On August 18 Lamestream Media broke the news that the ABC had made the position of Head of Indigenous for ABC TV redundant, and planned to scrap its Indigenous department. The department was established in 1987, evolving from the former Indigenous Programs Unit.

Under the new arrangement a specialist department would no longer be responsible for commissioning and developing TV shows that tell Indigenous stories. Instead, the ABC’s Director of First Nations Strategy, Kelly Williams, would head a new division, bringing together all Indigenous teams outside the News division, under the title of Director, First Nations Content and Strategy.

According to the ABC, some staff from the ABC Screen team would move into the new division and First Nations programs would continue to be commissioned through its existing processes within the Screen division.

The decision came swiftly and apparently with little consultation. It caused dismay inside and outside the ABC. The ABC subsequently announced that it would extend the deadline for consultation to 2 September.

The ABC sought to reassure staff, stating that it would appoint a new First Nations Commissioning Editor who would have “dedicated responsibility for advocating for and progressing First Nations projects through Screen’s (the Screen division’s) established commissioning processes.”

It said it remained committed to ensuring that First Nations stories and voices remain a “visible and valued part of the organisation’s content offering”.

Reassurance is not enough.

It seems that First Nations people will no longer have a platform to independently commission projects that tell their own stories. Their projects will be considered alongside those in Scripted, Factual, Children’s, Entertainment, Arts, Music and Events and managed by the relevant genre heads.

I’m concerned that the changes will result in a significant loss of autonomy and decision-making for Indigenous program makers.

Cassandra Parkinson
National President
ABC Friends

If the restructure reduces the capacity of First Nations people to tell their own stories, to decide what stories are most important, and make decisions about how those stories will be presented, there is a real risk that unique Indigenous voices will be diminished – voices the ABC has helped nourish over decades. It will do a great disservice to First Nations people, to ABC audiences and, ultimately, to the ABC.

Three years ago, the Australian people voted against a referendum to recognise Indigenous Australians in the Australian Constitution. But the words of the Uluru Statement from the Heart are more relevant now than ever:

First Nations people should have adequate opportunity to comment on the ABC’s proposals  – and ABC management must listen carefully to what they say.