Managing Director’s address at SBS Parliamentary Showcase, Canberra

James Taylor
Managing Director, SBS

Address at SBS Parliamentary Showcase, Canberra

Wednesday, 12 February 2020

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Good evening.

Thank you, Minister. And thank you all for joining us this evening.

It’s not farewell just yet, but I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Hass, and recognise his contribution to SBS as a longstanding member of the Board, and for the last three years, as Chair.

Well-respected and trusted by communities, governments and peers, Hass brings a nuanced understanding of multicultural Australia, and extensive experience in the combination of policy and culture in transforming communities and driving cohesion. 

His stewardship of SBS speaks to me most in the way I was welcomed into the Board, and the care that he took to ensure I understood the responsibility and privilege of the opportunity, and I thank him for that.

Hass is also a demonstration of the benefits of strong and stable leadership. He has always recognised the value of fostering this, and the importance of ensuring teams are trusted and supported to achieve / excel. That is the asset of the SBS Board – we are empowered by the trust the Board have in the organisation’s leadership, and it’s instrumental in SBS’s great position today.

Before we get to our special Eurovision performance, I’d like to share SBS’s approach for the year ahead.

We will continue to promote the benefits and opportunities of a more inclusive society through impactful programming and services that explore and reflect modern Australia.

Our distinctive offering set us apart – 95% of our audiences come to SBS for programming they can’t find anywhere else.

We are always looking for ways to further connect Australians to our content, and welcome funding to support the introduction of audio description to enhance accessibility.

Inclusion not only feels good, it also makes economic sense.

Last year, a report commissioned by SBS outlined that an annual 12.7 billion dollar economic dividend could be generated from improved social inclusion in Australia.

A truly inclusive Australia is one where we are all able to participate fully – including the more than 20 per cent of us who speak a language other than English.

SBS is proudly the world’s most linguistically diverse public broadcaster, providing Australian news and information to communities in 68 languages.

As we move to more globalised economies – language matters. And SBS is well-placed to help the nation engage with the market potential presented by multilingualism and embrace the opportunities linked to increased language capabilities.

Our services are not just about helping new migrants settle; they help people maintain and pass on their culture to future generations.

Beyond the representation of diverse faces and voices, presenting diversity of thought remains at our very core.

Through our unparalleled connections to communities, SBS has a unique capacity to contextualise issues from a range of perspectives, dispel misinformation and to provide a forum for discussion, always underpinned by a commitment to impartial and independent reporting.

The recent coverage of the bushfires and the unfolding global coronavirus situation, where we continue to work with government agencies to ensure vital health information is available to communities in multiple languages, is a strong demonstration of this.

This is why SBS is consistently one of Australia’s most trusted media sources.

We continue to increase the volume of subtitled content on SBS On Demand, enabling audiences whose primary language is other than English to enjoy SBS’s original Australian stories.

This year, we are the first media operator in Australia to offer in-language login and navigation, extending the utility of our language investment.

Just last week, we launched this functionality in Chinese and Arabic on selected platforms, three months ahead of schedule, with a roll-out of more features and languages to come soon.

This is part of a bigger strategic focus for SBS – super-serving communities with content while championing the benefits of language learning and retention.

And this latest innovation is another example of our enduring commitment to continually evolving to deliver more for audiences, and increased value to tax payers.

We remain focused on finding impactful activities explicitly linked to our Charter, and contributing to our own future growth.

The SBS Inclusion Program provides an excellent example. The online training program, which is designed to support organisations to better understand Australia’s diversity and to promote more inclusive workplaces, has been engaged by more than 330 organisations, currently reaching 380,000 employees, including many federal and state government departments.

As Hass mentioned, we’ve come a long way from our humble beginnings.   

Modern Australia is multicultural and diverse. We are wonderfully different.

SBS is a modern public broadcaster for a modern Australia.  

Before I close, I would like to thank you for the continued support SBS receives from across Parliament, and for your attendance this evening.

We have a number of SBS Executives here tonight, and some of our exceptional on air talent across TV and radio who we are so proud to have as representatives of our network. I encourage you to speak to them about the work we’re doing.

But first, let’s take a look at SBS in 2020.  

ENDS