Justin Stevens resigned as director of news and current affairs at the ABC on Wednesday, ending a run that began in 2022 and leaving the public broadcaster to replace the head of a newsroom that employs just under 2,000 people. Simon Robinson is expected to be named as the next ABC News director.
Stevens told staff of his departure on Wednesday afternoon. In a farewell note, he said there was “no more complex news organisation in the country, no more scrutinised institution, and few so laden with public expectations,” and said he had tried to strengthen and defend the broadcaster’s journalism while also improving its culture and adapting to digital change.
The move lands at a sensitive moment for the ABC. The appointment of Stevens’ replacement will be Hugh Marks’ biggest decision since he arrived in early 2025, and he declined to comment on the appointment during a Senate Estimates hearing on Thursday. The role carries a total package, including superannuation, of $678,000, making it one of the most closely watched jobs inside the broadcaster.
Robinson would bring a different background to the top job. He is an Australian currently based in the UK and has been executive editor for, but he has never worked in television. That would make him a notable choice for a newsroom whose nightly bulletin regularly attracts an average audience of 1 million viewers.
Stevens’ departure follows a period of major upheaval in Australia’s largest newsroom. Under former managing director David Anderson, the ABC pushed a digital-first strategy and more than 120 roles were made redundant, including the removal of political editor Andrew Probyn. Since Marks’ arrival, the broadcaster has placed renewed emphasis on broadcast, a shift that has come alongside about 50 more job cuts.
It is that friction — between digital ambition and broadcast reach, and between cost-cutting and editorial stability — that now defines the handover. Stevens leaves with the newsroom still under pressure, and the next director will inherit a large staff, a costly brief and a public audience that expects the ABC to be both resilient and unmistakably authoritative.
