Kim Williams AM is chair; David Anderson the managing director appointed by the board; Laura Tingle is a staff-elected member.
As of April 2018[update], members of the panel were former Treasury Secretary and Westpac Chairman, Ted Evans AC (Chairman); company director and lawyer, Dr Sally Pitkin; public relations media director and former broadcaster, Anne Fulwood; and former Australian Public Service Commissioner and departmental secretary, Helen Williams.
[9] Appointments to the board made by successive governments have often resulted in criticism of the appointees' political affiliation, background, and relative merit.
[10][11] From 2003 the Howard government also made several controversial appointments to the ABC Board, including Albrechtsen, a prominent critic,[12] Ron Brunton,[13] and Keith Windschuttle.
[11][14] During their 2007 federal election campaign, Labor announced plans to introduce a new system, similar to that of the BBC, for appointing members to the board.
Broadcaster Ramona Koval had occupied the position for the previous four years prior to its abolition amid ongoing intense controversy.
[81][82] In July 2007, Labor announced plans to make the system of appointments to the board independent of the Minister for Communications;[15] and also reinstate the staff election of a nominee director.
[citation needed] In September 2018, there was criticism raised by Labor's Shadow Communications Minister Michelle Rowland about ABC's "independence and integrity of Australia's most trusted news organisation risk having been compromised"[83] following discussions within the ABC board about an email instruction from Justin Milne to Michelle Guthrie in May 2018 to sack senior presenter Emma Alberici, on the basis that what was reported by Alberici did not agree with the government.
[85] Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has directly appointed a majority of the current members of the board, some of whom were rejected by the nomination panel.