Enabling legislation

ABC corporate objectives, strategies, policies and activities derive from the requirements of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983 (the ABC Act).

In particular, section 6 of the Act (the ABC Charter) outlines the functions of the Corporation and section 8 lays out the duties of the Board (see Appendix 1 - ABC Charter and duties of the Board).

Responsible Minister

The ABC is an agency within the portfolio of the Australian Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications.

For the whole of the reporting period, the responsible minister was the Honourable Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts.

Board governance

The roles and responsibilities of the Board are described in Appendix 1 - ABC Charter and duties of the Board.

The ABC Board held nine meetings during 2019-20. The Audit & Risk Committee met on four occasions. Further information about the ABC Board and its Committees is provided in Appendix 2 - ABC Board and Board Committees.

Management processes

Throughout 2019-20, the Managing Director chaired weekly meetings of the ABC Executive Leadership Team, comprising Team Directors and the Heads of specialist support units reporting to them to ensure oversight of business-as-usual processes as well as address any topical matters. The Leadership team also attended longer monthly meetings to discuss and make decisions regarding strategic, operational, compliance and other issues. [this is being checked with Jo]

The ABC's governance framework included a number of executive, advisory and working groups that provided guidance and leadership around areas such as digital strategy, risk management, information technology, work health and safety, content planning and collaboration, and policy development.

Corporate Plan

The ABC’s strategy is informed by the broader corporate objectives and outcomes contained in its Corporate Plan. The requirement to prepare a corporate plan is in accordance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (the PGPA Act). Under section 35 of the PGPA Act, the accountable authority of the ABC is required to prepare a corporate plan at least once each reporting period. The corporate plan must be prepared in accordance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (the PGPA Rule).

The ABC Corporate Plan 2019-20 was prepared in accordance with the requirements of the PGPA Act and PGPA Rule and is published on the ABC’s corporate website at https://about.abc.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ABC-Corporate-Plan-201920.pdf.

The ABC Corporate Plan 2019-20 also meets the requirements of section 31B(1) of the ABC Act by outlining the overall strategies and policies that the Corporation will follow to ensure that the Board fulfils its duties under section 8 of the ABC Act, and includes a forecast of the revenue and expenditure of the Corporation and its subsidiaries, including a forecast of capital expenditure and borrowings.