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Govt flags media reform priorities

Minister Rowland says media policy has been ‘stuck in a rut’ as it looks to change in several key areas.

Yesterday Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland delivered a media policy speech on at the Communications and Media Law Association Seminar in Sydney.

This shed further light on priorities for the Albanese Government.

Here are several excerpts:

There is broad consensus that our laws need to be updated for the digital era.

Yet, as we came into Government, we inherited a situation where not enough of the heavy lifting or the intellectual hard yards had been done.

The previous administration didn’t heed the advice of past inquiries and reviews. Or where they did, the efforts at reform were half-baked or underwhelming.

Reform objectives:

When it comes to the principles, we continue to be guided by the objectives and regulatory policy of the Broadcasting Services Act, as well as Enduring Concepts around market standards, social and economic participation, cultural values and safeguards.

Some of the key objectives that will guide our media reform program include that:

We want a level playing field: one in which Australian media outlets can thrive while maintaining Australia’s well-earned reputation as desirable place to invest and grow new businesses.

We want all Australians to have equitable access to media services and content, regardless of financial means or location.

We want to consistently regulate services that make available content that is ‘like’ TV and radio, and to achieve key policy objectives – such as media that respects community standards and reflects our cultural identity – with the flexibility to accommodate new and emerging services and technologies.

We want Australians to have access to a vibrant and diverse range of news media, as well as relevant local media, where no one voice dominates political and social debates.

This is not an exhaustive list. And those objectives that I have called out today are not new and they are not novel.

Media policy in this country has been ‘stuck in a rut’ of unambitious agendas and failed execution.

We want to break that pattern.

To work together with industry and consumers to achieve meaningful, lasting reform.

To support a strong local media industry and enable all Australians to engage and participate in cultural, political and economic life in Australia.

Immediate term:

In the immediate term, we will focus on three areas.

The implementation of a legislative framework to support the prominence of local television services on smart TVs.

The review of the anti-siphoning scheme and list and – pending the outcomes of the review – the implementation of any related reforms.

The consideration of streaming services within the framework for Australian content – as part of consultation to inform the development of a new National Cultural Policy by the Minister for the Arts.

In parallel, we will develop a News Media Assistance Program, or ‘News MAP’. This is a program of work that will lay the foundations for principled, targeted and evidence-based intervention to support the news media sector.

Our timeframe for these priority reforms will be 2023. In addition to work by ACMA, which I will canvass in more detail shortly, early in 2023 my Department will consult with stakeholders on the framework for the News MAP. Pending the outcomes of the relevant consultation processes we want to be in a position to announce any new measures, and commence their implementation, by the end of the coming year.

Prominence on Smart TVs:

The Government has committed to legislate a prominence framework to ensure that local TV services can easily be found on connected TV platforms.

This goes to the first of the media reform objectives I noted earlier: the importance of supporting a level playing field for Australian media businesses in which they can compete effectively.

Prominence refers to how easy it is to find particular services within the interface of a smart TV.

This is a complicated issue and I have asked a broad range of stakeholders to consider the issues and contribute to the initial design work for the new prominence framework.

This includes TV broadcasters, television and set-top box manufacturers, operating system providers, streaming services, telecommunications operators and consumer representative groups.

Anti-Siphoning list:

The Government has also committed to reviewing the anti-siphoning scheme and list.

This supports another of the media reform objectives I noted earlier: ensuring that all Australians have equitable access to media services and content, regardless of how much they earn or where they live.

The Albanese Government is committed to equity, and recognises the need for events of national importance and cultural significance to remain free of charge and accessible to the Australian public.

The anti-siphoning scheme operates to support this outcome, regulating the order in which television broadcasting rights to important events may be acquired by subscription and free-to-air TV broadcasters.

However, it is a regulatory mechanism that was developed some 30 years ago and it is timely to assess whether it remains fit for purpose and whether changes may be warranted.

I initiated the review last month and this is being supported by a consultation process, allowing all those with an interest to contribute.

Submissions will be open until 6 December and next steps will be informed by the consultation, with the Government to make further announcements ahead of the expiry of the current list in April next year.

Streaming services:

Moving on to Australian content on streaming services, streaming services are one of the most popular ways Australians consume screen and music content.

However, unlike free-to-air commercial broadcasting services and subscription television, these streaming services have no requirements to invest in, or make Australian content available.

This goes to another of the previously mentioned media reform objectives: the desire to consistently regulate services and achieve key policy objectives with the flexibility to accommodate new and emerging services and technologies.

As part of the development of the National Cultural Policy, my colleague, the Hon Tony Burke MP, Minister for the Arts, has been examining the availability of Australian screen content on streaming platforms – an Arts/Comms crossover issue that our two offices are working on together.

A National Cultural Policy is a broad, comprehensive roadmap for Australia’s arts and culture that touches all areas of government.

It will inform work in the Communications Portfolio to modernise media regulation and update analog-era broadcasting legislation for the digital age.

The Government will have more to say about Australian screen content on streaming platforms in due course.

Media diversity:

In addition, the Government has committed to progress measures to support a sustainable and diverse media sector.

Strong and sustainable news media outlets are critical to the health of Australia’s democracy and it is important that all Australians – including those living in remote, rural and regional areas – have access a diverse range of news, content and information.

A key media reform objective is to ensure that Australians have access to a vibrant and diverse range of news media.

To support this objective, the Government is implementing a program of work to support media diversity and public interest journalism in Australia.

In the October 2022 Budget, the Government maintained existing programs to support the media sector, including:

  • The Television Research and Policy Development Program to provide the Government and industry with the information needed to make choices about the future of free-to-air television services in Australia.
  • The extension of transitional support to relevant regional broadcasters for two additional years.
  • A Journalist Fund to support the provision of public interest journalism in the regions.

In addition, the Government made additional funding commitments to support the media sector, including:

  • Better funding for the ABC and SBS with 5-year funding terms and $83.7 million to the ABC to reinstate funding cut by the previous Government.
  • A $15 million lifeline for over 200 regional and local independent newspaper publishers across the country, including First Nations and multicultural publishers, under the Regional and Local Newspaper Publishers Program.
  • An additional $4 million per year of ongoing funding for the Community Broadcasting Program from 2023-24, taking annual funding for the program to over $20 million per year.

Here, I will take a moment to say that when it comes to the ABC and SBS, my commitments demonstrate a clear intention to strengthen the independence of public broadcasting.

And I affirm the words of the ABC Chair, Ita Buttrose, in her address at the ABC 90th Anniversary Gala Dinner, as follows:

“People often underestimate the importance of public broadcasting to democracy. It’s a fact, confirmed by European Broadcasting Union research, that in countries where public service media is well funded and enjoys a high market share there is more political stability and corruption is under control.”

3 Responses

  1. The IOC is in Sydney this week negotiating with 7,9 and Paramount. they want to lock in @l^p!c’s right till 2032 Brisbane. Though the SMH quoted an unnamed source saying 7 and Paramount were against that attempt to get as much money as possible out of them, on the grounds that a decade is a long time in broadcasting, especially when the Government has just announced that going to regulate and start censoring stuff according their own political values. CA has also rejected the network’s bids for the next 5 years of rights, and forced them to resubmit new bids more in line with the amount of money and agenda they want. So soon all the major sports rights will be locked in till around 2030+. All Albo can do is force News Corp to provide less money to Australian sport, like it has for Soccer, Netball, Basketball and Tennis already.

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