Much like the ABC, SBS is moving towards a digital future, though it has not taken actions as significant as making staff redundant to do so.

It is a challenge for every media organisation “to be able to maintain its relevance”, Hua said, pointing to the recent rebranding of SBS Radio to SBS Audio as an example of measures taken to cater to digital listening habits.

Bislama and Telugu migrant communities are on average younger than the wider Australian population, and are high users of social and digital platforms, Hua said, with the opportunity to reach audiences around the country enhanced by having on-demand listening experiences, rather than via traditional mediums.

“One where people can catch up and listen when they like, and one where people can actually distribute to other members of the community through social media platforms by sharing audio podcast files and to have discussions on social media platforms, especially.”

“We’re very proud of the work that we do, and SBS’ charter and mission is around social cohesion and servicing multilingual and multicultural Australians. I think what’s really important for us is our remit and need is only growing.”

“We speak to our audiences, and it is great to have this focus on languages in particular, telling the stories of multicultural Australians which is in fact, the stories of Australia.”

Declining ABC audiences across flagship programming across television and radio have been easier to track, servicing the needs for a wider audience, while SBS offers more than 60 language services, catering to many communities.

SBS launched WorldWatch, its sixth TV channel in 2022, which managing director James Taylor said would be “small, but important”, in provide better news services for smaller, but growing audiences in Australia.

The channel aggregates international news bulletins from broadcasters such as South Korea’s YTN, France’s 20 Heures and Portugal’s RTP, though it still continues to serve a very marginal audience.

With the absolute reach for its language services capped, in the case of Bislama at 1,631 people, Hua said the size of the audience isn’t the measure of success, rather reaching as high of a proportion of those it is for.

“I think that’s something as Australians we should all be really proud of, that we actually invest in our people, and we want people to be able to succeed in the Australian context, whatever that might look like for them.”

The Telugu service’s executive producer, Sandya Verduri moved from India five years ago and says she looks forward to providing a trusted voice for the Australian-Telugu diaspora, as well as helping build the vital connections and understanding needed for social cohesion.

“Already we’ve published podcasts and articles on topics that range from practical everyday information for living well in Australia to heart-warming human interest stories about our local community.”

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