RESEARCH PAPER SERIES, 2021–22    Updated 31 May 2022

Media policy and regulation: a quick guide

Philip Dearman and Emma Vines

Social Policy

This quick guide lists online resources relevant to Australian media legislation, policy administration, standards, ratings research, and industry advocacy. It includes links to selected overseas regulatory bodies.

1 Australian legislation

• The Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (BSA) sets out the regulatory framework for the broadcasting industry in Australia. Its objects (outlined in section 3) include: promoting the availability of a diverse range of broadcasting and datacasting services; facilitating development of an industry that is efficient, competitive and responsive to audience need; encouraging ‘diversity in control of the more influential broadcasting services’; and promoting the role of broadcasting in ‘developing and reflecting a sense of Australian identity, character and cultural diversity’.

• The Radiocommunications Act 1992 provides the regulatory framework for managing the radiofrequency spectrum in Australia.

• The Online Safety Act 2021 (OSA) provides for reporting and complaints systems which address harms caused by cyber-bullying and cyber-abuse material, the illegal sharing of intimate images, and the sharing of certain forms of illegal online content.

• The News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code is Part IVBA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. The Code, which was established in February 2021 and is administered by the ACMA, enables eligible news businesses to bargain individually or collectively with digital platform companies about payment for news on their platforms and services.

• The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983 provides for the establishment and operation of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). According to its Charter, the ABC is required to provide informative, entertaining and educational services that ‘contribute to a sense of national identity and inform and entertain, and reflect the cultural diversity of, the Australian community’.

• The Special Broadcasting Service Act 1991 provides for the establishment and operation of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). According to its Charter, SBS’s principal function is ‘to provide multilingual and multicultural broadcasting and digital media services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect Australia's multicultural society’.

• The Copyright Act 1968 regulates copyright in Australia in relation to original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, and other subject matter (including sound recordings, films and television broadcasts).

• The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 regulates interactive/Internet gambling services.

2 Federal regulatory and administrative authorities

• The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is responsible for the regulation of broadcasting, the Internet, radiocommunications and telecommunications. The ACMA is an independent Commonwealth statutory authority, the mission of which is to ‘regulate communications and media to maximise the economic and social benefits of communications infrastructure, services and content for Australia’.

• The eSafety Commissioner is Australia's national independent regulator and educator for online safety. The Commissioner administers the statutory schemes established by the Online Safety Act 2021, engages in research and public education, and works with online industry on the Safety by Design initiative.

• The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is established under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 as an independent Commonwealth statutory authority. Its responsibilities include the economic regulation of telecommunications and the national broadband network (NBN) as well as the broadcasting and content sectors.

• The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications provides policy advice to the Australian Government on issues including communications and the arts. The Department advises on issues relating to the ABC and SBS, and encompasses the Bureau of Communications, Arts and Regional Research, which provides economic and data analysis on communications, arts and regional portfolio issues.

• The Classification Board classifies films, computer games and publications for exhibition, sale or hire in Australia. The Board operates under the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995.

3 Non-government regulatory and administrative bodies

• The Australian Press Council is responsible for promoting standards of media practice, community access to information of public interest and freedom of expression through the media. The Council is also the principal body responsible for responding to complaints about Australian newspapers, magazines and associated digital outlets.

• The Independent Media Council is a complaints body funded by Seven West Media, which was established in 2012 after Seven West Media withdrew from the Australian Press Council.

• Ad Standards administers a national system of advertising self-regulation through the Ad Standards Community Panel and the Ad Standards Industry Jury.

• Digital Industry Group Inc (DIGI) is an association of digital industry companies operating in Australia, which developed and administers the Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation.

• The office of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman provides an independent dispute resolution service for small business and residential customers who have a complaint about their telephone or internet service in Australia. The Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 established the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.

• The Copyright Agency is a not-for-profit organisation appointed by the Australian Government to manage statutory and other relevant copyright licenses. In doing so the Agency collects and distributes copyright fees.

4 Government agencies and companies

• The Australian Film Television and Radio School, established by the Australian Film, Television and Radio School Act 1973, is a federal statutory authority. It exists ‘to find and empower Australian talent to shape and share their stories with the world by delivering industry-relevant and future-focused education, research and training’.

• Screen Australia (established by the Screen Australia Act 2008) supports Australian film development, production, and promotion.

• The Australian Children’s Television Foundation is a not-for-profit company funded by the Australian Government and the governments of all states and territories, which invests in the development, production and distribution of quality children’s television, audio-visual media and related educational resources.

• NBN Co is a Commonwealth company established to design, build, and operate Australia's broadband network. Its operations are directed by the National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011.

5 Advocacy groups

• The Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom (AJF) is a not-for-profit research and advocacy group. Formed in 2017, the AJF advocates for media freedom in Australia and across the Asia–Pacific region.

• The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) is a peak body representing the interests of Australian advertisers. The AANA is a partner organisation to Ad Standards.

• The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) represents individuals, small businesses, and not-for-profit groups as consumers of telecommunications, broadcasting and online products and services.

• The Australian Copyright Council is a not-for-profit organisation, established in 1968, which promotes the understanding of copyright law and its application.

• The Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) is a community-based organisation that deals with issues concerning children and the media.

• The Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) represents the growing sector of influencer marketing. AiMCO was formed in 2019 under the umbrella of the Audited Media Association of Australia, which has a long history of collecting media circulation information. AiMCO published the Australian Influencer Marketing Code of Practice in 2021.

• The Australian Narrowcast Radio Association (ANRA) is the peak industry body representing Low Power Open Narrowcast (LPON) and High Power Open Narrowcast (HPON) radio services across Australia. Membership includes providers such as the TAB and foreign language, fringe music, tourist, and religious services.

• The Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) represents the subscription television and radio industry on regulatory and policy issues.

• The Centre for Inclusive Design (CfID) is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to increasing web and digital accessibility for people with a disability. Prior to 2017, CfID was known as Media Access Australia. The organisation rebranded itself because its mission ‘grew from one that was solely about driving digital accessibility in Australia to one that now seeks to make inclusivity the norm in design processes’.

• Commercial Radio Australia is the national industry body representing Australia's commercial radio broadcasters.

• The Communications Alliance works to promote the growth of the Australian communications industry and the protection of consumer interests by fostering standards of business ethics and behaviour through industry self-governance.

• The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) is the peak body representing community radio and television stations. The CBAA has established the Community Radio Broadcasting Codes of Practice, which detail the operational standards and principles guiding community broadcasting stations’ programming.

• The Community Broadcasting Foundation is an independent non-profit funding agency that seeks, secures and distributes funding to support the development, creativity and sustainability of community broadcasting in Australia.

• Country Press Australia (CPA) is an industry body which represents independent regional and local newspapers across Australia. In 2021 the ACCC authorised the CPA to negotiate on behalf of its members with Google and Facebook, about payment for news carried on those platforms. The CPA has also partnered with researchers at Deakin University to document the conditions of rural news making, and develop and road-test ‘an innovations agenda for Australia’s country press in the digital era.’

• The Digital + Technology Collective is a network of agencies, organisations and individuals providing digital media services in Australia. The Collective replaced the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association in 2017.

• Free TV Australia is the industry body that represents Australia's commercial free-to-air television licensees.

• Independent Cinemas Australia is a not-for-profit industry association representing independent exhibitors in Australia.

• The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas (JNI) was established in 2018 by philanthropist Judith Neilson. JNI supports journalism through grants and education programs.

• The Local & Independent News Association (LINA) supports hyperlocal news media in Australia. LINA was established in 2021, with support from the Judith Neilson Institute and the Community Broadcasting Association Australia.

• The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance is the union which represents people who work in media, entertainment, sports, and arts industries.

• The Outdoor Media Association (OMA) represents Out of Home (OOH) media display and media production companies which display advertisements, own signs, and provide services to the OOH industry.

6 Media ratings and circulation information

• Circulation figures for major metropolitan daily newspapers had been published by the Audited Media Association of Australia (AMAA) since the 1930s, but the publishers of all metropolitan daily newspapers moved to a system of private auditing in 2019. The AMAA does, however, remain a useful tool for checking the circulation of a considerable number of smaller regional mastheads. The AMAA’s reports are available via subscription. Users on the APH network are able to access the AMAA database via the Parliamentary Library catalogue.

• ThinkNewBrands, which is jointly funded by News Corp, Nine and Seven West Media, commenced publishing aggregated news media readership data from August 2021. The company now works with Roy Morgan to measure news readership after the retirement of EMMA (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) in 2021.

• OzTAM conducts television audience measurement (TAM) in Australia’s five mainland metropolitan markets (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth), and nationally for subscription television. OzTAM’s VPM Report provides information on online video content streamed live or played on-demand by broadcasters who participate in its survey (ABC, Seven Network, Nine Network, Network 10, SBS and Foxtel).

• Regional TAM provides information on free-to-air and subscription television viewing in regional Queensland, Northern NSW, Southern NSW, Victoria and Tasmania and Western Australia.

• Commercial Radio Australia publishes surveys of radio audiences in Australia’s five metropolitan markets (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth), plus Newcastle, Canberra and the Gold Coast. It also publishes surveys completed in a range of smaller regional media markets.

7 Research centres

• The Public Interest Journalism Initiative (PIJI) is an independent think tank, established in 2018 with a limited project duration of up to 5 years. PIJI’s purpose is to help establish ‘optimal market pre-conditions in investment and regulation that will sustain public interest journalism.’ PIJI’s Australian Newsroom Mapping Project provides a ‘comprehensive, visual and searchable index of news production availability—television, radio, print and digital publishing—across Australia.’

• The News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra is a specialist research centre ‘dedicated to exploring news consumption, social and digital media networks, and the legal, ethical and social impacts of communication technologies.’

• The Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne supports journalism through teaching and research.

• The Centre for Media History at Macquarie University is Australia's only centre dedicated to conducting and fostering research on media history.

• The Digital Media Research Centre at the Queensland University of Technology is a leader in digital humanities and social science research. Its programs focus on digital transformation, digital inclusion and governance, automation in the information environment, and the role of social media in public communication.

• The Centre for Media Transition is an applied research unit based at the University of Technology Sydney, which focuses on the causes and consequences of digital disruption for media industries, the role of journalism in Australian democracy, and business models that support media diversity.

• The International Association for Media and Communication Research encourages research in the areas of media production and consumption and the structure and transformation of media and communication markets.

• Media is one of the areas of interest of the United States Pew Research Centre, which conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research.

• The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) produces occasional papers on media and collects statistics on media and information technology.

• The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) promotes the free flow of ideas by word and image. It works to foster free, independent, and pluralistic media in print, broadcast and online.

• The European Audiovisual Observatory collects and distributes information about audio-visual industries in Europe.

8 Selected overseas government and regulatory websites

European Union

• The European Union develops rules to ensure that audio-visual media can circulate freely and fairly in the single European market.

United Kingdom

• The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is responsible for media policies and programs in the United Kingdom.

• The Office of Communications (OFCOM) is the independent media regulator and competition authority for UK communications industries.

Canada

• The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is responsible for regulating Canada's broadcasting and telecommunication systems. Its mandate is administered through the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

United States

• The Federal Communications Commission is the American Government agency charged with regulating domestic and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable.

New Zealand

• The Ministry for Culture and Heritage advises the New Zealand Government on matters concerning the arts, culture, heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting.

© Commonwealth of Australia

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