Incoming ABC boss Michelle Guthrie has defended the national broadcaster's place as a "true independent public broadcaster" after being announced as Mark Scott's successor.
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And the current managing director for Google's Asia-Pacific agencies has not ruled out options for "monetisation" at the national broadcaster such as advertising or an online paywall.
Ms Guthrie was officially announced on Monday morning as the replacement for outgoing managing director Mr Scott. She will begin the role in May after a month-long handover period with Mr Scott.
In an interview with ABC 24 she said the essence of the ABC as an institution was its independence.
"Having the role as being a true independent public broadcaster and being able to really deliver fantastic content across platforms, across digital, mobile, television, radio, to all Australians is extraordinary and my hope is that I can really contribute to the organisation," she said.
"The important thing for me around the ABC is that sense of being an independent public broadcaster rather than a state broadcaster and I think that's an important distinction."
Her comments come after a year in which the Coalition government, led by then prime minister Tony Abbott, waged war on the public broadcaster and accused it of left-wing bias.
Before the announcement of Ms Guthrie's appointment had even been made on Monday, some government MPs had begun making public statements on how the new managing director should do her job.
Dumped minister Eric Abetz issued a press release headed "New ABC boss must stop lefty love-in".
"The new managing director will inherit an unbalanced and largely centralised public broadcaster which has become a protection racket for the left ideology," Senator Abetz said.
"The Ultimo-centric ABC has become engrossed in group think so much so that there is complete denial of any problems."
A review of the ABC's Q&A, which the Abbott government attacked for last year for being too left wing, last week cleared the program of any bias.
Ms Guthrie said the ABC's biggest challenge was how it stayed relevant to audiences whose consumption patterns were rapidly changing and she hoped to use her experience at Google in assisting the ABC through the digital transformation.
She did not rule out the possibility that some ABC online content could be put behind a paywall at some stage, but said "it's way too early for me to talking about any of that".
"Obviously my sense is that there is incredible content already available online. The current ABC charter talks about the restrictions in which we operate or the environment in which we operate and I'll continue to work within that charter and also in terms of what the audience really desires," she said.
Ms Guthrie was asked whether the ABC could adopt a similar model to the BBC, which featured some advertising on its websites.
"It is important on an overall basis in budget constrained types to really look at all options around monetisation but as I said it is early to be able to make pronouncements," she said.
