ABC reveals it will move 300 staff from its trendy inner-city HQ into Sydney's west in a bid to have 'greater visibility'
- The ABC will relocate 300 staff to western Sydney from their CBD head office
- The broadcaster said the shift was to better engage with local communities
- Chair Ita Buttrose said move was part of biggest decentralisation of their history
The ABC is set to shift a large chunk of its workforce from the Sydney CBD to the city's west in an effort to achieve 'greater visibility' in the city's 'geographic heart'.
Staff were told via an email on Wednesday that 300 employees would be required to relocate from the broadcaster's Ultimo office to Parramatta where about 10 staff already work.
Managing director David Anderson said the move was the first step in a plan to have 75 per cent of ABC content makers working away from their inner-city HQ by 2025.
The ABC is shifting 300 staff from their inner-city Sydney office to Parramatta (file image)
'Parramatta is at the geographic heart of Sydney,' the ABC said in a statement.
'Increasing the ABC's workforce based in Western Sydney will provide it with greater visibility and connection to a growing community which is home to one in 11 Australians.'
The broadcaster added staff would be more easily able to engage with more areas of the city than is currently the case from their CBD building.
About 200 of the employees being moved will be from content departments with some news and entertainment sections being considered.
The remaining 100 will be made up of support staff.
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The teams will be housed in a newly-built premises complete with television and radio studios.
The exact location is yet to be determined with a property advisor currently helping management find suitable sites.
ABC chair Ita Buttrose said in a speech a key focus of the broadcaster's five-year-plan was to shift to be more strongly represented in suburban, outer-urban and regional areas.
She described the move as the 'biggest decentralisation in ABC history'.
'The ABC has also been regarded, with fair reason, as too inner-city focused,' Ms Buttrose said.
ABC chair Ita Buttrose (pictured) said the shift was part of the biggest decentralisation in the broadcaster's history
She said new technology allowed teams to get out into the community 'reporting the stories that matter to all Australians, especially those who live beyond the inner ring of the capital cities'.
The ABC is expected to notch up about $70million from the sale of two Melbourne sites which could be used to fund the new Sydney premises.
Space freed up in the HQ by the move could also be leased out to tenants, the broadcaster said.
The new Sydney studios are likely to be complete by 2024.
