The nation’s peak multicultural organisation, the Federation of Ethnic Communities of Australia (FECCA) has praised national broadcaster SBS’s plans for a new, expanded commitment to promote on-and off-screen diversity and inclusion in its programmes.
FECCA chairperson Mary Patetsos said the new SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) guidelines and targets provided more media pathways for people who were under-represented in the media sector in its Australian programmes.
“FECCA congratulates SBS for its leadership in providing more opportunities for multicultural voices to be represented on our screens. We commend SBS for removing barriers for our communities and aiming for equal participation,” Ms Patetsos said.
“These guidelines also recognise the importance of the intersectionality of multicultural Australians with other under-represented people and groups, and the need to improve media pathways, specifically for multicultural LGBTIQ+ people and multicultural people with a disability.”
She said it was important that people within Australia’s increasingly diverse communities could see themselves in the media and were seen to participate in Australian society through engagement in the media.
“We also welcome and acknowledge SBS’s continued commitment to being a leader in inclusion through its internal policies within the SBS organisation and as outlined in its new inclusion strategy,” Ms Patetsos said.
“FECCA looks forward to continuing to work with SBS to make sure the media needs of multicultural Australians are met through programs and services across all platforms, particularly as our media partner for our upcoming conference, FECCA 2022: Advancing Multicultural Australia.”
