The SBS logo can be seen on a building in Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 30, 2023. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times
The managing director of Australia’s multicultural broadcaster, the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), has been told to “go away and seek some advice” after declining to disclose the cost of her team’s trip to the FIFA World Cup.
The comments were made during the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee hearing in Senate Estimates on Oct. 27.
The tournament ran from June 11 to July 19, 2026, across 16 host cities in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
SBS was the official Australian broadcast partner and provided coverage, showing all 104 matches. However, details remained unclear over the broadcaster’s overseas contingent and the cost of its travel.
A back-and-forth ensued between SBS’s Jane Palfreyman and Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson, who called on the SBS to reveal the cost of the trip, arguing that the broadcaster—which is largely taxpayer-funded—remained accountable to parliament for its expenditure.
Palfreyman told the hearing that the trip allowed SBS to generate significant revenue, but declined to disclose how much was spent.
Related Stories
“The client event of this nature actually forms part of the overall sponsorship arrangements with the key sponsor who sponsor the World Cup on SBS, and the details of those arrangements are commercial in confidence,” she said.
“In saying that, I can answer some of your questions. We take 15 clients along, they are our key sponsors to the event in America.”
Henderson told Palfreyman that even if some elements of the information needed to be redacted, the SBS was still obligated to provide basic information.
“This is Senate Estimates, so SBS is accountable to the parliament for its expenditure,” she said.
“So the fact that it might be confidential does not mean it is exempt from disclosure.”
Palfreyman subsequently confirmed that three SBS representatives—the directors of commercial and media sales, and the deputy chair—attended alongside the 15 clients.
She told the hearing the group was in the United States for eight days, attended three general-admission FIFA World Cup events, and flew business class.
Palfreyman said the trip was a key part of the SBS’s efforts to generate revenue, and disclosing the costs would put the broadcaster at a commercial disadvantage.
“Sharing the information in this way in this forum would be akin to sharing our commercial strategy,” she told Henderson.
Henderson questioned why the travel cost could not be disclosed, arguing that the information concerned expenditure rather than the details of sponsorship arrangements.
She also noted the broadcaster had disclosed costs for similar events in previous years.
The hearing also established that a separate SBS production crew also travelled to America.
Palfreyman also declined to disclose the cost of broadcasting the FIFA World Cup, saying that revealing the expenditure would put SBS at a commercial disadvantage.
The SBS executive agreed to take the questions on notice and said she would consider what information could be provided.
