ABC Friends has used the Federal Budget planning process to reiterate its case for the ABC's budget to be restored, to guarantee its future as a fearless presenter of quality news and original Australian content.

We argue strongly that Australia needs an agile, vital ABC that supports quality and creativity, that’s willing to take risks. We need an ABC that offers content for Australians of all ages and backgrounds, regardless of where they live or how they access news and entertainment.

With the high cost of streaming subscriptions and cost of living pressures, we need a national public broadcaster that is free and accessible for all Australians.

In its detailed submission to the Federal Budget planning process, National President of ABC Friends, Cassandra Parkinson, said ABC Friends welcomes improvements to the ABC's funding made by the Albanese government since its election in 2022. Total ABC funding has increased in that time by more than $350 million.

The introduction of five-year funding, the restoration of indexation, the incorporation of some terminating programs into the ABC’s operating grant, and additional funding for services in the Indo Pacific have enabled the ABC to increase the quantity and quality of its programs and given it greater ability to plan.

However, after years of brutal cuts, the ABC is still funded at much lower levels than it was in 2014 and much less as a proportion of the federal budget. The graph below illustrates the problem vividly.

Figure 1
ABC operational funding as a percentage of Federal Budget Outlays (1970/71 to 2025/26) 

Compiled by Michael Ward, ABC Alumni

Sources: ABC revenue, PBS relevant year & Jolly, Australian Parliamentary Library, J2014, pp. 58-59. Budget outlays: Relevant year Budget paper number 1, 1970/71 to 1994/95: 1994/95; Budget Paper number 1; 2004/05, p. 6-4; 2014/15, p. 6-6; 2024 /25 & 2025/26 figures, 2025/26 Budget Paper number 1, Statement 5, p. 117.

These cuts have led to heavy reductions in original Australian screen content, state-based current affairs programming, TV arts and science content, specialist radio programming, live music recording and international reporting. Televised sports coverage disappeared. 

Over the same period, the ABC has increased its services, developing new content for streaming, mobile and online platforms and operating a growing number of radio and television outlets. To take one example, in 1970, when the ABC received 0.65% of federal budget outlays, it had just one TV channel.

Today, with just 0.13% of federal budget outlays, the ABC produces content for, and operates, four TV channels, its on-demand iView platform, ABC websites, 44 local radio stations, and a host of social media platforms.

We recommend that the federal government commit to restore ABC funding by $150 million per year to be phased in progressively from 2026-27, the additional funds to be available for:

  • More original Australian content, particularly for children’s programs, scripted drama, documentaries, arts, science, and factual programming, and
  • Increased ABC's news and current affairs services in regional Australia and an enhanced international role in regions where the ABC has a limited presence

Further, we want the government to:

  • Allocate additional funding for the ABC's emergency broadcasting program and that the budget for this item be indexed annually to meet the increasing costs of this service.
  • Investigate, with the ABC, the establishment of a supplementary fund to ensure that the full costs of the service are covered.
  • Through DFAT extend funding for international funding for the ABC's Indo-Pacific Broadcasting Strategy to $20 million annually, plus indexation.
  • Adjust the indexation formula applied to the ABC, so that it covers the impact of real-world inflation, including the cost of content production.

The budget submission comes as ABC Friends this year celebrates its 50th anniversary, representing the community interest in defending and promoting the vital role of the ABC as an independent national public media organisation.

In recent times ABC Friends has grown in numbers and strength, with more than 86,000 members and supporters in every state and territory.

It will continue to represent its supporters by putting a strong case to government for more sustainable funding for our national broadcaster.