Hugh Marks, ABC Managing Director, released a statement on Monday to Mediaweek, in response to failed pay negotiations that have led to a planned strike by staff at 11am on Wednesday.
Thousands of ABC journalists and staff members will strike for 24 hours – for the first time in two decades – after 60 per cent of staff rejected the broadcaster’s latest pay offer.
The ABC’s chief people officer, Deena Amorelli, informed staff on Monday morning of the result; that the proposal of a 10 per cent pay rise over three years and $1000 signing bonus was denied by 395 votes.
Marks responded to a request for comment yesterday afternoon, addressing concerns about job security, automatic salary progression, and pay levels.
He also confirmed the ABC will be asking The Fair Work Commission (FWC) for support: “We have reached a point that we can’t get agreement. Without an agreement on a way forward with staff, we have no choice but to approach the FWC for assistance to resolve bargaining.”
Staff will strike on Wednesday at 11am, for 24 hours. Image: ABC
Hugh Marks’ full statement on failed pay negotiations
“Voting on the ABC Enterprise Agreement 2025-2028 (EA) revised offer closed at 2pm AEDT on 22 March 2026.
The preliminary outcome shows the majority of ABC staff voted against the EA offer with 40% of staff voting ‘Yes’ and 60% voting ‘No’.
“As a reminder, the offer included a 10% salary increase over three years with a 3.5% increase in the first year, backpay to October 2025, as well as a $1,000 bonus for all on-going and fixed-term staff covered by the existing EA.
“I believe the revised offer that we asked staff to vote on appropriately balanced fairness to our staff against the ability of the ABC to continue to invest in content and services for the benefit of our audiences.
“The offer was both sustainable and financially responsible.
“I want to discuss the main issues that have been raised by union representatives, noting of course, that each individual staff member will have their own reasons that underpin their vote.
“Lack of security of employment
“The average tenure of an ABC staff member is more than 10 years which is three times the economy average. Over 90% of ABC staff are ongoing employees. And of those on short-term contracts, many are covering parental leave, long service leave, illness or working on programs for limited production periods.
“Of course there are individual examples of poor experiences with the ABC, particularly at an entry level but, as a general rule, lack of security of employment at the ABC is not accurate.
“Automatic salary progression in band
“We understand that there are a number of staff at the ABC who feel frustrated that they have no opportunity to progress to higher salaried positions, often having worked at the ABC for many years.
“The ABC wants to move to a system that reflects rewarding staff based on their performance, rather than automatically progressing due to tenure, as demanded by the unions. We want an organisation that encourages personal and career development, ultimately with that investment benefiting our audiences. We are prepared to invest in staff but doing that solely based on automatic progression ultimately limits individual career options rather than encouraging them.
“Pay levels
“I understand that in the current climate higher pay would help many individuals, but we must also remain focused on the long-term sustainability of the ABC and its relevance to all Australians. It is a balance.
“No one has provided any evidence to me to suggest ABC staff are paid less than industry standards. In addition, the leave provisions ABC staff receive are generally more generous than many other major workplaces.
“Our revised offer further expands on our current provisions, including benefits such as 20 days of personal leave, three days of disability leave and increased parental leave for secondary carers. I believe the pay offer reflects the maximum level the ABC can sustainably provide and is balanced when looking across all the factors that we need to consider.
“The content and services that we provide to our audiences are paramount. In fact, across the year we have made great progress in advancing our content offerings across screen, audio and news with a lot of success. Continuing to progress the content and services we make available across the ABC to our audiences must remain our primary focus for the long-term benefit of the audiences we serve. We compromise that at our peril.
“The Fair Work Commission (FWC) supports organisations like the ABC when we have reached a point that we can’t get agreement. Without an agreement on a way forward with staff, we have no choice but to approach the FWC for assistance to resolve bargaining.”
Top image: Hugh Marks. Image: ABC