ABC and SBS need ‘oversight’ committee to vet Israel coverage, Jillian Segal tells royal commission

Jillian Segal said there was a ‘common and pervasive perception’ in the Jewish community that ABC and SBS coverage ‘lacked balance’. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AP View image in fullscreen Jillian Segal said there was a ‘common and pervasive perception’ in the Jewish community that ABC and SBS coverage ‘lacked balance’. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AP ABC and SBS need ‘oversight’ committee to vet Israel coverage, Jillian Segal tells royal commission Antisemitism envoy says public broadcasters, which currently have ombudsman to handle complaints, need independent oversight committee Antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal wants a new ‘oversight’ committee to vet the ABC and SBS’s Israel coverage, she told the royal commission on Thursday morning. Both the ABC and SBS have independent ombudsman to handle complaints. Segal said a committee outside the organisation should have oversight and that there was a “common and pervasive perception” in the Jewish community that the public broadcasters’ coverage of the war in the Middle East “lacked balance”, that there was an overemphasis on Gaza compared to other conflicts, and that the coverage gave disproportionate voice to anti-Israel perspectives. Anti-Israel perspectives were those that are critical of Israel’s actions, she said. An independent regulator could give coverage a “tick” or “guidance”, she said, and she spoke favourably of media watchdog Ofcom’s role in the UK. “[Ofcom] has powers to open their own investigations. They can look at a story and direct the BBC to take it down, to look at things differently. They can fine the BBC ,” she said. Jewish Australians were almost more frustrated with the existing media watchdog, the Australian Media and Communications Authority (Acma) than with the ABC, she said. The ABC and SBS are set to appear later on Thursday. The ABC said in a statement this week that Middle East coverage generates more complaints than any other topic, and that no complaints of bias in ABC News had been upheld by the ombudsman or investigated by Acma. “In the six months July-December 2025, 51% of complaints claimed the ABC’s Israel-Gaza coverage was broadly pro-Palestinian and 47% claimed it was broadly pro-Israel,” the statement said. “This indicates that perceptions of bias are arising from strongly held views across the community rather than systematic editorial favouritism.” There have been five breaches of editorial standards found by the ombudsman. Commissioner Virginia Bell asked Segal how a committee that included people with a particular “bandwagon” would affect people’s trust in the ABC’s independence. Segal said the committee could be appointed without a Jewish representative as long as the members understood antisemitism. The royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion was established in response to the Bondi beach terror attack , where 15 people were killed at a Hanukah event. One theme of the hearings so far has been how to define antisemitism, and how to avoid confl