ABC chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor is leaving the ABC after his role was significantly demoted by new ABC chairman Kim Williams.

Oliver-Taylor confirmed his departure on Thursday, saying the demotion and the board's "redefined creative vision" drove his decision.

"The ABC's Chief Content Officer position will be created in late 2022 with the initial purpose of overseeing audio, digital and screen content," he told staff in an email. "Over the past year, roles and responsibilities have changed significantly, with audio now reporting directly to the managing director and some digital content moving elsewhere. These changes, coupled with the board's redefined creative vision, have prompted me to reflect on the ABC's future needs.”

Oliver-Taylor's tenure was marred by his decision to sack Sydney leisure radio presenter Antoinette LaTouf.

In December 2023, Latouf was suspended from the air three days after signing a temporary five-day contract after posting on social media about the Israel-Gaza war, which ABC said violated editorial policy.

The Fair Work Ombudsman found Latuff was sacked, paving the way for the journalist to bring an unlawful dismissal case. ABC argued before the committee that Latuff was not fired because she was paid for the full five days of her contract.

After mediation failed, ABC and Latuff will go to trial in the Federal Court starting on Monday, February 3.

Oliver-Taylor's departure was announced following the resignation of his ally ABC managing director David Anderson, who appointed him to the newly created position less than two years ago.

Anderson resigned one year into his second five-year term and will be replaced by former Nine chief executive Hugh Marks in March.

Marks was appointed to a five-year term by Williams last month following an "extensive national and international search".

Williams described Marks as a "highly successful media executive" with more than 30 years of experience.

Late last year, Williams reversed Anderson's decision to merge the broadcast network with its television unit under Oliver Taylor into a single content unit.

Williams took over audio duties from Oliver Taylor and handed them to former commercial radio executive Ben Latimer, who was promoted to the executive team. Williams backed Latimer's controversial decision to remove Sarah McDonald and Simon Money from the ABC Sydney broadcast.

Sources say Oliver-Taylor lost responsibility for audio and digital content, his role became untenable, and Williams expressed strong ideas about what ABC should produce in terms of TV documentaries.

Williams has been critical of ABC productions, particularly documentaries, which he said were "in a terrible state." He also said the show's plot "isn't as distinctive as it used to be" and that ABC News sometimes has a "tabloid sensibility."

"If the ABC is not commissioning content that is unique, inherently different and ambitious for Australian audiences and for Australia, then it is not doing its job," William said in November. "If you accept direct investment from the government, you'd better make sure there's a real purpose behind it."

As chief content officer, Oliver-Taylor's responsibility is to commission and oversee the production of all television content. His 2025 slate, announced in November, includes new drama "The Neighbors" and comedy "Optics" as well as "Mystery Road: Origins," "Bay of Fires," "Austin," "Mothers and Sons" and "The News Reader" 》Return.

Oliver-Taylor joins the ABC from Netflix where he was production director for Australia and New Zealand and is the former CEO of Fremantle and managing director of Matchbox Pictures manager. He has previously held roles at the ABC and BBC.

Anderson thanked Oliver Taylor for "delivering significant results for the public during a challenging period for the entire media industry".

He said one of his achievements was to grow ABC iview's weekly users by 20% and ensure it became the number one broadcast video on demand service in 2023-24.

The LaTouf affair damaged ABC's reputation and was also expensive in legal fees. Last year, the ABC Union of Broadcasters conference called for Taylor to step down over what they said was his mishandling of the case.

The committee received documents showing that Oliver-Taylor asked station executives to investigate whether LaTouf violated ABC's editorial standards by tweeting about the Israel-Gaza conflict.

She was removed after sharing a Human Rights Watch post that accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. Human Rights Watch's claims were reported by ABC.