ABC managing director David Anderson will resign after almost six years leading the national broadcaster.
Kim Williams AM, ABC chair, has asked Anderson to stay in the role until a new managing director has been appointed to ensure a smooth transition.
This means he will remain in the role until early 2025.
Anderson was stepped into the managing director in May 2019, after acting in the role from September 2018. Anderson enjoyed a thirty-year career at the ABC across a wide range of television, digital strategy and executive roles.
In a note to all ABC staff Anderson said it was the decision had not been an easy one and “right moment for leadership renewal for the next stage of the ABC’s continued evolution.
“I am still very much committed to the importance of the ABC to the nation,” he said. “To have the opportunity to serve the Australian public and lead such talented and dedicated people across the country and overseas for what is approaching six years is humbling.
“I am grateful to Kim Williams and the Board for their support and their efforts to persuade me to stay on for my full second term. Their unabashed enthusiasm for the importance and future of the Corporation makes this decision easier. I am confident the timing is right for both me and the ABC,” Anderson said.
“Kim has asked that I stay on in the role until a new Managing Director has been appointed to ensure a smooth transition, which I expect will be at least until the start of next year,” he added.
“David Anderson is a loyal, devoted and talented ABC executive,” ABC chair Kim Williams said. “He has served the Corporation in the best tradition of committed public service over a long period.
“I have requested that he stay on in the role until a new managing director has been recruited and appointed. David’s agreement to offer support through the coming months to ensure a smooth the transition to a new managing director is welcome, generous and has been accepted.
“I have to say my admiration for him and his commitment to the ABC is undiminished and my respect grows ever greater. He is an exemplary executive in many ways.”
During his tenure as managing director, Anderson brought stability to the organisation during a challenging period that has included the ABC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019 he defended journalists, whistle-blowers and press freedom following raids on ABC offices by the AFP.
Anderson advocated for reinvestment in the ABC after several years of budget cuts, an increase in journalist numbers in regional Australia, and an expansion of services to audiences across the Indo-Pacific.
He has also led the national broadcaster through a period of rapidly changing audience habits and the transition to digital services.
Before stepping into the role of acting managing director in September 2018, Anderson was the director, entertainment and specialist, responsible for all ABC radio music networks, podcasts and specialist radio content, as well as broadcast television networks, on-demand products and services and network websites and apps.
His other roles have included director of television, director of the ABC’s digital network and director of strategy and planning.
The ABC Board will in due course begin the process to select a new managing director.
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Top image: David Anderson