The ABC has abandoned its partnership with ACON following revelations by The Australian that the broadcaster’s news and programming had been heavily influenced by the radical agenda of the trans lobby group.
The move comes four months after this masthead exposed a string of cases in which the broadcaster’s independence was compromised by its membership of ACON’s Pride in Diversity and workplace benchmarking schemes, with the ABC winning points and awards for “positive programming”.
Further documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws last month showed how the ABC won platinum status with ACON after pledging to use its unique position to push the advocacy group’s agenda in its on-air journalism and programming.
Former ABC’s managing director David Anderson had already won Pride in Diversity’s “CEO of the Year” award.
In an internal newsletter circulated to some staff this week, the ABC said it had conducted an assessment of its external partnerships and concluded some were “no longer providing sufficient value” to the organisation.
ABC management was also ending relationships with the Australian Disability Network and the Diversity Council of Australia and reviewing other partnerships, the circular said, thereby “ensuring that our standards of independence are maintained”.
Asked whether the ABC now acknowledged that its relationship with ACON had damaged its editorial and programming integrity, the ABC told The Australian on Wednesday that the review of workplace partnerships had “affirmed we are meeting our obligations of editorial independence and impartiality”.
The ABC “remains committed to diversity and inclusion and will redirect funding to internal initiatives”, the spokesperson said.
Particularly worrying for critics was a failure of ABC news and current affairs programs to report on the growing scientific and medical challenges to “gender-affirming” medical intervention for children and teens.
Several prominent ABC journalists, including those who have reported favourably on gender-affirming medical care, have hosted ACON’s Pride events.
In Britain, the BBC withdrew from a similar partnership with charity Stonewall in 2021 over concerns that the relationship had damaged its integrity.
Previously known as the AIDS Council of NSW, ACON changed direction under a plan by its then director of community health, Teddy Cook, switching its focus from gay health to trans rights.
As the nation’s self-appointed arbiter of “workplace inclusion” for trans employees, ACON boasts that more than 500 member employers –including Australia’s largest government agencies, public and private companies, universities and research organisations – had signed up to its trans rights agenda.
Like other Pride in Diversity members, the ABC has spent tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of staff time implementing ACON’s workplace demands, changing computer systems to allow non-binary titles like Mx, building all-gender bathrooms and offering “gender affirmation leave”.
The broadcaster inched closer to its ultimate goal of Platinum status every time it put trans-friendly content to air.
Best news for a long time.
Will sanity return??
I thought the name “A Con” would have been a big enough sign not to support the organisation.