As a new year kicks off, ABC Radio recently announced its Sydney line-up for 2025, featuring eight core hosts presenting various shows each week. It’s often the case that radio and TV networks freshen up their on-air talent for a new calendar year, so as a journalist (and of course audience member), I was keen to see who’s in the mix this time around.
Last Tuesday (January 14), the national broadcaster shared an image on the ABC Sydney Instagram account, showing five presenters from the fresh line-up.
“ABC Radio Sydney has unveiled changes to its presenter line-up including news faces and regulars joining the list of on air presenters,” read the post’s caption, featuring photos of Kathryn Robinson, Hamish Macdonald, Craig Reucassel, Chris Bath and Dom Knight.
Upon looking at the image, I noticed two things. I was thrilled because each of these presenters are extremely talented. I know this firsthand having appeared on ABC radio segments hosted by Macdonald and Knight, and a TV news segment presented by Robinson.
But the other sentiment I felt was one of disappointment. As a South Asian woman who’s worked as a journalist in Australia for more than a decade, I’ve commented on some of the lack of cultural diversity we’ve seen in this country for quite some time. As an issue I’m rather passionate about, it unsurprisingly came to the forefront of my mind when I saw this post about the ABC Sydney radio presenters. Where was the picture of multiculturalism? When approximately 51.5% of Australians are either born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas (as per the 2021 Census), surely our local media – that strives to inform us and ultimately shapes our views on the world – ought to reflect this.
I took a screenshot and then clicked into the post, but it was no longer available to view. While it had appeared on my feed which was already open on my laptop, it had already been deleted from the actual Instagram account.
I immediately sent a screenshot the post to a friend, who responded, “If the national broadcaster isn’t getting it right, then when will the rest of media?” It was such a simple question but one that had merit – one that made me determined to check in on the Instagram account in a few hours. Perhaps, someone had noticed the lack of cultural diversity in the first post and that’s why it was deleted? Sure enough, a new post was published on the social media account later that day. This time, it featured the same five presenters, plus First Nations woman Rae Johnston.
I reached out to ABC for comment on behalf of Draw Your Box, and did two more times in the following days. I’m yet to hear back.
What I do know are the names of the new presenters. Kathryn Robinson, (Sydney Mornings – Friday) Hamish Macdonald (Mornings), Craig Reucassel (Breakfast), Chris Bath (Drive – Monday to Thursday), Dom Knight (Drive – Friday, and Mornings – Saturday) and Rae Johnston already mentioned, plus James Valentine (NSW Afternoons) and Renee Krosch (NSW & ACT Evenings) – I’ve appeared on Renee’s ABC radio shows in the past, and loved it). A closer look at the line-up reveals Johnston will only host on Sunday mornings across NSW. In my opinion, it’s not enough. But it’s something and we’ll take it for now.
Diversity in Australian media is crucial, not just on the radio, but on our TV screens and wider newsrooms. A 2022 report by Media Diversity Australia (MDA) and academics from UTS and The University of Sydney indicated that 78% (up from 75% in 2019) of on-air talent on news and current affairs television were Anglo-Celtic. Only 6.1% were from a non-European background and 5.4% were Indigenous. The findings of the report, titled Who Gets To Tell Australian Stories? 2.0, were based on 25,000 items broadcast on 103 news and current affairs programs between June 1 and June 14, 2022.
While this was a study examining Australian television diversity, it’s important to equally hold radio networks to account. Whether it’s on people’s commutes, in workplaces or simply at home, radio is still a popular medium amongst consumers for news, commentary and entertainment.
Lee Martin – a Senior Lecturer in International Business at the University of Sydney Business School – was one of the academics involved in conducting and analysing the research for the Who Gets To Tell Australian Stories? 2.0 report. Commenting on the predominantly white line-up for ABC Radio Sydney in 2025, she said it’s a “disheartening” example of why Australia is struggling to cater for a multicultural audience through on-air representation.
“More than two years after we released our report on the lack of cultural diversity in Australian news and current affairs on TV, it’s somewhat disheartening to see the same issue showing up in radio, with the new ABC Radio Sydney line-up being a clear example,” Martin told Draw Your Box.
“Some might think diversity matters less on radio because you don’t see the presenters, but that misses the point. A more diverse line-up on radio would bring fresh perspectives and insights, which is so important for connecting with listeners in a city as multicultural as Sydney.”
As mentioned earlier, I’ve had positive experiences myself on both ABC Radio and ABC News TV. An instance that particularly stands out to me is an appearance I made in September 2024 on ABC Radio Sydney’s Drive show. Hosted by Richard Glover at the time (Glover has since retired and Chris Bath has replaced him in 2025), the show featured a regular ‘Critics’ segment which I appeared on every few months. The segment airs commentary and critiques around TV shows, films and music that’s recently been released, or about to be released. I was in the ABC Parramatta studios alongside Glover in the capacity of ‘TV critic’. Meanwhile the ‘film critic’ and ‘music critic’ both joined the show remotely. What stood out to me at that moment was that this was a popular segment hosted by one of Australia’s most beloved radio personalities. Yes, he’s a white man, but he was being informed about the latest in pop culture by three women of colour guests. How often do we hear or see this in Aussie media?
Furthermore, all of us had ethnic-sounding surnames, and it’s a great deal on radio to hear our names being uttered across the state for the public to hear. Young Alicia would never have imagined hearing this, and so I reflected on the positive moment in the video below.
While it’s great to see more people of colour in on-air guest roles, we must ask ourselves how we can further the cultural representation on air, so that we’re not merely the guests, but also main hosts of various programs.
Of course, Australia’s media diversity problem isn’t confined to the ABC. We see issues across the board at every television channel and radio network. But after an eventful 12 months where ABC was also subject to a 2024 racism review – where 120 current and former employees were interviewed, finding that “racism exists within the ABC workplace” – I’d hope the national broadcaster could take a new direction in 2025 and be an example for the rest of the media landscape through its on-air radio talent in Sydney.
ABC has not responded to Draw Your Box’s request for comment.
Top image source: Instagram/abcinsydney
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