Australia’s TV newsrooms are still dominated by Anglo-Celtic reporters and presenters despite the nation becoming increasingly diverse, a new study has found.

The study says more than three quarters of presenters and reporters on free to air news and current affairs programs have an Anglo-Celtic background.

The Seven Network had the highest proportion of Anglo-Celtic presenters followed by Nine, ABC, 10, and SBS/ NITV.

While SBS had the highest proportion of Non-European, NITV had the highest in Indigenous talent.

The report, titled ‘Who Gets to Tell Australian Stories’ was the second of its kind commissioned by not-for-profit advocacy group Media Diversity Australia.

The study covers a two week period between June 1 and 14 2022 and only looks at free-to-air news.

It defined ‘cultural diversity’ as being based on a person’s ethnicity and ancestral background.

The study found the overall share of appearances on television by presenters and reporters of Anglo-Celtic background increased slightly from 76 per cent in 2019 to 78 per cent in 2022.

“The share of appearances on television by presenters and reporters of European cultural background declined to 10 per cent; that of non-European background rose to 6 per cent,” the study said.

“But the non-European category remained the most severely under-represented, particularly on commercial networks.

“The share of appearances on television by presenters and reporters of Indigenous background improved overall to 5 per cent but was inconsistent across networks,” the study said.

The survey included almost 25,000 items broadcast on 103 news and current affairs programs across all time slots.

None of the commercial networks, the Seven Network, Nine and Network 10, had more than 1.3 per cent of appearances by non-European presenters and reporters, the survey found.

This was an under-representation, given the share of non-Europeans in the general population is at least 19 times greater, at 25 per cent, the study said.

Researchers could not identify a single appearance by an Indigenous presenter or reporter at the Seven Network in the two-week sample period.

The survey also found SBS was the only network board to have a culturally diverse mix of Indigenous, Anglo-Celtic, European and Non-European members.

The report recommended Australia follow international practice which sees media regulators, such as in the UK, requiring media outlets to collect and publish their diversity metrics; better mentorship; supporting regional newsrooms in achieving greater diversity; and media outlets to publish their diversity outcomes to celebrate progress.

Read the full report: Who Gets to Tell Australian Stories? 2.0 – Media Diversity Australia