The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has launched a new campaign to highlight its emergency broadcasting services ahead of the 2021/22 bushfire season.
Managing Director of the ABC, David Anderson said the campaign would remind audiences of the ABC’s role as an emergency broadcaster and the support it provided to affected communities, emergency response organisations and community groups.
“Since the bushfires of 2019/2020, we have continually looked at ways in which we can improve and extend our emergency broadcast services to meet the increased demand from communities affected by extreme weather events,” Mr Anderson said.
“This summer we have introduced new measures and ABC content that will help Australians prepare for emergencies,” he said.
“We have increased the number of staff in our national emergency broadcast team in readiness for this summer – based in Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia.”
Mr Anderson said ABC teams had spent downtime over the winter months training almost 300 Local Radio staff to get them ready for emergency broadcasting.
He said the campaign would run across all ABC platforms, with a focus on connectedness and preparedness during emergency events.
“It is important Australians know they can turn to the ABC in times of emergency,” he said.
“Independent research commissioned following the Black Summer bushfires showed that not only was the ABC the most trusted source of information during an emergency, but lives were saved as a result of people acting on information we provided,” Mr Anderson said.
