Budget 2018: Funding freeze for ABC, boost for SBS

Budget 2018: Tuesday’s budget includes a funding freeze for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) but a boost for the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).

Tuesday’s budget includes a funding freeze for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Source: ABC Australia

More on Budget 2018: 

• Winners and losers
• Refugees to wait twice as long for job search services
• Migrants to wait four years for Centrelink in welfare crackdown
• Government to claw back $300m from welfare debtors
• Visas for foreign doctors cut in $400m saving to health system
• Turnbull government's Indigenous strategy blasted
• Churches win exemption from paying for Aussie apprenticeships

The multicultural broadcaster SBS will get $17 million funding over two years from 2018-19 to support and to contribute to the production and distribution of Australian film, television and radio content.

It includes $14.6 million over two years for SBS to replace revenue that could not be raised by changes to its advertising regime, and $3 million is to support the development of Australian film and television content.

However, the ABC will have the indexation of its operational funding paused, in what the government says will help it “find back office efficiencies”.

This will result in savings of $83 million over three years from 2019-20 to 2021-22.

“This will maintain the ABC’s base operational funding at 2018-19 levels, resulting in $3.16 billion in Government funding over the 2019-20 to 2021-22 period,” the Budget papers state.