Stan Grant has permanently stepped away from his role as host of ABC’s Q+A, two months after he went on leave following racial abuse.
Patricia Karvelas will take over the role on a permanent basis.
The ABC’s news director Justin Stevens said Grant, 59, will continue to work on new projects for the national broadcaster.
‘We want to do all we can to support Stan and ensure he continues to play a major role in Australian media,’ Mr Stevens said on Monday.
‘He has the ability to lead our media toward a kinder and more constructive conversation. In Wiradjuri ‘dyiraamalang’ means a teacher and leader.
‘Stan Grant, a proud Wiradjuri man, is both of those things and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does into the future.
Stan Grant is pictured with wife Tracey Holmes
Stan Grant has permanently stepped away from his role as host of ABC’s Q+A, two months after he stepped down following racial abuse
‘Patricia Karvelas has been doing an outstanding job as fill-in host and we’re delighted she has agreed to continue in that role.’
Grant remains on leave with no return date, an ABC spokesperson said.
The former Q+A host had announced in May he would be stepping down after he was racially abused over a panel discussing colonialism ahead of King Charles’ Coronation.
The ABC reportedly received more than 1,000 complaints for its allegedly ‘disrespectful’ May 6 Coronation coverage, which linked the British monarchy with the dispossession of Aboriginal people since 1788.
In the wake of the coverage, Grant said he had been subjected to ‘relentless racial filth’ with viewers targeting him because he is Indigenous.
‘The ABC has this year lodged an official complaint with Twitter about the relentless racial filth I am subjected to,’ he said.
‘I am not beyond criticism. I occupy a privileged and prominent place in the media — I should be critiqued.
‘And I am not thin skinned. Aboriginal people learn to tough it out. That’s the price of survival.
‘For years I’ve been a media target for racism and paid a heavy price. For now, I want no part of it – I’m walking away.
‘For how long? I don’t know. I don’t take time out because of racism — I won’t give racists the satisfaction.’
Grant also took aim at the ABC, saying he had not felt supported.
‘Not one ABC executive has publicly refuted the lies written or spoken about me,’ he said.
The former Q+A host had announced in May he would be stepping down after he was racially abused over a panel discussing colonialism ahead of King Charles’ Coronation
Grant took aim at the ABC when he announced he would be stepping down, claiming he did not feel supported by the broadcaster
‘I don’t hold any individual responsible; this is an institutional failure.’
In his closing remarks on his final Q+A show in May, Grant said he was ‘down right now’, but he would get back up again and challenged the media to do better.
‘You can come at me again – and I’ll meet you with the love of my people,’ he said.
‘Don’t mistake our love for weakness, it is our strength. We have never stopped loving and fighting for justice and truth.’
The ABC’s independent ombudsman cleared the broadcaster of breaching editorial standards during its coverage of the King’s Coronation.
Grant in January 1992, at age 28, became the first Indigenous host of a commercial prime time TV show as the frontman of Seven’s Real Life current affairs program, which in 1993 briefly out rated Mike Willesee’s A Current Affair on Nine.
He later hosted Today Tonight on the same network and was a Europe correspondent for Seven before moving to Hong Kong to present for CNN.
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