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Freedom of Information disclosures have exposed how the ABC tracks the race, gender, and disability of its sources to meet internal diversity targets across the broadcaster’s taxpayer-funded news coverage.

The ABC has introduced a ‘Diversity & Inclusion’ system that requires journalists to meticulously collect and report on the identities of news subjects to meet representation targets.

The latest evidence of political bias at the national broadcaster came to light through internal documents obtained by Sky News via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, revealing the extent to which these measures are reshaping how the ABC’s stories are sourced and presented.

Dubbed the “50:50 Equality Project”, the policy sets numerical identity targets for reporters to meet in every news story — measures that require journalists to log the gender, cultural background, disability status and Indigenous heritage of interview subjects. These identity profiles are collected and tracked in centralised systems at the taxpayer-funded outlet, then discussed in weekly editorial meetings.

The revelation comes just weeks after an independent AI analysis of 50 recent ABC News articles found that 90% of coverage leaned left, favouring Labor, the Greens and progressive causes, while only 6% presented conservative viewpoints.

Diversity Metrics Behind the News

Although the ABC insists its covert system isn’t based on quotas, the documents repeatedly refer to benchmarks, representation levels and metric-tracking across newsrooms. Targets include:

• 50% women
• 15% cultural and linguistic diversity
• 3.4% Indigenous representation
• 8% people with disabilities

ABC reporters are instructed to make a “reasonable assessment” of a person’s identity based on factors such as “how they look,” “how they sound,” and their names. These data points are then entered into a shared newsroom application, used to monitor compliance and “prompt conversations” about story diversity.

The ABC considers people diverse only if they come from non-Anglo-Celtic countries where English is not the primary language.

“The ABC defines CALD (for workforce calculation purposes) as people who are from countries in which the main language spoken is not English. European languages are included in the calculation of CALD,” the document explains.

“Anglo-Celtic backgrounds (where English is the main language spoken) is not, so we do not count people of Anglo heritage from the UK, NZ, Canada or the US.”

The ABC defends the scheme as a way to ensure its journalism reflects all Australians, not just what it perceives to be the dominant cultural voice. But not all within media and political circles are convinced.

“This isn’t about representation — it’s about distortion,” Scott Hargreaves, Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs, told Sky News. “DEI is a cancer that eats away at an organisation’s core mission. The ABC’s job is to report the news, not push social engineering.”

Hargreaves also accused the ABC of failing to represent “viewpoint diversity,” saying the outlet increasingly sounds like “the Green Left Weekly.”

Inside ABC’s Turbulent Newsroom

The DEI initiative is being led by ABC News Director Justin Stevens, whose own internal communications — also obtained via FOI — reveal a fraught workplace climate.

In a 2022 email, Stevens referred to “racist behaviour” allegedly experienced by ABC staff, although he did not provide specific examples or evidence. He used the email to champion the rollout of a new “Talent Diversity Tracking” system, noting that “almost all news teams” had adopted the system by then.

“Talking about these issues can be awkward and uncomfortable – but it’s vital,” Stevens wrote. “Everything we do in this area improves our journalism.”

As part of this initiative, ABC staff were encouraged to contribute to “Your Voice,” a shared database of over 1,500 individuals from diverse backgrounds. The platform allows reporters to source talent that helps meet identity targets.

As highlighted by Sky News, the internal overhaul of ABC’s reporting culture has coincided with a series of damaging legal and editorial failures.

In 2023, former commando Heston Russell was awarded over $400,000 after successfully suing the ABC for defamation. The broadcaster had edited fake gunshot audio into footage of the veteran, wrongly implying he had fired at civilians.

Earlier this year, the Australian War Memorial lodged a complaint over a Four Corners episode that misrepresented the solemnity of the Last Post, suggesting it was disrupted by nearby construction.

Most recently, The Daily Declaration reported that ABC News dedicated months of coverage to Kilmar Abrego Garcia — an alleged MS-13 gang member and human trafficker — portraying him as a victim of injustice. Despite US federal charges and deportation orders citing national security threats, ABC reports repeatedly downplayed Garcia’s background, describing him as “wrongly deported” and omitting key details about his alleged criminal ties.

Read the full report on ABC’s secret diversity policy here.

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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.