean.

Mr Anderson delayed the release of the five-year plan in March amid the pandemic, and last week the ABC told staff it was to be made public by the end of June. The strategy will also respond to a budget shortfall that is likely to mean more than 200 redundancies and a number of programs coming to an end.

“This has been an arduous year already for all of us and I’m conscious of how many of you must be feeling right now given the uncertainty across our industry and the broader economy,” Mr Anderson wrote last week.

A spokesman for Mr Fletcher said the ABC was obligated to ensure its functions were perfor­med “efficiently and with maximum benefit to the Australian people”, adding: “The minister has had a number of discussions with the ABC about the efficiency review and progress on its five-year strategic plan.”

The ABC declined to ­comment.