“This is unacceptable,” Anderson wrote in his email. “There is more work that we need to do across the entire organisation, and not just in our newsrooms.”
In a separate email, news director Justin Stevens told staff that these types of behaviour “should not happen” and that the discussions that would follow the report were “difficult but necessary”.
ABC news director Justin Stevens (left) and managing director David Anderson last year.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“To those who engage in these behaviours, it is unacceptable, and we will not tolerate it. Anyone who engages in such behaviour, or who justifies it in any way, is not welcome at the ABC,” Stevens wrote.
The ABC’s findings follow reports highlighting inappropriate behaviour towards women in the media industry, including at Nine, which publishes this masthead.
Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby told staff last month that the company did not tolerate inappropriate workplace behaviour, and reiterated its complaints and whistleblower policies, after reports of misconduct by senior TV executive Darren Wick. Wick left the company in March.
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It also emerged that Adrian Foo, an executive at Nine’s streaming service, Stan, left last year after an investigation into allegations of bullying and inappropriate physical contact with staff.
The ABC is running a parallel review into experiences of racism at the broadcaster, led by lawyer Dr Terri Janke. More than 100 current and former employees have been interviewed so far, and the findings will be made public in coming months.
Nineteen per cent of Australians experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, according to a 2022 study by the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Slightly more than half (51 per cent) of female-identifying employees who responded to the ABC survey agree the broadcaster is a diverse and inclusive employment environment, compared with 70 per cent of male-identifying employees.
Women were significantly less confident in speaking out about inappropriate behaviour than their male colleagues, and 30 per cent of respondents reported they did not feel psychologically safe at work.
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