SBS strengthens commitment to inclusion with new commissioning guidelines
8 July, 2025
Media releases
SBS has launched new Commissioning Inclusion Guidelines (2025-2028), reaffirming the broadcaster's commitment to ensuring all Australians see themselves and their communities represented in its commissioned content.
The guidelines outline comprehensive multi-year targets for inclusion of talent from historically and ongoing under-represented communities in roles across SBS-commissioned programs, including internal productions.* They include strengthened targets aimed at addressing gaps in industry representation on and off screen, and continue five decades of SBS's leadership in authentically reflecting Australia and driving industry change.
At SBS, inclusion is central to who we are as an organisation, and underpins how we commission and create content, said Kathryn Fink, SBS Director of Television.
Our previous guidelines set a new benchmark for representation in our sector, and our new Commissioning Inclusion Guidelines for 2025-2028 continue to support our ambition, and SBS's unique purpose as a network.
We believe that an industry without barriers to having your voice heard is essential to fuelling the ongoing success of Australian storytelling both at home, and globally. Our goal is to drive meaningful, long-term industry change by investing in the depth and breadth of Australian talent, on and off screen. We're proud to continue working closely with production partners across the sector to deliver a truly authentic portrayal of contemporary Australia through the stories we commission, and the people who bring them to life, she added.
The launch of the SBS Commissioning Inclusion Guidelines (2025-2028) follows the conclusion of SBS's first Commissioning Equity & Inclusion Guidelines (2021-2024), with SBS successfully achieving all of its targets, which were then extended a year while the next iteration was developed.
SBS's guidelines aim to remove barriers when casting on-screen talent and hiring off-screen crew, and focus on representation of people from five key under-represented groups First Nations peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, LGBTQ+ people, people with disability, and women - based on what Australia looks like today.
In the new guidelines, SBS has updated benchmarks for people with disability and introduced a new sub-target for non-European culturally and linguistically diverse communities. These updates recognise areas where improvement is needed across the sector. SBS's guidelines were also informed by industry engagement and consultation, as well as taking on board SBS's previous performance, and analysis of population and industry data.
SBS's Scripted and Unscripted commissioned programs have targets for on- and off-screen roles, and for career progression, on a show-by-show basis. In measuring this, SBS will also track how it is representing key groups across its entire commissioned content slate.
SBS's commitment to transparency and accountability continues with its new guidelines, with public reporting each year to measure and update on progress. SBS also continues to invest in initiatives providing meaningful career opportunities and pathways for under-represented talent and enriched storytelling. These opportunities, and more information about the guidelines, are available on the SBS website.
* SBS's Commissioning Inclusion Guidelines do not apply to SBS's News and Current Affairs and Sports programming. Targets do not apply to NITV productions which have their own unique equity goals, as outlined in the NITV Commissioning Guidelines.
For a pdf copy of this media release, click here.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
SBS strengthens commitment to inclusion with new commissioning guidelines 
