ABC complaints system like Dracula and the blood bank – Sky News Australia

The Morrison governments chief ABC agitator has launched a scathing critique against the national broadcasters complaints system, likening it to Dracula and the blood bank.

Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg has compared the ABCs internal complaints processes to a kid marking their own homework and has called for further scrutiny.

The public broadcaster has launched an external investigation into the complaints system but Mr Bragg said the entire process should be independent of the ABC.

He called for a permanent independent ombudsmen and said unless the issue was in the public domain the ABC would not change.

At the moment if you lodge a complaint with the ABC its not dealt with by and independent person, he told Sky News Australia in an interview on Tuesday.

Its a bit like Dracula and the blood bank. They basically mark their own homework.

There are a number of groups that are unhappy with the way that their complaints have been treated over time.

Mr Bragg said there were a litany of examples involving multiple groups including veterans, multicultural communities and Jewish groups who had been unhappy with the ABCs reporting for years.

The reality is that the ABC has continued to make the same mistakes again and again. So this is an opportunity to get some structural changes for the ABC, he said.

Im very focused on trying to ensure we deliver something permanent.

What weve learnt is unless things are in the public domain the ABC will not change. They will not respond to anything else.

The ABCs external review will be conducted by former Commonwealth Ombudsman John McMillan and former SBS news and current affairs director Jim Carroll.

The investigation was launched after strong external criticism about the ABCs Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire documentary was dismissed.

External feedback indicated viewers could have been left with the strong impression that former Premier Neville Wran was complicit in the ghost fire.

But ABC Managing Director David Anderson defended the ABCs record when he spoke to the Environment and Communication Committee during Senate Estimates in late October.

The board think that it is timely that we do a review to benchmark ourselves against best practice when it comes to complaints handling, he conceded.

Mr Bragg also slammed the ABC over its corrections policy which sees mistakes fixed quietly with little fanfare.

When the ABC make a mistake they dont correct the mistake with the same loud voice as it was made in the first place, he said.

I think they should actually be tweeting out that theyve had a complaint upheld and heres the mistake because often its all too late and the damage has been done.

He praised the work being done by those involved in the external review.

I actually met with the reviewers today. I think they have a very important job ahead of them because we want the ABC to get much better at handling complaints, he said.

Mr Bragg's comments come as the Coalition place increasing pressure on the national broadcaster to comply with their social media code ahead of the next election.

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ABC complaints system like Dracula and the blood bank - Sky News Australia

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