'ABC staff subjected to racism from external individuals and organisations in connection with work'
A scathing review on the workplace culture of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has confirmed that racism exists in its workplaces, with staff being subjected to it in the past.
The review, which interviewed 120 participants comprising current and former ABC staff, revealed that only one respondent did not experience racism in the workplace personally.
"This response overwhelmingly indicates that racism exists within the ABC workplace, and that ABC staff are subjected to racism from external individuals and organisations in connection with their work," the review read.
According to the report, employees experienced both overt and covert racism in the workplace. Overt racism incidents include:
- Racial slurs
- Derogatory and offensive comments about a person's appearance and cultural practices
- Excluding staff from workplace opportunities or social events due to their cultural or linguistic background
- Mistaking someone for a more junior person based on their racial appearance
On the other hand, reported instances of covert racism include:
- Stereotyping, assumptions and unconscious bias
- Not being championed or mentored because you are not in the same cultural group as managers
- Not being considered to be impartial in reporting on a cultural group because you are perceived to be from that cultural group
- Not having opportunities because you are considered to have been hired to only meet diversity criteria, and your skills are not valued
According to the report, the findings suggest that racism is "systemic at the ABC," with some of its policies and practices disadvantaging people who are First Nations and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse.
The report acknowledged that ABC has made "significant efforts" to respond to racism and introduced various initiatives to enhance cultural safety in the workplace.
"However, implementation of these initiatives is often inconsistent or ineffective," the report read.
Recommendations to curb racism
The review outlined 15 recommendations to improve the situation in ABC's workplaces, including improving diverse representation in management and leadership, as well as revising the company's complaints framework.
David Anderson, managing director at ABC, has expressed his apology to current and former staff as he condemned the racism in the organisation.
"This racism cannot occur in any workplace and I've called it out today. If people believe that it's OK to behave like this, this is not the place for them. We will find them, and we will make sure they leave the ABC. It cannot happen," Anderson said as quoted by ABC.
The managing director added that ABC accepts in principle the recommendations presented in the report.
It will also engage with former race discrimination commissioner Chin Tan to continue the report's work.
ABC commissioned Indigenous lawyer Terri Janke to carry out the review, which was advised by senior Indigenous staff. It follows various departures of prominent individuals, including high-profile reporter Stan Grant, due to the company's "institutional failure" to respond to racist abuse, according to reports.
