Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Bill 2017
Monday 18 September 2017 @ 9.22 a.m. | IP & Media | Legal Research
Last week (14 September 2017), the Senate passed the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Bill 2017 (the Bill) with amendments, which will now be considered by the House of Representatives. The Bill was introduced in June and amends the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth) ("the BSA"). Presented with the Commercial Broadcasting (Tax) Bill 2017, the Bill is part of a number of comprehensive reforms, announced by the Government on 6 May 2017. The aim of this package of reforms is the improvement of the sustainability of Australia’s free-to-air broadcasting sector.
In substance, the Bill proposes to:
- Reform the ‘2 out of 3 cross-media control rule’ and the 75 per cent audience reach rule’ to allow greater control of broadcasters in the output and reach of media, reflecting the changes to media in the 25 years since the BSA was introduced;
- Amend the anti-siphoning scheme and anti-siphoning notice under the BSA;
- Abolish annual television and radio licence fees, as well as datacasting charges payable by commercial broadcasters;
- Establish tax collection and assessment arrangements for introduced interim transmitter licence tax;
- Establish statutory review of the new tax arrangements in 2021;
- Establish a transitional support payment scheme for a number of commercial broadcasters which will ensure that no one of the broadcasters will be disadvantaged in the first five years after the establishment of the Bill.
Rationale
The rationale behind the Bill is to allow for Australian broadcasters to obtain more freedom in the current, competitive broadcasting environment. These changes will reflect the progression of the media since the original BSA was introduced 25 years ago. As stated by Mr Fletcher, Minister for Urban Infrastructure in his second reading speech:
“Australian media organisations play a pivotal role in our society, reflecting and representing Australian culture, informing local communities and supporting our democratic processes. We have come to expect a lot of our media outlets, and the mastheads and networks we have grown up with are ingrained in our daily lives: at work, at home and on the go.
But these organisations are under real pressure. Broadcasters and publishers are operating in an increasingly challenging environment, with intense competition for audiences and advertising revenue from other media companies, including online and on-demand operators and foreign technology companies.
The regulations governing our media companies do not allow them to meet these challenges on a level playing field. Figuratively speaking, they are in a fight with one hand tied behind their backs. Reform is essential if these companies are to have a future, and the government is committed to implementing the necessary change.
The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Bill 2017 contains a number of key elements of the government's Broadcasting and Content Reform Package, which was announced on 6 May 2017. The package represents an integrated set of reforms intended to modernise media regulation and help position the Australian media industry to deal with existing and future challenges more effectively.
The package has the unanimous support of all sectors of the media industry and they consider it to be vital to their longevity and viability. It upholds important policy objectives, including protecting children from exposure to gambling advertising, supporting the creation of high-quality Australian content and ensuring that the value of spectrum—an important public resource—is realised. However, it also removes regulatory barriers and burdens that achieve little from a public policy perspective and undermine the sustainability of Australian media organisations.”
Key Provisions
Schedule 1 of the Bill deals with the abolition of the 75% audience reach rule, repealing subsection 53(1) and subsections 55(1) and (2) from the BSA. Schedule 2 further abolishes the 2 out of 3 cross-media control rule, by repealing a number of sections relating to this rule in the BSA.
Schedule 3 of the Bill inserts new local programming requirements into the BSA, in the form of Division 5D – “Local programming requirements for regional commercial television broadcasting licensees”. Under this division, any broadcaster who, as per the “Trigger event” requirements in s 61CV of the Bill, holds a regional commercial television broadcasting licence, must fulfil a certain number of obligations, such as the requirement in s 61CW(1)(b) that
“the licensee must broadcast, to each local area, material of local significance in order to accumulate ate least: (c) 900 points in each timing period that begins after the end of the period of 6 months beginning on that day; and (d) 120 points in each week that is included in a timing period covered by paragraph (c).”
Other important provisions amended or inserted into the BSA by the Bill include:
- Schedule 3, Part 2: Abolition of old local programming requirements
- Schedule 4: Amendments to anti-siphoning rules in the BSA
Outside of the BSA, the Bill amends the Broadcasting Services (Events) Notice (No.1) 2010, as well as a number of other Regulations and Acts relating to the BSA. These are Acts such as the Datacasting Charge (Imposition) Act 1998, the Datacasting Transmitter Licence Fees Act 2006, and the Broadcasting Services (Datacasting Charge) Regulations 2001.
TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products. Nothing on this website should be construed as legal advice and does not substitute for the advice of competent legal counsel.
Sources:
Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Bill 2017: Explanatory Memorandum and Second Reading Speeches available from TimeBase's LawOne service
