The ABC’s Four Corners has been found to have breached its impartiality obligations over a program examining the redevelopment of the Australian War Memorial.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found the episode, Sacrifice, which aired on March 10, 2025, “breached its impartiality obligations”.
The program examined the controversial $500 million redevelopment of the national war memorial in Canberra, including plans to demolish its rear section and replace it with a much larger facility.
ACMA found Four Corners favoured critics of the redevelopment through its presentation of an Australian National Audit Office report, its analysis of the consultation process and the selection and treatment of interviewees.
The regulator also found the program had conflated different stages of the consultation process, which was likely to leave viewers confused “as to the accuracy of the claims” made by War Memorial director Matt Anderson.
The episode was promoted by the ABC as revealing “how the Australian War Memorial is increasingly entwined with the global arms industry – raising troubling questions about conflicts of interest, corporate influence and the future of the memorial itself”.
ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said investigative journalism could take different approaches, but Four Corners was still required to meet the ABC’s impartiality obligations.
“Investigative journalism plays an important role in scrutinising matters in the public interest,” O’Loughlin said.
“However, the ABC must present contentious issues with due impartiality and provide audiences with sufficient context.
“We found that the cumulative effect of the program’s framing, its use of strong and emotive language and its selection and differing treatment of interviewees unduly favoured critics of the redevelopment.”
ABC managing director Hugh Marks has rejected the finding, arguing the regulator’s interpretation of the ABC’s code could affect investigative journalism.
“If this interpretation of the code is applied, including more widely across the industry, it could have a chilling effect on the body of investigative journalism that delivers the most important stories that serve the public interest,” Marks said in a statement.
An ABC spokesperson said the finding created an unworkable interpretation of impartiality and imposed false balance on public interest reporting.
“It fails to understand the difference between an explanatory interview and an accountability interview, and the obligation on public officials to be held to appropriate scrutiny,” the spokesperson said.
The ABC said it stood by reporter Mark Willacy, the Four Corners team and the processes followed in producing the program. The episode will remain available online in full.
The complaint that led to the ACMA investigation was made by Kim Beazley, chairman of the Australian War Memorial and a former Labor leader.
The ABC’s independent Ombudsman separately received three complaints about the program in 2025 and found there had been no breach of its standards.
ACMA also received a complaint about the program’s accuracy but found no breach of the relevant requirements on that issue.
The finding is the second against Four Corners this year. ACMA previously found the 2024 episode Water Grab breached the ABC’s accuracy and impartiality requirements.
O’Loughlin said it was disappointing that the ABC had rejected the latest finding, particularly given the earlier decision.
ACMA cannot compel the ABC to remove the episode or retract parts of it.
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