The ABC has rolled out new inclusivity training to combat discrimination within its workforce

The public broadcaster has introduced compulsory inclusivity training after confirming employees had ‘reported experiences of discrimination’.

ABC Chair Ita Buttrose and managing director David Anderson. Picture: Ryan Osland

The ABC has introduced inclusivity training after employees complained about not being welcomed into their workplace and not having their voices heard in team discussions.

Its new Inclusive Team Planning project was launched in July to “promote equity” and ensure staff are “building their own inclusive culture”.

In internal ABC documentation seen by The Australian, managers have been given a five-step training and support plan which includes multiple sessions to “equip managers with the confidence and capacity to support their teams in creating their diversity and inclusion plan”.

The “building an inclusive culture” training and a two-hour team meeting to establish an inclusivity plan are compulsory for the ABC’s 4000-plus workforce, however managers must receive further inclusivity training.

The training, designed by the chair of ABC Inclusive, Megan Spindler-Smith, outlines that nearly seven hours of meetings and sessions for managers have been developed.

This includes a 45-minute online module to building an inclusive culture, a two-hour live facilitated workshop on leading an inclusive culture, two one-hour planning sessions, a two-hour team meeting and time to write, review and finalise a plan.

The documentation said the training was critical for the functioning of the ABC and its news strategy.

“Being diverse and inclusive in our content and our workforce fulfils our charter and is also part of our audience growth strategy, ensuring we are making content that is relevant for all Australians,” the ABC internal correspondence states. “A diverse workforce strengthens our journalism and we won’t maintain a diverse workforce without inclusiveness.”

It also admits, “some employees reported discrimination while working in our division”.

“Some said they felt they’d not been welcomed into or embraced by the workplace and their voices weren’t being heard in team discussions,” the team planning FAQs said.

“Some said they felt that at times there weren’t enough support mechanisms in place when something occurred and that, even when a formal complaint was made, processes weren’t always adequate.”

The training rollout comes just three months after Q+A host Stan Grant took leave after citing relentless “racial abuse” following the ABC’s heavily-criticised coverage of the coronation in May.

He said the public abuse had taken its toll and left him “dispirited” and he lashed out at his employer who did not sufficiently support him. He has remained on paid leave since.

“No one at the ABC — whose producers invited me onto their coronation coverage as a guest — has uttered one word of public support,” Grant said in May.

The ABC’s managing director David Anderson later apologised to Grant and announced a review that would look into the way the public broadcaster deals with racism impacting its employees.

Chair Ita Buttrose blamed public abuse that resulted in Grant taking extended leave.

The ABC’s voice correspondent and host of The Drum, Indigenous journalist Dan Bourchier, also complained about discrimination after the fallout with Grant.

He said he was reluctant to go on programs including Insiders because he was only chosen as a panellist as a “diversity pick”.

“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,” Bourchier said on Insiders in May.

“It’s not and it’s unacceptable.”

An ABC spokeswoman said the inclusivity training was announced in 2022 and had recently been launched.

“The Inclusive Team Planning project was announced a year ago and we are now launching it to all ABC News teams,” she said.

“Ensuring our workplaces are inclusive is an ongoing priority across the ABC.”