A senior ABC executive has apologised to Australian Conservatives candidate Kevin Bailey after he was labelled a "c---" on Tom Ballard's Tonightly program.

The ABC's head of entertainment, David Anderson, phoned Mr Bailey this week after the controversial skit made headlines.

However, the ABC insists the apology does not mean it was wrong to broadcast the segment and says it is following due processes.

"The material was reviewed by the program teams prior to broadcast and posting, ensuring both complied with the ABC's editorial standards on harm and offences and also the appropriate classification standards," an ABC spokesman said.