SBS claims to have raised the bar on inclusion, equity with landmark guidelines
Australian multi-cultural broadcaster SBS has accelerated the inclusion of under-represented sectors of the community, both in front of and behind the camera, according to its latest commissioning report.
Kathryn Fink
The findings from the SBS Commissioning Equity and Inclusion Guidelines (2021-2024) report reflect a significant uplift in the diverse representation across its commissioned content slate over the past three years.
The analysis shows that across 62 programmes, SBS and its production partners either met or exceeded targets set for on-screen, off-screen and career progression roles and often exceeded industry levels.
Kathryn Fink, SBS’s director of television, said the data for the three-year period provided a benchmark for industry progression and assists in “setting the direction we need to take in the years ahead to drive ongoing change and deliver on our distinct purpose for all of Australians.”
“SBS is committed to ensuring all Australians see themselves, their communities, their cultures, their stories, reflected on our screens. That’s achieved not only through improving the representation we see in front of the camera, but importantly, in those who create and craft these stories,” Fink added.
The guidelines were developed three years ago in consultation with industry and stakeholders, setting ambitious multi-year targets across SBS’s unscripted and scripted commissioned content. The focus was on increasing representation of people from five key under-represented groups: culturally and linguistically diverse, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, people with disability, LGBTQI+, and women.
To track, analyse and report on progress against the targets, SBS uses data collected through its participation in The Everyone Project, an industry-wide commitment to measure cast and crew diversity across registered Australian film and television productions, led by the Screen Diversity and Inclusion Network of which SBS is a founding member.
The results for SBS scripted commissions also included achieving on-screen genre-specific targets, such as ensuring at least two people identify as culturally and linguistically diverse and/or First Nations were cast as main characters in programmes.
Programmes that focused on a particular under-represented community met further off-screen targets for ensuring representation from that community, as well as at least 50% women, hired in key writing, director/producer and production roles.
SBS said it would launch the next iteration of the guidelines in the new year, covering the period from July 30, 2025 to June 30, 2028. Until then, SBS is extending the existing targets to apply for a fourth year, from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.
