ABC FUNDING

Why does the ABC need more money?
Because it can no longer provide the quality service that is required. Since 1985-6 and ABC funding has declined by 27.7%in real terms. (Source: Macquarie Bank)
A 2001 study by the Macquarie Bank found that the ABC's per capita revenue was the second lowest of eighteen western countries, with the ABC's per capita revenue being just over half of the average.

The ABC already costs a lot. Will we get value for money?
Yes, the ABC is very efficient. U.K. taxpayers pay three times as much per capita to fund the BBC. Canadians pay one and a half times as much per capita to fund the CBC. ABC television costs 36% of the hourly cost of Australian commercial television, and ABC radio costs 40% of cost of Australian Commercial radio (Source: Professor Glenn Withers, Australian Financial Review 22 March 2000).

Why should all taxpayers pay for the ABC when only 10% use it. Why should the battlers fund a plaything of the elites?
Nine out of ten (86%) of Australians use the ABC each week (Australian Nationwide Opinion Polls, 1990). Since 1990 ABC audiences have risen slightly. The claim that only a minority use the ABC is quite wrong. The ABC has a critical role in bringing Australians together, and in explaining Australia to the world.

That sounds OK in theory, but it will cost. Will taxpayers be prepared to pay?
The National Social Science Survey, carried out in 1999 and made available to Professor Glenn Withers of the ANU in March 2000, found that "the average willingness to pay for the ABC was 30 per cent higher than the 1999 actual mean outlay ($48 per head versus $37). " The survey found that taxpayers wanted to pay less for social security, defence, industry assistance and a range of other government services, but were willing to pay more for the ABC.

For more details see

The latest cuts - salami slicing or amputation?
Friends of the ABC Triennial Funding Briefing Notes.