Today known for the continuing series of Boyer Lectures initiated by him in 1959, he had a good but not too close working relationship with Sir Charles Moses (general manager 1935–1965[22][23]), and remained chair until his retirement in 1961.

ABN-2 in Sydney was inaugurated by prime minister Robert Menzies on 5 November 1956, with the first broadcast presented by Michael Charlton, and James Dibble reading the first television news bulletin.

[26] In 1975, colour television was permanently introduced into Australia, and within a decade, the ABC had moved into satellite broadcasting, greatly enhancing its ability to distribute content nationally.

[27] Also, in 1975 the ABC introduced a 24-hour-a-day AM rock station in Sydney, 2JJ (Double Jay), which was eventually expanded into the national Triple J FM network.

[43] In November 2014 a cut of $254 million (4.6%[44]) to funding over the following five years together with the additional unfunded cost of the news channel[45] meant that the ABC would have to shed about 10% of its staff, around 400 people.

Rental from some of the vacant space in the city centre would earn additional income to offset the ongoing effects of the significant funding cuts since 2014 and the recent indexation freeze.

[92][93][94] Appointments to the ABC Board made by successive governments have often resulted in criticism of the appointees' political affiliation, background, and relative merit.

[95][96] Past appointments have associated directly with political parties – five of fourteen appointed chairmen have been accused of political affiliation or friendship, include Richard Downing and Ken Myer (both of whom publicly endorsed the Australian Labor Party at the 1972 election),[34] as well as Sir Henry Bland, David Hill was close to Neville Wran, while Donald McDonald was considered to be a close friend of John Howard.

[96][99] 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.

[107] As of January 2025[update] board members include:[108] The ABC is primarily funded by the Australian government, in addition to some revenue received from commercial offerings and its retail outlets.

[112] This continued until the Report of the Royal Commission on Wireless together with appendices was published on the 5th of October, 1927, which recommended in its summary that it should issue no further A radio licences alongside pooling resources to improve programmes and secure an efficient service to the public.

Under the act a new public broadcaster was created, it was funded directly by listener fees until 1948 and run by a five-member commission with the Postmaster-General’s Department responsible for the technical aspects.

[125] In a letter to The Canberra Times on 16 January 1976, reader R. O. MEE Flynn wrote: "Now it is rumoured that that the TV licence fee might be introduced again, just as I was in the act of writing to the PMG (Postmaster General) to ask if it was possible for us to get paid for watching the box.

[127] The debate and its discussion continued, with one reader on 23 July 1978 to the Canberra Times stating "Sir, - The rumour is that reintroduction of TV licences is to occur shortly (no smoke without fire).

[129] In the 2018–19 budget handed down by then-Treasurer Scott Morrison, the ABC was subject to a pause of indexation of operation funding, saving the federal government a total of $83.7 million over 3 years.

This came after speculation that the fund would be removed, to which Acting managing director David Anderson wrote to Communications Minister Mitch Fifield expressing concerns.

[172] ABC Australia is an international satellite television service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, funded by advertising and grants from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Aimed at the Asia-Pacific region, the service broadcasts a mixture of English language programming, including general entertainment, sport, and current affairs.

It features programmes in various languages spoken in these regions, including Mandarin, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Khmer and Tok Pisin.

[176] The ABC follows the following "hallmarks of impartiality": "a balance that follows the weight of evidence, fair treatment, open-mindedness and opportunities over time for principal relevant perspectives on matters of contention to be expressed".

[180][181] ABC Commercial was registered as a business name under Australian Broadcasting Corporation in April 2007 and continues to exist as of June 2021[update].

The ABC managing director, David Anderson, who took home a six-figure pay rise shortly after the defamation case loss, outlined in senate estimates that he would not apologise to Russell for the false reporting.

ABC members of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance voted no confidence in Anderson partly due to WhatsApp messages that had come to light from a pro-Israel lobby group known as "Lawyers for Israel".

[192][193][194] In March 2024 the ABC aired a documentary titled "Ukraine's War: The Other Side," by Sean Langan which has been criticised by Ukrainian ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko as the "journalistic equivalent of a bowl of vomit" and seemed to repeat Russian justification for the War in Ukraine and structured in a way that seems to favor the Russian side.

[200] In December 2013 former judge and ABC chair James Spigelman announced that four independent audits would be conducted each year in response to the allegations of bias in the reporting of news and current affairs.

[210] Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott perceived the ABC to be left wing and hostile to his government, while Malcolm Turnbull enjoyed better relations with the national broadcaster.

The Melbourne Press Club presented the 2016 Quill for Coverage of an Issue or Event for the report George Pell and Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church, and the 2016 Golden Quill award to Louise Milligan and Andy Burns for their extensive coverage of Cardinal George Pell's evidence given at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Media Watch also canvassed other criticisms including from The Australian newspaper's editor-at-large Paul Kelly, who charged the ABC with having run a "sustained campaign against Pell".

[220] It included a "Greenhouse Calculator" which aimed to help children to work out their carbon footprint by providing an estimate of the age a person needs to die if they are not to use more than their fair share of the Earth's resources.

[221] Victorian Liberal senator Mitch Fifield criticised a cartoon series on the site for portraying those who eat meat, loggers, and workers in the nuclear industry as "evil".