SBS will now service 63 languages in total across radio, podcasting, online and social media, including four new languages to SBS - Bislama, Malay, Oromo and Tetum.
The announcement follows a language services review which examined the results of the 2021 Census, which revealed that the number of Australians using a language other than English at home grew 16% to 5.6 million.
Responding to the growing number of people in Australia speaking a South Asian language, SBS will recommit to servicing Telugu, grow its Punjabi and Nepali teams, and launch an English-language podcast targeted at younger audiences across this broad community to assist daily life and strengthen belonging within Australia.
As well as its continuing NITV Radio service, SBS will increase the prominence of First Nations voices by commissioning content in Indigenous languages to aid language preservation. SBS will also invest in Auslan accessible content and in the SBS Settlement Guide series for emerging migrant communities.
Afrikaans-language audio will be commissioned and distributed through SBS Dutch, and SBS Dari will be renamed SBS Dari (includes Hazaragi) to increase visibility of existing services.
David Hua, SBS director of audio and language content, said: “As SBS nears its 50th anniversary in 2025, we are reaching new audiences on a variety of platforms and continue to be a trusted voice for communities helping to build connection and belonging for all Australians.
"We serve communities both large and small and some of our most engaged audiences are from emerging communities. We’re proud of the great responsibility and opportunity that comes with being able to respond to our changing multicultural society, including the growth of South Asian migration.
“Today’s updates underpin SBS’ commitment to continuing to meet the evolving needs of communities and providing essential information for our newest Australians, as well as amplifying the voices of the world’s oldest living continuous culture and supporting the preservation and access to First Nations languages.”
SBS has also brought together its full multi-platform audio offering under the new brand name SBS Audio to better reflect audience consumption. Content in new and continuing languages, including podcasts, will be available on SBS Audio’s digital platforms including the website and app.
The review process is held every five years in line with the national Census and includes extensive public consultation, community engagement and data analysis. Six languages did not meet the selection criteria in the Language Services Review - Albanian, Bulgarian, Finnish, Romanian, Slovak and Slovenian.
SBS has confirmed it intends to decommission these services, with existing content accessible online for an extended period.
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