Brooke Boney claims an ABC employee made a derogatory comment about her acceptance to Oxford University.
Boney worked as a news presenter for ABC radio station Triple J from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Channel Nine’s Today breakfast show, a role she recently resigned as she prepares to study for a Masters in Public Policy at the prestigious university from the United Kingdom.
Commenting on an explosive report published on Tuesday exposing widespread racism at the ABC, the Indigenous TV star, 37, took to Instagram to claim an ABC staff member made “pretty awful comment” about his Oxford offer.
Now based in the UK, Boney broke her silence by posting a screenshot of ABC CEO David Anderson responding to the publication of the scathing report.
“Unfortunately, this doesn’t surprise me,” she wrote on her Instagram Story.
Very recently I heard some pretty horrible comments made by an ABC employee about my Oxford offer and whether or not I had been offered it on merit.
“If they are willing to say that publicly, they are willing to intimidate Aboriginal staff.”
During her time at ABC, Boney became known for using the traditional Gamilaroi greeting of ‘Yaama’ to introduce herself before reading news bulletins.
Brooke Boney worked as a news presenter at ABC radio station Triple J from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Nine.
She started at Nine as a Today entertainment reporter and then became a presenter before announcing a shock move to academia earlier this year.
‘I thought if I don’t do this now, I probably never will. “I’m at that age where if I leave now, go to school and come back, I’ll only be 38,” Boney said of his decision.
She gave an emotional farewell on screen six weeks ago and moved to London a fortnight ago.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the ABC for comment on Boney’s claims.
Anderson was forced to issue a humiliating apology on Tuesday after the publication of the scathing report which found racism was endemic at the national broadcaster.
The report, which was commissioned in the wake of Stan Grant’s shock resignation from the ABC over claims he received no support while being the target of racist attacks, found that racial discrimination, insults and stereotyping were rife in the organisation.
Specific examples included staff receiving comments about their racial appearance, stereotyping, and being mistaken for another person in a racist manner.
One of the 120 current and former employees who contributed to the report said racism in the workplace severely affected their mental health.
“I got very depressed at that time. I wasn’t eating and I felt like committing suicide,” they said.
Boney said she was shocked by the report exposing racism at the ABC, as it revealed a derogatory comment from someone at the national broadcaster about her university admission.
Another whistleblower told the report’s authors that an ABC colleague asked them: “How many of you are Aboriginal?” Don’t worry, you don’t look like it.
“Wow, you seem like a normal person, not a diverse person at all,” was another comment in the report.
Another complainant said a producer said loudly: “Oh fuck (people from a cultural background) have screwed up again” while a person from that cultural background was within earshot, prompting a gasp from colleagues. .
Anderson has since issued a humiliating apology to all ABC employees, past and present.
“Today I wrote to all staff and expressed that I am deeply sorry for anyone who has experienced racism at ABC because and when it happened,” he told ABC News.
“It shouldn’t have happened, it shouldn’t happen and I’m truly sorry for that experience.”
A scathing report found racism at the ABC was endemic and even led to suicidal feelings in one staff member.
The ABC said it will implement all 15 recommendations in the report, which it hopes all staff will read.
Other measures include implementing anti-racism training across the ABC, providing pathways for career progression and representation of culturally diverse staff at management level, and the creation of a First Nations Chief Strategy Officer role.
The ABC will also strengthen its response to racist attacks against staff, including from social media, with a process where staff members are urged to immediately report any such attack to a centralised, independent team.
Last year Grant, who is a Wiradjuri, Dharawal and Gurrawin man, accused ABC management of “not supporting him” when he suffered racial abuse for taking part in a broadcast panel discussing colonialism before King Charles’ coronation .
“No ABC executive has publicly refuted the lies written or told about me,” Grant said as he stepped down as Q+A host.
‘I do not hold any individual responsible; “This is an institutional failure.”
