Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion: ABC Alumni Submission February 2026

The submission asks the Commissioner, amongst other recommendations, not to accept or reinforce the proposal made by Special Envoy Ms Jillian Segal, that she should be given a special role in shaping the public broadcasters’ Editorial Policies or in monitoring their implementation.

Here is a link to the full submission

The submission asks the Commissioner, amongst other recommendations, not to accept or reinforce the proposal made by Special Envoy Ms Jillian Segal, that she should be given a special role in shaping the public broadcasters’ Editorial Policies or in monitoring their implementation.

On 10 July, Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal AO, appointed last year by the Albanese government, published her Plan to Combat Antisemitism.  It has already come under attack from many quarters, especially for urging the nationwide adoption of a contested definition of antisemitism, and for its call for universities, researchers, cultural institutions, and public broadcasters to have their funding withdrawn if they encourage, or do not do enough to combat, antisemitism.

Among the more prominent targets of the Plan are the public broadcasters, which it proposes should be monitored by the Special Envoy who would “assist” them to avoid “distorted narratives” and to follow their own editorial policies.

Alumni director Jonathan Holmes argues that, if implemented, the Plan would simply exacerbate the pressure the ABC is under to avoid reporting truths that are unwelcome to the more vocal supporters of Israel.

ABC Alumni director and former Media Watch presenter Jonathan Holmes has been reading the federal court judgment in the case of Antoinette Lattouf v the ABC, and reflecting on the lessons it has to teach.

27 June 2025

Did a targeted social media campaign run on peanuts help secure a safer future for our ABC?

The ABC Alumni is but a tiny speck of people compared with our allies, the mighty Friends of the ABC. We are around 200 people who’ve worked at or with the ABC as journos, producers, techs, execs, film-makers and digital creatives, so we are at least good at ferreting out the root of a problem, making content and meeting a deadline (on crumbs).

Late last year, with the Federal election looming dateless, in the shadow of Trump’s attack on public broadcasting, accountability and facts, and Peter Dutton parroting much of his cant, the ABC Alumni Board decided the problem might be Dutton getting in, and we started hammering out an election campaign. We communicated closely with ABC Friends throughout, sharing data, ideas and strategies between us..

On the same day, 17 December 2024, the government has given the ABC some more money and promised to look at a new law to safeguard its independence. And the ABC Board has announced its choice for a new managing director: former CEO of Nine Entertainment Hugh Marks.

A plethora of Christmas presents, all of which ABC Alumni broadly welcomes – though in the case of the government’s decisions, with reservations.

The Australian’s ferocious attacks on Laura Tingle following her off-the-cuff remarks at the Sydney Writers’ Festival have ignited a wider debate about the ABC and its impartiality, as the paper no doubt hoped.

ABC Alumni subscribers will have differing views about the wisdom of Laura’s remarks, and the robustness of the ABC’s response – as indeed do the directors of ABC Alumni. But your Board is happy to endorse these reflections in praise of Laura’s work by Alan Sunderland, who as a former Editorial Director of the ABC has more experience than any other Alumni director of making nuanced judgments on matters such as this.

Gavin Fang took up his appointment as Editorial Director in January this year.  One of the ABC’s most experienced news executives, he began his ABC career in 2000 in the Perth newsroom.  After a stint as the ABC’s correspondent in Jakarta, he took on a succession of ever-more senior editorial roles in ABC News, ending as Deputy Director of News.  Along the way he had a hand in devising the More Relevant to More Australians News policy, and was ABC News Diversity lead. 

The Editorial Director and his team of editorial advisors are responsible for ensuring that ALL ABC content, screen, audio and online, complies with the ABCs Editorial Polices and Standards.

ABC Alumni board director Quentin Dempster spoke to Gavin Fang for a webinar exclusively for ABC Alumni subscribers on Tuesday 19 March.  This is not a word-for-word transcript but a summary that has been approved by Gavin for wider distribution.

In his first major speech about the ABC since the May federal election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has indicated a new era in government-ABC relations. Delivered at a gala dinner celebrating the national broadcaster’s 90th anniversary, the PM’s wide-ranging speech outlined the ABC’s crucial role in contributing to both social cohesion and a healthy democracy. He also reinforced his government’s commitment to a better-resourced, independent ABC and promised to review options for delivering greater financial sustainability to safeguard against political interference.

ABC Alumni is an association of former staff of the ABC who support a vigorous, independent national broadcaster.