ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016 No. 40 The Australian Press Council Address: Level 6, 309 Kent Street Sydney 2000 Phone: (02) 9261 1930 or 1800 025 712 Fax: (02) 9267 6826 Email:
[email protected] Web: http://www.presscouncil.org.au ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016 Annual Report No. 40 Year ending 30 June 2016 Level 6, 309 Kent Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Australia Telephone: (02) 9261 1930 1 800 025 712 E-mail:
[email protected] Website: www.presscouncil.org.au ISSN 0156-1308 Chair’s Foreword This Annual Report covers the financial year 2015-2016, a period characterised both by consolidation and remarkable change. First and foremost, the Australian Press Council celebrated its 40th anniversary with a major international conference on press freedom in Sydney in May 2016. The conference was a huge success, bringing together all parts of the news media in Australia to discuss the critical issues facing us. The Conference was very well-supported by Council members and other sponsors, enabling us to fly in a number of international journalism stars to add a richness and gravitas to the occasion. (See Chapter 5 and Appendix 6.) When the Council was first established in 1976, it was a fragile body. Few paediatricians would have given it 40 years or more to live. There have certainly been ups and down over the decades, but the Council is now firmly fixed in the media landscape and playing a very active and positive role in the interests of both publishers and the general community. The Press Council’s first Strategic Plan All Press Council members and Secretariat staff engaged in a highly collegial process to develop, workshop and finally approve the organisation’s first ever Strategic Plan, covering 2016-2020.