Indigenous elders to join SBS as it tackles diversity challenges

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Indigenous elders to join SBS as it tackles diversity challenges

By Zoe Samios

SBS will appoint two Indigenous elders to the multicultural broadcaster and will try to identify internal roles for Indigenous employees outside NITV under a range of new initiatives aimed at improving diversity and inclusion.

The government-funded broadcaster was criticised publicly last week by several former Indigenous staffers who say they experienced racism and bullying. It was also scrutinised for a lack of diversity in its all-white leadership team.

SBS managing director James Taylor has informed staff of new initiatives aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion.

SBS managing director James Taylor has informed staff of new initiatives aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion.Credit: Nick Moir

SBS managing director James Taylor said in an email to staff on Monday that the past week had provided "confronting assessments" of the organisation that needed to be addressed.

"Until last week, I had taken as an article of faith that, by virtue of our diversity, through the good intent of our people and a result of our purpose, SBS was a good place that would be naturally, almost automatically, good at cultural understanding, empathy and sensitivity. Much of that is true," he said.

"But it is also true that, for some of our team members, that is not always their experience. I have had enough conversations this past week to confirm that. We need to increase our focus on ensuring that we have the right capabilities as a team to deliver a genuinely inclusive outcome."

Under a range of initiatives announced on Monday, Mr Taylor promoted Tanya Orman as director of Indigenous content and Sarah Yassien to director of corporate strategy, who will sit on the executive team.

"With better representation, our decisions, policies and practices will be determined by an Executive that has, as a body, the capacity to make those determinations as a result of genuine lived experience," Mr Taylor said.

"Sarah and Tanya are exceptional senior leaders who are highly respected across SBS. In promoting them to the Executive, I hope to short-circuit the traditional approach of evolving representation over time – which I also remain committed to doing. I’m grateful to Tanya and Sarah for taking on this challenge, and I, the other members of the Executive and the Board are delighted to welcome them."

SBS is also planning to launch a development fund that would provide up to $10,000 per individual to be spent on professional development for internal promotions.

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"This will provide a mechanism to help lift representation more rapidly, create more opportunities for professional growth and improve retention of SBS talent," Mr Taylor said.

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SBS will also develop a program that will identify "high potential talent from under-represented backgrounds" and accelerate development and a style guide to support the production and assessment of multicultural and Indigenous content.

The efforts follow public allegations of racism and mistreatment by several former employees. Screenwriter Kodie Bedford said last week that she was belittled and insulted by racist remarks as a cadet reporter, largely by a single colleague.

In response to the article, Mr Taylor told staff he had asked the people and culture department to review data collection practices and policies to ensure they were "capable of identifying racism". SBS sources have indicated the allegations are unsurprising and are part of a systemic cultural issue that exists at the organisation.

Allan Clarke described his experience as "horrific" and said the "toxic years" had left scars, while Laura Murphy-Oates, now a journalist at The Guardian, said that, as an SBS cadet, she was exposed to "toxic managers" who had a "big effect".

Former SBS bosses have since disputed the need for cultural diversity in media leadership, arguing that it is secondary to diversity on the screen.

"The need to ensure we further deepen diversity at all levels across the organisation has been discussed internally, with openness, for some time, and over this past week those discussions entered the public sphere," Mr Taylor said.

"At the same time, personal accounts of past racism and discrimination have surfaced. These are separate, but in my view, not entirely separable issues."

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