Australia mandates AI disclosure for radio

11 February 2026

Australia mandates AI disclosure for radio

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has registered updated rules for commercial radio broadcasters that include new requirements for content broadcast around school drop-off and pick-up times, and also for disclosing artificial intelligence use.

Under the Commercial Radio Code of Practice 2026, radio stations will be required to let their audience know when a synthetic voice is being used to host a regularly scheduled program or news broadcast. This is the first time AI has been addressed in a broadcasting code of practice.

Broadcasters will also have to give special care when airing content between 8-9am and 3-4pm on school days, when children are more likely to be listening.

ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said the new rules would allow audiences to make more informed decisions about their listening habits: “Broadcasting rules must keep pace with technology and with community expectations. AI is a powerful tool that offers a lot of innovation for broadcasters.

“However, listeners want greater transparency about when AI is being used. We welcome the commitments by the radio industry to address listener concerns.

“Listeners are also worried about inappropriate content at peak travel times when families listen together.

“These new rules set clear time windows where broadcasters must consider whether their content is suitable for children, giving parents and carers greater confidence when tuning in.”

The revised code, which was developed by industry group Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA), also includes strengthened provisions around corrections for errors in news coverage and greater transparency in complaints reporting.

A significant number of submissions to the review called for strengthened rules around the broadcasting of Australian music. The new code includes changes to the station categories that determine how much Australian music must be played to better reflect contemporary broadcasting practices and music genres.

The ACMA will be working closely with CRA and the commercial radio industry over the coming 12 months to ensure stations are applying the new categories correctly and meet their longstanding Australian music obligations, including in relation to new Australian music.

As with all the provisions in the code, the ACMA expects that licensees with comply with their obligations to broadcast Australian music.

“Commercial radio is an integral part of Australia’s media landscape and these rules will help strengthen trust between broadcasters and their audiences.

“We would also like to see broadcasters voluntarily extend the code safeguards to content available on their on-demand streaming services. If they do not, we expect that new regulations may need to be put in place so that listeners know what to expect no matter how they tune in,” Ms O’Loughlin said.

The Commercial Radio Code of Practice 2026 will come into effect from 1 July 2026.

ABC welcomes the launch of the Australian Government’s Indo-Pacific Broadcasting Strategy

16 July 2024

ABC welcomes the launch of the Australian Government’s Indo-Pacific Broadcasting Strategy

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Managing Director David Anderson has welcomed the launch of the Australian Government’s Indo-Pacific Broadcasting Strategy (IPBS) which calls out ABC International as a leading implementation partner.

Pre-empting the release of the strategy, the Federal Government provided an additional $32 million over four years in the October 2022 budget for ABC International to expand content production, transmission, and media assistance across the Indo-Pacific region. In the May 2023 budget, the Government announced a further $8.5 million over four years for regional transmission and distribution.

The ABC has invested this new funding to support the key pillars of the IPBS by boosting the availability of Australian content, deepening media connections and strengthening the resilience of media outlets in the region. The ABC’s work in this area continues to support mutual understanding of Australia and our region.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson welcomed the Government’s release of the much-anticipated strategy and said the ABC is “well-placed to deliver on its key pillars.”

“No other Australian media organisation has the regional knowledge, relationships, distribution networks and platforms, and the development expertise necessary to fully deliver the IPBS’ aims that are in the national interest,” Mr Anderson said.

ABC International Head Claire M. Gorman said: “The additional funding provided by the Federal Government under the IPBS is already being invested across the Indo-Pacific region by ABC International in a range of key areas including enhanced distribution networks, premium bespoke content for international audiences and high-impact media development programs.”

To date, the ABC has made significant progress on many deliverables outlined in the IPBS. Examples include:

ENHANCED DISTRIBUTION

Over the past year, ABC International has launched new ABC Radio Australia 24-hour FM services in six strategic locations including Palau, Nauru, Tuvalu, Pohnpei (Federated States of Micronesia), Kokopo (Papua New Guinea) and Gizo (Solomon Islands) and will deliver new services in a further six locations in the second half of 2024.

In October 2023, ABC International divided the previously single ABC Australia broadcast service into two separate schedules: one for the Pacific region and one for Asia, allowing the ABC to better serve audiences with content and time slots tailored to the respective regions.

BESPOKE CONTENT

In June 2023, ABC Radio Australia launched a new schedule, tripling its Pacific-focused content with bespoke programs including morning show Nesia Daily, sport show Nesian Footy, music shows In the Fale and On the Record, a special series of the popular podcast Days Like These and Stories from The Pacific, drawing audiences into the lives of Pacific Islanders who have seen and done amazing things.

In the past 12 months, ABC International has delivered extensive multi-platform coverage across ABC Australia, ABC Radio Australia, ABC Pacific and ABC Asia of major elections in India, Indonesia, and the Solomon Islands, and coverage of regional events such as the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara and the 2024 Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture in Hawai’i.

Additionally, ABC Australia has broadcast two special election series this year – Indonesia Decides and India Votes 2024 – which were produced by ABC News’ Asia Pacific Newsroom for international audiences, delving into voter concerns and key political figures and providing insights beyond the headlines.

Also, this year, ABC Australia launched Kids Club, a brand-new lineup of kids’ programming specially curated for Pacific audiences, on its Pacific service.

In April 2023, ABC Australia launched a flagship pan-Pacific current affairs program, The Pacific, which covers the major news events in the region through the year and looks at the rich culture and history of the region. The program is supported by a network of experienced local journalists across the Pacific region.

Over the past 12 months, ABC Australia has delivered programming targeting Indo-Pacific audiences, including special editions of ABC favourites Gardening Australia, Foreign Correspondent, Compass, Backroads and Landline as well as documentaries The Cloud Under the Sea on undersea telecommunications cables, Price of Progress: Indonesia’s Nickel Rush, Running Dry on water scarcity in Asia, and the two-part series Project Wild.

MEDIA DEVELOPMENT

Over the past 12 months, ABC International Development (ABCID), has launched the Indonesia Media Development Program focusing on digital storytelling, safety and resilience.

ABCID has also launched the Timor-Leste Media Development Program to strengthen Timor-Leste’s media landscape. This program provides support to the media sector through technical and craft skills training. This support includes collaborating with the Timor-Leste Press Council and supporting the public broadcaster, Rádio e Televisão de Timor-Leste (RTTL), with the launch of a weekly English language news program.

ABCID has developed the Media Education for Development and Information Access (MEDIA) platform, an invite-only online learning resource which offers modules on journalism, capacity-building courses and resources to individuals and partners across the Indo-Pacific, to complement in-person training and mentoring.

The Government strategy document is available at: https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/indo-pacific-broadcasting-strategy.pdf

ABC Global Affairs Editor named

15 April 2022

ABC Global Affairs Editor named

John Lyons, one of Australia’s leading journalists and most experienced foreign correspondents, has been appointed ABC NEWS Global Affairs Editor.

Lyons will contribute expert analysis and reporting across all platforms and enhance on-the-ground coverage of the biggest world stories.

He will also help mentor the next generation of talented correspondents coming through the organisation.

ABC NEWS currently has correspondents deployed in Bangkok, Beirut, Istanbul (from May 2022), Jakarta, Jerusalem, London, New Delhi, Port Moresby, Taipei, Tokyo and Washington.

Director, News Justin Stevens:

“International reporting is one of the core services the ABC provides to our audiences. Our correspondents make sense of the key overseas events and issues from an Australian perspective and analyse how they impact us at home.

“We have an outstanding group of correspondents and John will add more than four decades of experience as a journalist.

“He is the perfect person for the role.”

Lyons, a former Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, joined the ABC in August 2017 as Head Investigative and In-depth Journalism, leading ABC NEWS’s current affairs teams at 7.30, Australian Story, Four Corners, Q+A, Insiders, Foreign Correspondent and the Investigative Reporting Team.

Previously he has worked as a foreign correspondent based in Washington, New York and Jerusalem for a range of media outlets.

Lyons will take up the new role in June, following the federal election.

John Lyons:

“For 90 years the ABC has reported and analysed events around the world for an Australian audience. It is therefore a great honour for me that, after 40 years in journalism, I have the opportunity to join the ABC’s international team.

“Parts of the world today are as precariously poised as they’ve been since World War 2. If a year ago someone had said that in 2022 we would have another war in the heart of Europe and Vladimir Putin would order his nuclear capability be put on high alert few people would have believed that possible.

“I would like to acknowledge the ABC’s new Director of News Justin Stevens for deciding in his first two weeks to boost the ABC’s international coverage.”

ABOUT JOHN LYONS

A three-time Walkley Award winner, John Lyons has reported at home and abroad across four decades.

His first major foreign assignment was reporting on the fall of former Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, going on to co-author a book about the dramatic fall of the corrupt regime, Marcos and Beyond.

In 1991 he was posted to New York for The Sydney Morning Herald and later to Washington for The Australian, covering the election and inauguration of Bill Clinton, the early days of the Clinton administration and the beginning of the Oslo peace accords.

In 2009 Lyons was posted to Jerusalem as the Middle East Correspondent for The Australian. From there he covered stories including the rise and violent downfall of the Arab Spring, the end of the Gaddafi regime in Libya, the collapse of the Mubarak regime in Egypt and the attempt by ISIS to take Baghdad.

He reported on three wars between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the “Green Revolution” in Tehran, which was brutally put down by the Iranian regime. While based in Jerusalem, he also won three United Nations human rights awards and wrote the book Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir.

From the Middle East he won the Walkley Award for investigative journalism for a report for Four Corners. His other awards include the 1999 Graham Perkin Award for Australian Journalist of the Year for his outstanding reporting on national affairs for The Bulletin.

His other previous roles include Associate Editor (Digital Content) at The Australian and Executive Producer of the Nine Network’s Sunday program.

Justin Stevens appointed Director, ABC News, Analysis and Investigations

5 April 2022

Justin Stevens appointed Director, ABC News, Analysis and Investigations

The ABC has announced that Justin Stevens has been appointed Director, ABC News, Analysis and Investigations.

Justin brings extensive journalism experience and editorial leadership to the position built across two decades and senior editorial positions in current affairs.

In his former role as 7.30 Executive Producer, Justin has for four years been responsible for leading and managing the ABC’s agenda-setting flagship daily current affairs program.

His appointment as Director follows a comprehensive recruitment process involving both internal and external applicants.

The appointment is effective from Monday 4 April.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson said:“Justin has a proven track record in editorial leadership across complex issues and events. Together with the ABC News Executive team, Justin will lead the next stage of the ABC News strategy to be more accessible, valuable and relevant to Australians across all platforms, with the highest quality journalism always at the core.

“Justin fully understands the challenges and opportunities the ABC faces as an essential public service in the digital media era.

“I want to thank the members of the ABC News Executive for their support during this recruitment process, especially Gavin Fang, who has done an exceptional job acting in the News Director role and who will continue to play a crucial role in the work of ABC News into the future.

“This is a key appointment for the ABC and it comes amid major news events – the continuing effects of the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine, domestic issues such as the rising cost of living, and the upcoming federal election.

“It’s a position that requires exceptional editorial leadership, and Justin will be outstanding in the role.”

Justin Stevens commented: “I’m incredibly proud to be part of ABC News and it’s an honour to be given the opportunity to lead this great team.

“The ABC celebrates 90 years this year and ABC News is a huge part of its proud heritage.

“Australians trust ABC News to deliver the quality public interest journalism and services they need and which are a key part of a healthy democracy. That job is more vital than ever.”

About Justin Stevens

Justin’s first job in the media was in 2005 as a researcher for the Nine Network on Sunday and for Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals.

He joined the ABC in December 2006 and worked as a producer and a supervising producer on 7.30 until 2014. His work there included producing key Australian political and feature interviews for presenters Kerry O’Brien and Leigh Sales, including with Barack Obama, Tony Blair, Sir David Attenborough, Woody Allen and the Dalai Lama, and working on breaking news coverage.

In 2013 he was a producer on the four-part ABC series “Keating: the Interviews” with Kerry O’Brien.

In 2014-2015 he was a producer on the three-part series “The Killing Season” with Sarah Ferguson, which won an AACTA Award for Best Documentary and a Logie Award for outstanding public affairs report.

From 2015-2017 Justin worked on Four Corners, producing programs including the Hillary Clinton interview special; a money laundering investigation; the “Leaders” election special; profiles of Clive Palmer and Bill Shorten; and a program on territorial disputes in the South China Sea. He produced “The Siege”, the two-part special on Sydney’s Lindt Café siege which won the 2018 Logie Award for outstanding news coverage.

In 2018 Justin was appointed Executive Producer of national nightly current affairs flagship 7.30, leading a team that sets the news agenda, goes in-depth on the biggest stories of the day and investigates and breaks stories of national significance.

Night after night, 7.30 delivers the key interviews with the top politicians, public figures and newsmakers from Australia and around the world. Its extensive record of public interest journalism includes long-running investigations on topics such as the Centrelink “robodebt” scheme and Melbourne’s quarantine hotel inquiry; breaking stories on decisions in grant allocations by former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian; in-depth reporting on Indigenous issues; and extensive reporting out of regional and rural Australia.

Under Justin’s watch 7.30 has grown its broadcast and digital audience. In 2021 its national audience averaged 980,000 viewers a night with an audience share of almost 13% in metro markets and 12.5% in regional areas.

Australian government to end ABC funding freeze

9 February 2022

Australian government to end ABC funding freeze

Australia’s federal government has announced that it is ending a freeze on funding of the ABC.

From July 2022, the ABC will receive almost A$3.3 billion (US$2.37 billion) over three years. SBS – the country’s second national broadcaster – will receive more than A$950 million over the same period.

ABC Chair Ita Buttrose said: “I am delighted with the Government’s decision to commit $3.3 billion over the next three years to the ABC.

“It will allow the national broadcaster to continue doing what it does best – provide information and entertainment to Australians wherever they live.”

ABC Managing Director David Anderson commented: “On behalf of the ABC, I welcome the funding certainty this announcement brings to the national broadcaster for the next three years.

“The $3.3 billion over the next triennium, announced by the Minister Paul Fletcher, sees the resumption of indexation, the continuation of the Enhanced Newsgathering (ENG) program that provides vital services across the country, and ongoing support for audio description services for blind or visually impaired audiences.

“ENG funding has delivered more tailored news to local communities and has seen the ABC invest more in specialist resources that provide vital context and analysis about issues that matter to all Australians.

“Importantly, this announcement also guarantees the ability of the ABC to continue to reinvest funds from the recently concluded Google and Facebook deals into rural and regional services.

“As the ABC’s Managing Director, I have consistently made the case for the resumption of indexation on the ABC’s base funding and the continued support for ENG program.

“The triennial funding announcement is an important recognition that the ABC is needed now more than ever, and this funding is required so it can continue to fulfil its vital role in our democratic society.

“I would like to thank the Minister, Paul Fletcher, and the Government for recognising the enduring value of the ABC as we mark 90years of serving Australians.”