The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) has chosen Sydney’s West as its next broadcasting hub, as the area experiences exponential growth in new housing, schools, and infrastructure. This includes upgrades to the T3 Bankstown Line between Sydenham and Bankstown, the $7 million revitalization project of the Merrylands Town Centre, and Parramatta’s inspiring redevelopment of the iconic Riverside Theatre and the completion of the Parramatta’s Powerhouse.
The SBS, known for its unique and multiplatform coverage of diverse cultures and heritage in Australia and around the world, has identified Sydney’s West as its next broadcasting hub due to its rich and diverse cultural population. SBS Board Chair George Savvides AM highlights the proposed expansion as a natural progression for the broadcaster, aimed at sustaining and expanding content for more than 60 of its diverse language communities and national Indigenous communities.
“The SBS Board is delighted at the opportunity to embed SBS within Western Sydney, and to keep growing SBS’s contribution to social cohesion through community access to trusted, impartial media and even greater opportunities for local communities to be part of our diverse storytelling,” George Savvides AM said.
While Parramatta has sites that contend for the hub, the City of Canterbury-Bankstown and Cumberland City Council have also expressed interest in becoming the new home for SBS.
Parramatta Lord Mayor, Cr Martin Zaiter, maintains Parramatta as the ideal location for the broadcaster, given the area’s connectivity to transport, ease of doing business, and status as an urban hotspot.
“Positioned at the heart of Greater Sydney by both geographic location and population spread and well connected by transport, Parramatta is the prime location for SBS to bring its team closer to its audience and the people sharing their stories.
We are a diverse, multicultural city with more than half of the population born overseas and speaking a language other than English at home, with almost 70 per cent having two parents born overseas,” Martin Zaiter said.
However, across Sydney’s West, both the City of Canterbury-Bankstown and Cumberland City Council are considering housing the broadcaster, shifting the focus away from Parramatta.
The City of Canterbury-Bankstown expressed its interest in housing the SBS production hub in the region, according to a spokesperson.
“Council has long advocated for the relocation of SBS to our city and we would welcome an SBS production Hub,” the spokesperson said.
“Canterbury-Bankstown is right in the multicultural heart of Sydney and it is only fitting that our country’s multicultural broadcaster plants its roots here.
More than 200 cultures meet on our streets every day. It is also a place of ideas, innovation and education, where people work hard and grasp their opportunities.”
The spokesperson added that the new metro upgrades will provide a great transport link for staff and talent visiting the media hub.
Cumberland City Council met with the SBS Relocation Feasibility Study Steering Committee in November 2023 to express its interest in opportunities for SBS to invest in Western Sydney.
The council supports a precinct-based approach for relocating SBS facilities, believing it will benefit both the industry and the community. Merrylands, as Cumberland’s strategic centre, is considered an ideal location for the SBS.
“Cumberland is in the heart of Sydney and represents modern, multicultural Australia. With vibrant town centres, plenty of services, and great transport links to Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, it’s a great location for workers and visitors to a new SBS Hub in Western Sydney,” the spokesperson said.
The SBS will seek expressions of interest for potential sites to house the production hub in early 2025.
Oz Arab media has reached out to the Liverpool City Council for further comment on the recent announcement.
