The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is an Australian public broadcaster. It operates across television, radio, and the web to provide news and current affairs, emergency information, entertainment and factual programming to regional and metropolitan Australia. The ABC is funded by tax revenue and grants from the federal government, though it also generates minor funding via ABC Commercial. It has a government-appointed board of directors and a remit to be politically independent and accountable.
The ABC was founded in 1932, replacing the private Australian Broadcasting Company, which provided programming for certain radio stations. It was initially financed with a licence fee, but the Chifley government saw this as inefficient due to Australia's small population and vast service area; it became taxpayer-funded in 1949. The ABC is one of two public service broadcasters in Australia, alongside the SBS.
Its news division, ABC News, is Australia's most trusted and most relied-on news outlet, providing content to its television, radio, and online platforms. ABC Television operates five free-to-air channels, including ABC TV and ABC Entertains, while ABC Australia broadcasts to the Asia-Pacific. It has an expansive radio presence, with ABC Local Radio operating 45 regional and eight metropolitan stations, along with its four national networks, Radio National, ABC Classic, ABC NewsRadio and Triple J. It also provides the free streaming services ABC iview and ABC listen.
The postal address of the ABC in every Australian capital city is PO Box 9994, as a tribute to the record-breaking Test batting average of Australian cricketer Don Bradman.
After public radio stations were established independently in the state capitals from 1924, a licensing scheme administered by the Postmaster-General's Department was established, allowing certain stations (with "Class A" licences") government funding, albeit with restrictions placed on their advertising content. In 1928, the government established the National Broadcasting Service to take over the 12 A-Class licences as they came up for renewal, and contracted the Australian Broadcasting Company, a private company established in 1924, to supply programs to the new national broadcaster.
After it became politically unpopular to continue to allow the Postmaster-General to run the National Broadcasting Service, the government established the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) on 1 July 1932, under the Australian Broadcasting Commission Act 1932. to take over the Australian Broadcasting Company and run the National Broadcasting Service.
The ABC became informally referred to as "Aunty", originally in imitation of the British Broadcasting Corporation's nickname. The structure and programming was broadly modelled on the British Broadcasting Corporation, and programs not created in Australia were mostly bought in from the BBC.
In 1940, one of the ABC Board's most prominent members, Dick Boyer, was appointed to the ABC, becoming chairman on 1 April 1945. Today known for the continuing series of Boyer Lectures he initiated in 1959, he had a good but not too close working relationship with Sir Charles Moses (general manager 1935–1965), and remained chair until his retirement in 1961. He was determined to maintain the autonomy of the ABC.
The ABC started television broadcasting in 1956. ABN-2 in Sydney was inaugurated by prime minister Robert Menzies on 5 November 1956, with the first broadcast presented by Michael Charlton, and James Dibble reading the first television news bulletin. Television relay facilities were not in place until the early 1960s, so news bulletins had to be sent to each capital city by teleprinter, to be prepared and presented separately in each city. In 1975, colour television was permanently introduced into Australia, and within a decade, the ABC had moved into satellite broadcasting, greatly enhancing its ability to distribute content nationally.
In 1975 the ABC introduced a 24-hour-a-day AM rock station in Sydney, 2JJ (Double Jay), which was eventually expanded into the national Triple J FM network. A year later, a national classical music network was established on the FM band, broadcasting from Adelaide. It was initially known as ABC-FM (later ABC Classic FM) – referring both to its "fine music programming and radio frequency".
ABC budget cuts began in 1976 and continued until 1998, the largest cuts (calculated by the ABC as 25% in real terms) coming between 1985 and 1996.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983 changed the organisation's name to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, effective 1 July 1983. Although funded and owned by the government, the ABC remains editorially independent as ensured by the 1983 Act. At the same time, the newly formed corporation underwent significant restructuring, including a split into separate television and radio divisions, and ABC Radio was restructured significantly again in 1985. Geoffrey Whitehead was the managing director of the ABC at this time. Following his resignation in 1986, David Hill (at the time chair of the ABC Board) took over his position and local production trebled from 1986 to 1991.
Live television broadcasts of selected parliamentary sessions started in 1990, and by the early 1990s, all major ABC broadcasting outlets operated 24 hours a day.
In 1991, the corporation's Sydney radio and orchestral operations moved to a new building, the ABC Ultimo Centre, in the inner-city suburb of Ultimo that was opened by Prime Minister Bob Hawke. In Melbourne, the ABC Southbank Centre was completed in 1994.
International television service ABC Australia was established in 1993, while at the same time Radio Australia increased its international reach. Reduced funding in 1997 for Radio Australia resulted in staff and programming cuts.
The ABC was registered on the Australian Business Register as a Commonwealth Government Entity on 1 November 1999.
In 2001, the ABC launched two digital television channels, ABC Kids and Fly TV, though these were axed just two years later.
In 2002, the ABC launched ABC Asia Pacific, the replacement for the defunct Australia Television International operated previously by the Seven Network. A digital radio service, ABC DiG (now Double J), was also launched in November that year.