Nine Entertainment has released an independent review of its workplace practices and culture, revealing that the network has a systemic issue with abuse of power and authority, bullying, discrimination and harassment, and sexual harassment.
The review, conducted by leading organisational culture firm, Intersection, involved a company-wide survey in addition to comprehensive interviews held with members of the TV News & Current Affairs department.
The Review of the Broadcast Division revealed troubling findings, with 62 per cent of employees reporting abuses of power or authority. The qualitative data gathered from interviews and submissions highlights a workplace culture lacking accountability, where decisions are driven by personal preferences rather than merit.
The review found that bullying and harassment are reportedly running rampant, with high performers often shouldering heavier workloads while poor performers face no repercussions. Individuals out of favour with leadership are assigned undesirable tasks and shifts, further entrenching inequity within the division. These dynamics create a toxic environment where an individual’s role or status is weaponised to belittle or exclude others, leading to widespread dissatisfaction and unfair treatment.
Additionally, 57 per cent of employees reported that they had experienced bullying, discrimination, or harassment, with behaviours like public humiliation, belittling comments, and intimidation becoming normalised. Driving these behaviours is a lack of leadership accountability, power imbalances, gender inequality, a lack of diversity, and significant distrust in leaders at all levels of the business.
Although sexual harassment rates in the division were below industry averages, 30 per cent of employees still reported incidents, often exacerbated by social events involving alcohol.
Despite these negative experiences, many employees highlighted positive aspects of the workplace, such as strong peer support, pockets of good leadership, and a commitment to their roles. In the last two years, significant improvements have been noted following changes in management, with employees feeling more respected and hopeful about the future, underscoring the potential for positive cultural shifts within the organisation.
The news follows the departure of communications boss Victoria Buchan earlier this week. The news raised eyebrows at the time given its proximity to the release of the workplace culture review findings. While Nine’s leadership framed her departure as part of a corporate restructuring, it was particularly significant due to her close ties with former news and current affairs boss Darren Wick, who left the company earlier this year following a formal complaint.
The Board’s Response
The Nine Board received the Intersection report today and, in the interests of transparency, has released it in full to Nine’s 5000-strong workforce and shared it publicly. The report will inform the work underway to strengthen Nine’s organisational and workplace culture. The report has made 22 recommendations, prioritised into foundational, intermediate and advanced changes required for the reset of culture at Nine.
After considering the report’s findings, the Nine Board committed to implementing all 22 recommendations, and has requested management to provide the Board and employees a comprehensive action plan to uplift the company’s culture during November 2024.
“Today is an incredibly difficult day for Nine as we confront these findings and reflect on serious cultural issues as an organisation. The behaviour outlined in the report is unacceptable. Abuse of power, bullying, sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct is not okay. This behaviour has no place at Nine,” said Nine Chair Catherine West.
“We acknowledge that too many of our past and present employees have been harmed by poor workplace culture, the prevalence of inappropriate workplace behaviours, and an inadequate response in the past from Nine to those behaviours”.
“To any individual who has experienced inappropriate conduct that does not meet the values of Nine, we are deeply sorry. On behalf of the Board, I unreservedly apologise”.
“The strength and courage these individuals have shown in sharing their stories as part of this process will allow us to move forward as an organisation with a clear understanding of where we went wrong and their insights will help strengthen Nine’s culture for the better. For that, we thank them”.
“Despite the proactive culture change agenda already underway, the reality is much more needs to be done and a cultural reset is required. Nine’s Board and leadership team are united in their commitment to accelerating and driving the required change”.
“The Intersection report makes for hard reading for the many people who love working for Nine and all that we stand for. It was personally distressing for me to read these stories from our people. The behaviour experienced by many of our people right across the business is not acceptable in any workplace and falls well below what our people should expect in the work environment,” said Nine acting chief executive officer Matt Stanton.
“While it is important that today all of us at Nine take a moment to reflect, we also move forward with a resolve to do better. We have a responsibility to our people to create a safe and respectful work environment to ensure they can perform at their best. Our people deserve nothing less”.
“This report reflects the findings from the most comprehensive review of culture ever undertaken in the Australian media sector. While our review contains sobering findings, the strong survey participation rate is an indication of the willingness of the Nine workforce to be part of the cultural change,” said Intersection Principal Natasha de Silva.
“The recommendations made by the review are intended to build a safe, respectful and inclusive culture at Nine into the future. I am encouraged by the Board and management’s commitment to transparency demonstrated by releasing the review report in full as well as their commitment to implementing the recommendations”.
