A secret study of ABC operations has identified $60 million worth of potential savings, a finding the Abbott government will use to justify a new round of cuts to the broadcaster's budget.
Fairfax Media can also reveal the government is considering issuing directions to the ABC and SBS on managing their budgets - a move that would mean the government exerting greater influence over the broadcasters' operations.
Critics fear the ''alarming'' plans, contained in the Abbott government's efficiency study into the ABC and SBS, could undermine the broadcasters' independence.
The government cut the ABC's budget by $35.5 million over four years in the May budget - a cut the government described as a ''down payment'' on the results of the efficiency study.
The study, led by former Seven West Media chief financial officer Peter Lewis, says the government could encourage belt-tightening at the broadcasters by issuing a regular Ministerial Statement of Expectations to their boards.
The study acknowledges the idea is ''controversial'' and could spark concerns that the government is intervening in the ABC and SBS for political reasons.
To avoid this, the statement of expectations would have to focus on financial and administrative matters rather than the quality of programming, the study says.
The ABC and SBS would have to respond with annual statements
detailing how they are managing their resources, how they are working together, and how they will seek further savings.
The move would bring the broadcasters in line with other government bodies, such as the CSIRO, ASIC and NBN Co.
A spokesman for Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: ''The minister is working with the broadcasters over the coming months to ensure their businesses are run as efficiently as possible but, ultimately, decisions about particular efficiencies are a matter for the ABC and SBS boards.''
There is a strong feeling within the government that the ABC lacks accountability for how it spends taxpayers' money.
ABC Friends spokeswoman Glenys Stradijot said the proposal was ''alarming'' and would undermine the broadcaster's independence. ''The government should not micromanage the ABC,'' she said.
''If the ABC's independence is to be upheld, its affairs must continue to be managed by an independent board, and its accountability must remain to the parliament as a whole, not to the government of the day.
''Rigorous and proper mechanisms for ABC financial accountability already exist.''
The ABC's responsibilities and priorities are outlined in its charter, which can only be changed by legislation passing both houses of parliament.
The study - ordered by Mr Turnball - identifies about $60 million in ongoing back-office savings at the ABC, achieved through outsourcing, more efficient use of technology, joint purchasing, and in other areas.
The review canvasses outsourcing ABC television production to the private sector, moving SBS into ABC headquarters, increasing the amount of advertising on SBS, and abandoning digital radio. It also calls for the ABC to conduct a review of its 60 local radio stations.
These savings, which equate to 7.5 per cent of the ABC's annual budget, would be offset by $75 million in one-off implementation costs. Mr Turnbull has insisted that any future cuts should only affect back-office operations, not programming. But ABC and SBS insiders dispute this, arguing that many of the study's savings proposals - such as moving SBS in with the ABC - are short-sighted and impossible to implement.
This month the ABC announced it would axe 80 jobs in its international division following the government's termination of funding for its $223 million Australia Network foreign broadcasting service.
