78% of TV news hosts are Anglo Celtic, compared to the population percentage of 54 (Media Diversity Australia, 2022).

30% of Australians are born overseas. Asian Australians account for 17% of Australian population. African born Australians are 1.7%. Over 320 000 Filipino born Australians (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2024).

70% of Australian journalist report having no religion (Weng & Wake, 2023).

30% of Australians claim to have no religion (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016).

52% of Australian population is of a Christian denomination. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism is 7.8% of the Australian population (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016).

TV lowers the self esteem of girls and children of colour, yet has no overall effect of self esteem on caucasian boys (Martins & Harrison, 2011).

Negative race-related reports are most commonly reported on by NewsCorp. NewsCorp, Nine and Seven Media Holding have majority ownership of Australian free-to-air television (Brevini,  & Ward, 2021).

Positive media representation of women and men can help to disrupt harmful gender stereotypes (Ourwatch, n.d).

In Australia female journalists wrote nearly 80% of celebrity and royal family stories in 2019 but only 12% of sport stories (Ourwatch, n.d).

Women are said to report on ‘softer news’ while male reporters focus on ‘hard’ news (Cann & Mohr, 2010).

Only 5% of characters in Australian television were identifiably LGBTQIA+, with only 27% of programs including at least one LGBTQIA+ character among the main cast (McKinnon et al., 2016).

ABS does not collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity (Krikowa, 2022; Australian Government, 2024).

Labor has backtracked on their election promise to include questions on the census to collect data on sexuality and gender identity in Australia (Dhanji & Crowley, 2024).

Research suggests that gay men are disproportionately represented within LGBTQIA+ media portrayals, while lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and non-binary individuals receive significantly less visibility (McKinnon et al., 2016).

"The lack of visibility for certain LGBTQIA+ identities contributes to what the sources call "symbolic annihilation" - the absence of representation reinforces the idea that these individuals and communities are not a significant part of society. This can have a detrimental impact on the sense of belonging and well-being of LGBTQIA+ individuals, particularly youth, and contribute to marginalization and discrimination” (McKinnon et al., 2016).

Hetero-normative assumptions often result in the exclusion of LGBTQIA+ voices unless a story explicitly focuses on LGBTQIA+ issues (Krikow, 2022; Cover, 2024; McKinnon et al., 2016).

Repeated association of LGBTQIA+ characters with vulnerability, suicide, and tragic storylines can contribute to negative perceptions and stigma (Cover, 2021; Cover, 2024).