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The ABC’s new discussion show ABC National Forum is not a replacement of Q+A, says host David Speers.
“Inevitably, that comparison [to Q+A] will be made, but it’s quite different in terms of its format,” says Speers. “It’s not the audience asking questions, so it’s quite different to that. But look, it is a discussion program, and frankly, the ABC, I think, does have a responsibility to be a bit of a town square and provide a forum for community engagement and understanding each other in a forum like this.”
Nor is it a platform for politicians, says Justin Stevens, the ABC’s news director. “This is not a political program, and it’s not a program to hold politicians to account in that sense.”
And it’s not a copy of SBS’ debate forum Insight, which covers a wide variety of topics and is also filmed in front of a studio audience. “We’re both public broadcasters,” says Stevens, “and we can complement what each other are doing. There’s definitely room and space for both them.”
So, what is ABC National Forum?
Yes, it’s a discussion show, but unlike Q+A, the once-popular political panel show that was axed by the ABC last year, it does not have a fixed time in the ABC schedule. It will be pulled together as and when is needed, say Speers and Stevens, and feature a mix of community leaders, experts and policymakers, as well as “ordinary citizens” to discuss an agreed topic. The first – and only episode announced so far – will focus on the “lives and experiences of Jewish Australians”, not just in the aftermath of the Bondi terror attack, but more generally.
“We want it to be a respectful dialogue,” says Speers. “Certainly, other programs have, and do, focus on the contest of ideas. Certainly, there are plenty of programs where political debate can be combative. We’re deliberately trying not to be combative. We’re trying to help our audience, and all of us, better understand the nature of this problem of antisemitism. Listen to each other more, I suppose.”
Filmed at the ABC’s Sydney studios in Ultimo, the show will be presented as an “in the round” format, with audience members on one side, and then two panels made up of people with first-hand experience of the topic, while the second panel will comprise community leaders and policy experts who will provide ideas to “how we can do a better job of supporting Jewish Australians”, says Stevens.
Guests will include author and former editor of The Age Michael Gawenda; Alex Ryvchin, from the executive council of Australian Jewry; Kate Rosenberg, the executive director of the New Israel Fund; social entrepreneur Ronni Kahn; and the principal of Bialik College in Melbourne, Paul Jeremy Stowe-Linder.
Questions from the audience will also not be vetted beforehand, says Stevens. “We’re being proactive in making sure we’ve got people in the audience who have something to add to this discussion.”
The first topic was chosen, says Speers, not just because of the Bondi terror attack, but because of the build-up of “everyday antisemitism”.
“What we saw at Bondi, I think, stopped so many Australians,” says Speers. “It’s, I think, a timely discussion around not just what happened at Bondi, necessarily, but what everyday anti-semitism looks like for Jewish people and what they’re experiencing.
“It’s not the only form of discrimination, of course, in Australia, [but it’s] one that’s absolutely been on the rise for the last two and a half years, and the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil, 15 lives lost. It’s a good time, I think, to have a good discussion around what the nature of this problem is and what we can do about it.”
Does Stevens feel they need to balance this episode out with one focusing on Muslim Australians, for example? They have also experienced a rise in discrimination over the past few years, particularly recently with comments by One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson, who said on Sky News, “How can you tell me there are good Muslims?”
“This isn’t about debating the merits of discrimination in different parts of the community,” says Stevens. “This is about, very specifically, in this program, elevating the lived experience of what it means to be Jewish in Australia in 2026 that is not defined by Bondi. It is defined by a great deal more. And it’s really important that we give that full picture and a better understanding of what that means ...
“Certainly in our journalism, news and coverage, we are talking elsewhere a lot about the discrimination faced by other elements of the community. So it’s not a binary sort of consideration of what’s being debated. It’s more about, ‘Are we sharing the experiences of different Australians?’ and really endeavouring to make sure we’re elevating the voices of those who haven’t had much of a voice in recent times.”
ABC National Forum is also another clear signal of the direction new managing director Hugh Marks and ABC chair Kim Williams want the national broadcaster to head in. Both have said they want the ABC to engage more with local communities, including through the broadcaster’s “Your Say” platform, which was initiated during last year’s federal election campaign and is largely made up of community vox pops.
In a speech at the State Library of Victoria in June 2024, Williams said he wanted the ABC to be the “nation’s national campfire”, an idea that seems to be reflected in ABC National Forum.
“The forum is Hugh’s idea,” says Stevens. “He’s been really clear since he’s taken on his role that he does strategically see a really important role the ABC needs to play in the town square. We all agree that we need to find a way in this current discourse, which is quite toxic in some respects, and people are feeling quite distrustful of institutions and distrustful of politics.
“And the nature of communication these days, where … social media has meant that often people congregate around their own worldview and don’t necessarily let in other perspectives. We think we can play a really important role in that environment at the ABC, to be able to host discussions where we can share people’s perspectives.”
ABC National Forum premieres at 8.30pm on Monday, March 9, on the ABC.
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