Brooke Boney claims an ABC employee made a derogatory comment about her admission to Oxford University.
Boney worked as a newsreader for ABC’s Triple J radio station from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Channel Nine’s breakfast show Today – a role she recently left while preparing for a Masters of Public Policy at the prestigious British university.
In response to a bombshell report released on Tuesday exposing widespread racism at the ABC, the Indigenous TV star, 37, took to Instagram to claim that an ABC employee ‘pretty awful comment’ about her Oxford offer.
Boney, now based in Britain, broke her silence by posting a screenshot of ABC director David Anderson reacting to the publication of the damning report.
“Unfortunately not surprised,” she wrote on her Instagram story.
‘I recently heard some terrible comments made by an ABC employee about my offer at Oxford and whether or not I had been offered it on merit.
“If they want to say that publicly, they are willing to bully Aboriginal staff.”
During her time at the ABC, Boney became known for using the traditional Gamilaroi greeting ‘Yaama’ to introduce herself before reading news bulletins.
Brooke Boney worked as a newsreader at ABC radio station Triple J from 2016 to 2018. She did photography during her time at the national broadcaster before moving to Nine
She started at Nine as an entertainment reporter on Today and later 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 college and come back, I’m only 38,” Boney said of her decision.
She said an emotional on-screen farewell 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 groveling apology on Tuesday following the publication of the damning report which found racism was endemic at the national broadcaster.
The report, which was drawn up following Stan Grant’s shock resignation from the ABC over claims he was denied support while being the target of racist attacks, found racial discrimination, insults and stereotyping were rife within the organisation.
Specific examples included employees receiving comments about their racist appearance, stereotyping and being racially mistaken for someone else.
One of the 120 current and former employees who contributed to the report said racism in the workplace had seriously affected their mental health.
‘I got really depressed then. “I wasn’t eating and felt suicidal,” they said.
Boney said she was surprised by the report exposing racism at the ABC, as she revealed a derogatory comment made by someone at the national broadcaster about her university admissions.
Another complainant told the report’s authors that an ABC colleague had asked them: ‘How many of you are Aboriginal? Don’t worry, you don’t look good.’
“Wow, you look like a normal person, not a diverse person at all,” was another comment in the report.
Another complainant said a producer loudly said ‘oh the f*****g (people from cultural backgrounds) have messed up again’ while a person from that cultural background was within earshot, causing a gasp among colleagues.
Mr. Anderson has since issued a groveling apology to all ABC employees, past and present.
“I have written to all staff today saying I am deeply sorry to anyone who has experienced racism at the ABC, whenever that is and whenever that has happened,” he told ABC News.
“It shouldn’t have happened, it shouldn’t have happened and I’m truly sorry for that experience.”
A damning report found racism at the ABC was endemic and even caused one staff member to feel suicidal
The ABC said it will implement all 15 recommendations of the report, which it expects all staff to read.
Other measures include rolling out anti-racism training within the ABC, providing career development pathways and representation of culturally diverse staff at management level, and the creation of a First Nations Director of Strategy role.
The ABC will also strengthen its response to racist attacks on staff, including via social media, with a process where staff are urged to immediately report any such attack to a centralized and independent team.
Last year, Grant, a man from Wiradjuri, Dharawal and Gurrawin, accused ABC management of ‘not supporting him’ when he was racially abused for taking part in a television panel discussing colonialism ahead of King Charles’ coronation.
“Not a single ABC executive has publicly refuted the lies written or spoken about me,” Grant said as he stepped down from his role as host of Q+A.
“I don’t hold any individual responsible; this is an institutional failure.”