Labor Senators are disappointed that, once again, this Government is tinkering with piecemeal changes to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 when holistic reform is needed.
This bill puts the incompetence of the Morrison Government up in lights. It highlights:
failure to support Australian stories on our screens;
failure to support public interest journalism in a timely manner; and
failure to consult with stakeholders.
Labor Senators will not stand in the way of minor regulatory housekeeping but will not be part of this Government’s attempt to dismantle, bit by bit, the Australian screen content rules without anything new being put in their place.
The Government is dismantling Australia’s screen content rules
Labor Senators note the Australian screen content rules are the reason we have an Australian screen industry telling Australian stories, to Australians and the world. Content obligations have been a central driver of the production of Australian stories for years, but this Government is watering them down.
Labor Senators note that the Government has been reviewing the Australian screen content rules since 2017 but still hasn’t presented a full package of reforms to Parliament.
On 6 May 2017 then Minister for Communications, former Senator Mitch Fifield announced ‘a broad ranging and comprehensive review of Australian and children’s content’. The Minister said ‘the review will identify sustainable policies to ensure the ongoing availability of Australian and children’s content to domestic and international audiences, regardless of platform’.
Yet, after all this time, all the Government presents is a bill that proposes to halve the Australian screen content obligation for subscription television broadcasters without putting a content obligation for streaming services in place. This comes on top of the Government’s recent decision to water-down Australian screen content rules for commercial free-to-air television broadcasters, as well as Government funding cuts to the ABC which have reduced investment in Australian content production.
On 30 September 2020 the Minister for Communications, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP announced changes to the drama, documentary and children’s content ‘sub-quota’ Australian content rules for broadcasters. Changes that did not come before this Parliament but which were made by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) at the direction of the Minister. These sub-quotas were suspended in 2020 as an emergency COVID‑19 measure and then reintroduced—in watered down form—from 1 January 2021.
At the time, Labor said these changes would mean fewer Australian stories on our television screens and fewer job opportunities for local creators. Labor Senators note the evidence of the screen sector to this inquiry that this is indeed the case.
The Government continues to kick the question of regulation of streaming services down the road—failing to follow the lead of other countries by requiring them to invest in local content and create local jobs, while Australia falls behind.
Labor Senators note that Minister Fletcher has failed to ‘Make it Australian’. He has failed the creators and small businesses that comprise the screen sector. He has failed Australians who want more Australian stories.
The Minister has even failed his own test. Minister Fletcher has previously announced he would harmonise the regulatory framework ‘towards a platform-neutral regulatory framework covering both online and offline delivery of media content to Australian consumers'. The Minister himself noted the French, German and Canadian governments are moving to require platforms like Netflix and Amazon to invest in local content. But he has failed to include such provisions in the bill.
Labor Senators will not be part of the piecemeal dismantling of Australian content rules. Labor Senators will reconsider this position on the proposed halving of the content obligation for subscription television broadcasters, like Foxtel, if and when the Government introduces legislation to regulate streaming services, like Netflix.
Regional and Small Publishers Fund has been a dud
On 14 September 2017 the Government first announced the Regional and Small Publishers Innovation Fund. The Minister’s media release heralded ‘A new era for Australia's media’, claiming that ‘the government is strengthening Australia's media industry, enhancing media diversity and securing local journalism jobs, particularly in regional areas’.
At the time, Labor warned the fund was ill-conceived, ideological and inadequate, and that would be too little, too late for many media organisations. Labor Senators confirmed at a previous inquiry that the department had not been involved in drafting the criteria for this fund. Now, with the benefit of hindsight it is clear this fund was indeed poorly conceived and inadequate.
Labor Senators note that scores of newspapers have closed and hundreds of journalism jobs have been lost, particularly in regional Australia.
This fund has had a very potted history. It has been underspent and remains underspent, and the eligibility requirements have been changed as the Government continued to make it up as it went along.
The fund was examined as part of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Digital Platforms Inquiry, which reported in June 2019. The ACCC found:
Many stakeholders were unsatisfied with Round 1 of the Innovation Fund grants, which allocated only AU$3.6 million of the AU$12.4 million available for the round. Publishers expressed concerns that:
the eligibility criteria were politicised and designed to exclude certain publishers
the application and assessment process was too complex and not suitably targeted to small and regional publishers without the organisational expertise and resources to successfully apply
the grants focused on ‘innovative’ technology-based projects rather than on securing the sustainability of struggling small and regional publishers.
The ACCC ultimately recommended that the fund be repurposed.
Labor Senators note that the fund was majority underspent when, in April 2020, the Government re-purposed most of it and re-announced it as the $50 million Public Interest News Gathering (PING) fund which has since been allocated to regional publishers as well as regional broadcasters. Overall, the repurposing of the Regional and Small Publishers Innovation Fund into the PING reduced the amount available to publishers.
At Senate Estimates in May 2021, the ACMA confirmed that it anticipates the 2020 funding round will too, be underspent.
The failure to get this fund out the door in a timely manner is an indictment on the Coalition Government and their failure to support regional media.
Government has failed to consult with key sectors
When it comes to the provisions relating to commercial radio, Labor notes the concerns of the commercial radio industry with the bill. The nature of these concerns begged the question as to whether the sector was properly consulted on this bill and evidence to the Committee at hearing confirms that it had not been.
Labor Senators note that the disability sector had not been adequately consulted by the Government in relation to Schedule 2 on captioning obligations, which provides for subscription television captioning rules to be made by legislative instrument rather than statute. This inadequate level of consultation does not engender trust between the Government and the disability sector, or consumers who rely on captioning services.
Labor Senators note that the disability sector is disappointed that the Government has answered industry calls for a reduction in regulatory burden, with the bill, but not the disability sector’s calls for enhanced captioning quality.
Labor Senators note that, now in its eighth year, this Government’s inability to consult goes hand in hand with its failure to deliver genuine reform or well-designed programs in a timely manner.
Senator Catryna Bilyk
Committee Member
Senator Nita Green
Committee Member
Senator Anne Urquhart
Participating Member