Where do the parties stand on the ABC?

How we rate the Coalition, Labor and the Greens on their responses to our campaign platform

Selected Electorates Candidate Scorecards

Detailed analysis

The Coalition (LNP)

Will your government restore ABC funding by $140 million per year to be phased in progressively over a 3-year period commencing in 2026?

The Coalition does not support additional funding for the ABC.

They state that they support the current resourcing of the ABC, but their statement is qualified with the words that the ABC "will be held to the same standards of ensuring they spend taxpayer funds, responsibly, and efficiently." This formulation is similar to comments made by Peter Dutton, who has refused to rule out funding cuts to the ABC and has said that the ABC's budget will be subject to an efficiency review to identify waste.

Between 2014 and 2022 Coalition governments cut funding to the ABC by $783 million, with disastrous impacts on the ABCs services, programs, staffing and quality. Given that history, it is incumbent on the Coalition to provide much greater certainty on funding for the ABC than it has provided in its response to the ABC.

The Coalition states that in government it committed $3.3 billion to the ABC over three years in its 2022-23 budget. It states that this commitment included indexation of the ABC's operational funding. But that statement, made in the lead up to the 2022 election, merely pledged to restore the indexation the Coalition had cut in the preceding three years.

Peter Dutton has not responded to ABC Friends written request for an assurance that a Coalition government would not cut funding to the ABC. In the absence of such an assurance, we have no confidence that a Dutton government would not, once again, reduce funding to the ABC.

Will your government introduce a dedicated fund to provide full funding for the ABC's emergency service?

The Coalition states that the ABC has operational independence from the government for how it uses its budget to deliver its Charter obligations.

The implication is that government should not interfere with the ABC’s independence by specifying how funds should be spent. We acknowledge this point, but it does not address the central point of the question - whether the Coalition would provide additional funding to cover the escalating costs of the ABC's emergency service.

Will your government oppose the privatisation of the ABC and guarantee that it will remain free-to-access for all Australians with no ads, no subscriptions and no downgrading of services?

The Coalition has given an unequivocal and welcome commitment that it will never privatise or sell the ABC. It has also stated that it is committed to the ABC remaining free-to-air and free-to access for all Australians.

However, despite general statements about supporting the ABC's independence, the Coalition has not answered the question of whether the Coalition would guarantee no ads, no subscriptions and no downgrading of the ABC’s services.

If a Coalition government were to reduce funding for the ABC, this would inevitably result in a downgrading of the ABC services, forcing the ABC to reduce programs and cut jobs, and potentially open the way for government to introduce subscriptions for some services. ABC Friends requires a more explicit commitment from the Coalition that it will support the ABC and the full range of services it offers.

Will your government provide additional funding to ensure that high quality ABC services can be received by all Australians across the country?

The Coalition has not addressed this question adequately. It has made some generalised statements about the ABC's unique role and reiterated that it will support the ABC’s current resourcing but qualifies that by saying the ABC "will be held to the same standards of ensuring they spend taxpayer funds responsibly and efficiently."

Will your government take specific legislative and other measures to protect the ABC's independence?

The Coalition has agreed to push for specific measures to protect the ABC's independence. In office it interfered with the appointment of the ABC chair, installing a Captain’s Pick. At various points in its response the Coalition states its support for triennial funding – but not five-year funding, a fundamental plank of ABC friends 2022 campaign platform, which aimed to strengthen the ABC's independence and making it less susceptible to political interference.

Will your government change the indexation formula for the ABC to cover the impact of real-world inflation, including the cost of content production?

The Coalition has given no support to ongoing indexation for the ABC and its response repeats comments it made elsewhere in the document.

It states that “as part of the 2022-23 budget, the previous Coalition Government committed $3.3 billion to the ABC, from 1 July 2022 to 1 July 2025, that included indexation of the ABC’s operational funding.” This followed three years when the Coalition government “paused’ indexation, resulting in the loss of numerous jobs, programs and services.

Labor

Will your government restore ABC funding by $140 million per year to be phased in progressively over a 3-year period commencing in 2026?

Labor has not committed to an increase in funding. It has, however, met the commitments it made before the 2022 election and pointed to its record since coming to office:

• restoration of $84m to reverse the Coalition's pause in indexation, amounting to a total of $168 million over five years 2022-23 to 2027-28
• an additional $43m per year for the following five years which will ensure that the ABC's funding remains at pre-indexation pause levels through to 2032-33
• the introduction of 5 year funding terms
• the inclusion of terminating measures (for regional newsgathering and audio description for blind and vision impaired Australians) into the ABC’s operating grant, thus guaranteeing the long term future of these programs. The measure was worth $56 million
• additional funding (including via DFAT) of $40.5 million for the Indo-Pacific Broadcasting Strategy

All of these measures were recommended by ABC Friends in its 2022 election platform.

The Government has also committed to establish a more structured framework to support the national broadcasters' 5 year funding cycles. This will include working with the ABC and SBS to set timeframes within the 5 year funding cycle for assessment of forward funding proposals and announcement of Government decisions about future funding well ahead of the next funding cycle. This was a recommendation made by ABC Friends in its submission to the government's review into options to support the independence of the national broadcasters

Will your government introduce a dedicated fund to provide full funding for the ABC's emergency service?

Labor has not agreed to this proposal, stating that “The ABC has operational and editorial independence, and it is a matter for the ABC to manage its budget and emergency coverage decisions independently of Government.”

The Albanese government has, however, provided $20 million through the Broadcasting Resilience Program (BRP) to strengthen the resilience of 98 ABC AM and FM radio broadcast sites during natural disasters as part of its Better Connectivity Program, The program includes funding to improve mobile coverage, the provision of emergency power backup batteries, upgraded satellite access and mobile broadcast assets that can be transported to affected sites if transmission fails.

This measure addresses part of ABC Friends 2022 platform which called on government to conduct a major update of transmission services because, as we stated, "in some parts of the country it is difficult, even impossible, to get a decent signal."

Labor has also committed to continue to seek advice from the ABC on what it needs to provide this service (as it did on responding to the ABC's recommendations for strengthening resilience).

Will your government oppose the privatisation of the ABC and guarantee that it will remain free-to-access for all Australians with no ads, no subscriptions and no downgrading of services?

Labor has stated that it will never privatise the ABC and will oppose any attempts to privatise it, or introduce ads, subscriptions or downgrading of services. This statement is underwritten by the ALP National Platform which states that Labor will properly fund and support the ABC by keeping the ABC in public hands and maintaining the ban on ABC advertising and sponsorship.

Will your government provide additional funding to ensure that high quality ABC services can be received by all Australians across the country?

Labor has not committed additional funds specifically for this purpose, stating that the ABC has operational and editorial independence so that its decisions are free of political and commercial interference and that it is a matter for the ABC to determine which platforms and technologies to use in order to reach Australians.

However, as noted above, the Albanese government has provided $20 million to the ABC through the Broadcasting Resilience Program (BRP) to strengthen the resilience of 98 ABC AM and FM radio broadcast sites during natural disasters. The government notes that the upgrades will benefit more than 800,000 regional and remote Australians and improve access to the ABC's communications services across Australia.

Will your government take specific legislative and other measures to protect the ABC's independence?

In in December 2024, the Albanese government released the report of its review into options to support the independence of the national broadcasters along with its response.

The Government has committed to various recommendations made by the review, including the introduction of 5-year funding terms. That decision was recommended by ABC Friends.

Other measures (also supported by ABC Friends) included ministerial determinations related to ABC and SBS Board appointment processes and selection criteria for board appointees. Labor has committed to make further governance changes to strengthen the nomination process for appointment to the board if it is re-elected.

Since coming to office in 2022 the government has made 4 appointments to the ABC and has appointed a new chair. All appointments adhered to the legislated process for making appointments at

Will your government change the indexation formula for the ABC to cover the impact of real-world inflation, including the cost of content production?

The Albanese Government re-introduced indexation, which had been paused by the previous coalition government, and it has fully funded the losses that were incurred as a result of the pause. Labor has stated that "funding provided to the ABC and SBS should be stable and grounded in an evidence-based assessment of future funding and investment needs. This assessment would be expected to consider cost pressures impacting the ability of the ABC and SBS to deliver on their Charters."

In a statement to an ABC Friends rally on 13 April 2025, the Minister stated that further work would be conducted to make adjustments to the indexation formula so ABC funding does not go backwards.

The Greens

Do you support a restoration of ABC funding by $140 million per year to be phased in progressively over a 3-year period commencing in 2026, and will you push for this if you are elected?

The Greens have committed to "restore every dollar cut from the ABC’s budget since Tony Abbot’s promise of no cuts to the ABC or SBS, as well as locking in this funding with legislation to protect our national broadcasters from the decisions of the Government of the day."

Will you oppose the privatisation of the ABC and guarantee that it will remain free-to-access for all Australians: no ads, no subscriptions and no downgrading of services?

The Greens have committed to safeguard the ABC and SBS from privatisation and rule out ABC iView and SBS on-demand from being put behind a paywall.

They have also stated that the ABC and SBS should be provided the necessary funding to ensure they are accessible to all Australians, and able to  deliver on public interest journalism and protect our democracy.

Will you support the introduction of a dedicated fund to provide full funding for the ABC’s emergency service?

The Greens support ABC Friends' call for additional funding for the ABC during times of emergency and national disasters. In addition to stating that they will restore every all funding that has been cut since 2014, they will "enable independent funding for services, including emergency services." They state that they have long championed debate in Parliament to boost funding for the ABC during emergency situations.

Do you support additional funding to ensure that high quality ABC services can be received by all Australians across the country?

The Greens state that they will legislate the ABC’s funding to adequate levels to fulfil its charter, as well as providing high quality services to all of Australia.

If elected, will you push for specific legislative and other measures to protect the ABC’s independence?

The Greens have committed to lock in funding with legislation to safeguard the national broadcasters from various Government decisions. They have also committed to "establish a clear non-partisan process for selecting the board of the ABC, including legislating the role of the nomination panel, requiring nominees to come before the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications, and requiring the Minister to explain any rejection of a nominee recommended by the panel."

The Greens also state that, to ensure fair and balanced coverage and access for all Australians, the ABC should be the official host of election debates between leaders.

The Greens election platform supports strengthened media diversity by:

• establishing a Royal Commission into the Murdoch media monopoly and its influence on democracy
• creating a single media regulator with real enforcement powers
• legislating a ‘fit and proper person’ test for media proprietors
• introducing a Media Freedom Act to safeguard journalists and whistleblowers
• committing to five-year funding for community broadcasting

Do you support a change to the ABC’s indexation formula to cover the full costs of inflation and production?

The Greens have not specifically answered this question, but they have committed legislate funding for the ABC so that it is "not subject to the whim of the government of the day."

Read the parties' full answers