SBS boosts commitment to Indigenous leadership and innovation with Executive team update
3 February, 2025
Media releases
Tanya Denning-Orman takes on expanded senior role as Director, First Nations, reflecting the national broadcaster's commitment to amplifying the voices and perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the network.
A proud Birri and Guugu Yimidhirr woman, Tanya Denning-Orman has been announced to lead an elevated network-wide strategic approach to Indigenous content across all SBS channels and platforms as Director, First Nations, for SBS.
Tanya Denning-Orman SBS Director, First Nations.
(photo: Claudine Thornton)
In addition to building on the network's growth and success in First Nations storytelling and coverage, she will lead strategies to further embed Indigenous cultural perspectives throughout the organisation. The new role will also be focused on enhancing organisational capability, supporting community engagement and partnerships, and driving the ongoing development of Indigenous staff and the employee experience.
SBS Managing Director, James Taylor, said: Indigenous content, cultures, and leadership holds an integral place in our network today, and in its future. We're proud at SBS to have a strong record of championing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories and perspectives, and Tanya's appointment as Director, First Nations reflects our commitment to continuing to grow that legacy.
As well as leading the evolution and expansion of the Indigenous content strategy across SBS, Tanya will play a critical leading role in continuing to evolve and transform SBS as the national, contemporary public broadcaster for all Australians. She will further embed Indigenous cultural perspectives in our strategy, impacting how we meaningfully engage with communities and how we operate and innovate as a network.
This reflects our ambition as a network to continue to deepen our approach, and builds on the achievements Tanya has been instrumental in driving across the network, her extensive experience and expertise, as well as SBS's role and responsibility as an Elevate RAP partner, and the growth and success of NITV.
Denning-Orman added: This marks another chapter for SBS in bringing Australians together to benefit from increasing understanding and connection with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories, cultures and history. It demonstrates the vital role First Nations perspectives have as part of a network that has a history of being a pioneer in ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have an authentic voice and a platform in the national media, and an ambition and commitment to reach higher, and continue to do more.
We are seeing more Australians connect with our content - we're sharing more First Nations stories than ever before across SBS's news and current affairs, and in more than 60 languages across SBS Audio. But the opportunity ahead for SBS is not only in building on our unique content and coverage, but in how we operate as an organisation, the way we support our people and work with each other, how we engage and partner with communities, how we collaborate across our industry, and as an innovator in an ever-changing media landscape.
Denning-Orman moves into this new role after almost five years on the SBS Executive team as SBS's Director of Indigenous Content, and 12 years of running National Indigenous Television (NITV) as part of the SBS network. Under her leadership, SBS has significantly increased its Indigenous content output and grown audience consumption of Indigenous content across its platforms, while NITV has experienced increasing TV audiences, growth in commercial revenue, and has continued to increase investment in the Indigenous production sector delivering award-wining and critically-acclaimed programming. With her new appointment, Denning-Orman will now step back from the management and operations of NITV, while continuing to work closely with the team in the delivery of the network-wide Indigenous Content Strategy.
This shift will also continue to support NITV's trajectory, Denning-Orman continued. Since joining the channel in 2007, I've been a part of its evolution into the loud and proud voice for mob it is today, and seen the growing influence it has as part of SBS and the wider media sector. This has been possible because of the trailblazing work of those who paved the way decades ago for the right for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to have our unique stories, languages, cultures and aspirations accurately reflected and celebrated in the national media landscape, and because of the dedicated NITV team today who are continuing the work, guided by a strengthened leadership team taking the channel to new heights. I look forward to working with the NITV team, along with colleagues across SBS, in more exciting work ahead.
NITV will recruit a new position of General Manager with editorial and operational responsibility for NITV, a role that recognises the strength of the NITV senior leadership team across the channel's strategy and day-to-day operations.. Jason Oakley, Head of Business, Relationships and Community Impact at NITV, will be Acting General Manager, with a process to be undertaken for the role ongoing.
For a pdf copy of this media release, click here.
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SBS boosts commitment to Indigenous leadership and innovation with Executive team update 
