Two new ABC board members revealed by the federal government

The federal government has announced the two latest female appointments who will take up positions on the ABC board.

Two women will join the ABC board, but the hunt remains for a new chairperson to replace Ita Buttrose who departs in 2024.

On Wednesday, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced that the federal government had appointed businesswoman Nicolette Maury and also Louise McElvogue, who has extensive experiences in journalism, communications and marketing, to take up roles as non-executive directors on the ABC board for five-year terms.

The pair replace former board members Joe Gersh and Fiona Balfour, who both departed the ABC board earlier this year.

Ms Buttrose announced in August that she would not be seeking reappointment when her term finishes in March.

Ms Maury has more than 15 years experience working in digital organisations both in Australia and overseas, and she began her latest role as chief executive at building automation and sustainability firm Avani Solutions in May this year.

She has held other roles including Grupo Santander’s European head of product transformation, CEO of Asto Digital Ltd and managing director of Intuit Australian.

Ms McElvogue has significant experience in the media sector, and she has previously held roles in the UK including at the BBC, Channel 4, News UK’s owned The Sunday Times and various other publications in the US.

Louise McElvogue has been appointed to the ABC board.

She is also the interim CEO of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and is an Adjunct Professor in the Business School at the University of Technology Sydney.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland welcomed the two women to the ABC board.

“The ABC, like many media organisations, faces significant challenges in today’s media environment, grappling with evolving audience trends, audiences who are increasingly consuming media digitally, and new technologies changing how their work is conducted,” she said.

“The appointment of these two highly accomplished women to the board will bolster the public broadcaster’s digital transformation, media and governance acumen as the ABC implements its five-year plan.”

The two women join Laura Tingle to make it three female appointments to the ABC board this year.

In March, Tingle was voted in to take up the position of the staff-elected board position, beating business journalist Dan Ziffer, 615 votes to 568.

Both Ms Maury Ms McElvogue were nominated for board appointments by the independent nomination panel.

The panel is continuing to go through the selection process to fill Ms Buttrose’s role as chairperson when she finishes her five-year term on March 6 next year.