Nomination Panel for ABC and SBS Board Appointments

Updated 10 February 2023*

In accordance with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983, the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Professor Glyn Davis AC, has appointed the following members to the Nomination Panel for appointments to the boards of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).

Following the completion of the terms of Dr Sally Pitkin (former Chair) and Mr Mark Kenny on 21 May 2022, Dr Kirstin Ferguson, Ms Catherine Liddle, and Professor Derek Wilding have been appointed as members of the Panel until 23 August 2025.

Dr Ferguson has previously served on the Board of the ABC, including roles as non-executive Director, Deputy Chair, and Acting Chair, and is an experienced company director and author. Ms Liddle, an Arrernte/Luritja women from Central Australia, is the current CEO of SNAICC (National Voice for our Children). She brings experience in senior management positions with First Nations organisations as well as roles in the ABC, NITV/SBS.  Professor Wilding has experience in media governance and academia, with previous roles as Executive Director of the Australian Press Council and with the Australian Communications and Media Authority. He is currently the Chair of the PIJI Expert Research Panel, and Co-Director of the Centre for Media Transition at the University of Technology Sydney.

Ms Helen Williams AC has been appointed as Chair of the Panel until 28 June 2023 following the completion of Dr Pitkin’s term. Ms Williams has been a member of the Nomination Panel since 30 June 2017, and has provided substantial support and expertise to the operation of the Panel.

The Nomination Panel was established to:

• Conduct a selection process for non-executive Members and Chairpersons to the ABC and SBS Boards, based on the principle of merit and having regard to the selection criteria provided by the Minister for Communications (the Minister); and
• Provide the Minister (and in the case of the Chair of the ABC, the Prime Minister) with a written shortlist of at least three recommended candidates for each vacancy with a comparative assessment of the recommended candidates.

The Nomination Panel carries out its functions assisted by a Secretariat within the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, and, as required, a recruitment firm. The composition of the Nomination Panel is as follows:

* Since the publication of this article, Dr Kirstin Ferguson AM resigned from the ABC/SBS Nomination Panel on 6 February 2023.