Updated ,first published
ABC staff have been ordered not to delete emails, photographs and documents relating to antisemitism, social cohesion and the Bondi terrorist attack ahead of an upcoming royal commission into the December massacre.
In a message to staff seen by this masthead, the ABC’s director of news Justin Stevens said the National Archives of Australia had issued “disposal freeze notices” to institutions including the ABC and SBS.
The orders inform staff that the public broadcaster is required to keep any document or record which could be relevant to the commission, including on social cohesion, antisemitism, religiously motivated extremism, radicalisation, law enforcement, border control, and the circumstances surrounding the Bondi attack.
Last month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a royal commission into the devastating attack of December 14, which left 15 people dead.
Albanese initially opposed a federal inquiry, arguing that a NSW-based inquiry would be sufficient, but backtracked after criticism from across the political spectrum. Former High Court judge Virginia Bell was hand-picked to be commissioner, with the probe set to conclude before December 14, 2026.
The commission will investigate “the nature and prevalence of antisemitism in institutions and society… in Australia.”
Stevens told ABC employees that the message about keeping records was being sent “to all news staff to ensure we don’t inadvertently miss anyone, however, only some of you will have materials that are relevant.”
Stevens said that ABC staff were obliged to protect a range of material, including, documents, emails, text messages, social media posts, audio records, and datasets. He also warned staff about the use of timed disappearing messages on encrypted apps like Signal, which are frequently used by journalists to discuss sensitive material with sources.
“Going forward, if you receive or send messages on Signal or any similar apps on these topics, continuing to use a disappearing messages setting would be a breach of the notice,” Stevens said.
“If you regularly delete emails for storage and security reasons we have to exclude emails on these topics from deletion until further notice.”
The ABC, along with other government agencies, were issued with a similar notice by the National Archives in 2020, relating to a federal inquiry into potential breaches of the law of war by Australian forces in Afghanistan. That notice remains in place.
The ABC declined to comment. The National Archives was contacted for comment.
An SBS spokesman said: “SBS has only recently received this notice and we are still in the process of working through the implementation and impacts.”
The current notice was issued by the National Archives’ director-general Simon Froude this week, and applies to over 30 government agencies, including the ABC, SBS, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the eSafety Commissioner and the Attorney-General’s Department.
“A disposal freeze is necessary to ensure that these records are protected and available when required,” Froude said in a statement on the archives’ website.
Technically, the notice suspends the National Archives’ permission to destroy government records related to antisemitism and social cohesion. A failure to comply with the notice can incur penalties of up to $6600.
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Kishor Napier-Raman is a senior business writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Previously he worked as a CBD columnist and reporter in the federal parliamentary press gallery.Connect via X or email.