ABC managing director David Anderson has announced his intention to resign after almost six years at the helm of the national broadcaster, saying he feels it's time for renewal in the position.

Mr Anderson was first formally appointed as managing director in 2019 after serving in an acting capacity, and was reappointed in August last year for what was set to be a five-year term.

His reappointment was intended "to end speculation about [his] tenure", the ABC said in a statement at the time, following the decision by Ita Buttrose not to seek a second term as chair in 2024.

Mr Anderson, who first joined the broadcaster in 1989 and has led a number of ABC divisions, said his decision to step down just a year into his second term was not an easy one.

"I am still very much committed to the importance of the ABC to the nation," he wrote in an email to ABC staff on Thursday afternoon.

"I believe it is the right moment for leadership renewal for the next stage of the ABC's continued evolution.

"To have the opportunity to serve the Australian public and lead such talented and dedicated people across the country, and overseas, for what is approaching six years is humbling."

'Constant pressure' in managing director role

Speaking to ABC News' Ros Childs after the announcement, Mr Anderson said he had been in discussion with ABC chair Kim Williams about resigning for some time, and Mr Williams had attempted to talk him out of the decision.

"But look, when you know, you know, and I've made my decision," he said.

When asked whether the pressure he had faced — both internal and external — over the past few years had played any role in the decision, Mr Anderson acknowledged that pressure was "constant", but he hadn't taken on the role lightly.

"Of course it's difficult to know the pressure that you're going to experience [in a job like this] until you're in it," he said.

"These roles are quite demanding — you throw everything at it. But if I look at the ABC at the moment, the ABC is in very good shape."

Mr Anderson said he had agreed to remain in the role until a new managing director is appointed, a process that could take until early 2025.

Mr Williams, who took over as chair from Ms Buttrose in March this year, released a statement shortly after Mr Anderson's announcement, praising his service to the ABC and predicting he would be "treated generously in the overwhelming body of commentary about his decision".

"I have observed to my ABC Board colleagues that my admiration for David and his commitment to the ABC is undiminished and my respect grows ever greater," Mr Williams said.

"He is exemplary in his spirit of public service generally and in his deep abiding commitment to the Corporation."

ABC News director Justin Stevens also praised Mr Anderson's tenure, singling out his leadership from the beginning of his first term.

"When he was appointed the ABC was in a period of disruption and needed calm and assured leadership," Mr Stevens said.

"David has brought that in spades and put the organisation back on an even keel."

Mr Anderson was first formally appointed as managing director in 2019, following the sacking of Michelle Guthrie.

The fallout from Ms Guthrie's sacking saw then-ABC chair Justin Milne resign from his post.

Mr Anderson's resignation follows the announcement earlier this month that the ABC's audiences director Leisa Bacon will step down on September 6.

A 'human shield' for the national broadcaster

Mr Anderson's time as managing director was marked by significant change at the ABC, including a further transitioning of the broadcaster's operations to digital media and heightened scrutiny of the news division's journalism during the Indigenous Voice referendum and Israel's invasion of Gaza following the October 7 attack.

Early in his tenure, the ABC's Ultimo office in Sydney was raided by AFP officers, who seized files related to the ABC's investigation into allegations of unlawful killings and misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.

Mr Anderson criticised the raid, calling it "an attempt to intimidate journalists for doing their jobs" and calling for heightened protections for whistleblowers and public-interest journalism.

He was later compelled to defend the broadcaster's journalism again after a Four Corners investigation revealed allegations of sexism and inappropriate behaviour by then-attorney-general Christian Porter.

Following Hamas's terrorist attack on southern Israel in October last year and Israel's subsequent invasion of the Gaza Strip, Mr Anderson found himself under scrutiny regarding the ABC's journalism and approach to reporting on the conflict.

ABC members of the journalists' union, the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance, passed a vote of no confidence in his leadership in January following the sacking of Antoinette Lattouf in the middle of a five-day presenting stint with ABC Radio Sydney, alleging ABC management had failed to protect the ABC's independence in the face of external pressure.

The ABC board passed a unanimous vote of confidence in Mr Anderson's leadership the following day.

In May, Mr Anderson used an appearance before a Senate estimates committee to defend high-profile ABC journalist Laura Tingle over comments she made to the Sydney Writers' Festival about Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

In an email to the ABC's Parliament House bureau on Thursday, Ms Tingle — speaking in her capacity as a staff member, rather than a board member — said she wanted to record her gratitude to Mr Anderson for bringing stability to the ABC in the period after his appointment.

She also acknowledged "the immense toll that must have been taken on someone who has often had to act as a human shield, or punching bag, for the national broadcaster".

Speaking to Ros Childs, Mr Anderson said in addition to the times he was called to defend the ABC's journalism, he was particularly proud of the broadcaster's expansion in regional and rural Australia, as well as some of the entertainment programming that had begun or continued on his watch.