List of Recommendations

Recommendation 1

2.39
The committee recommends that Schedule 1 of the bill be withdrawn and that the Government expedites a response to the recent Media Reform Green Paper consultations and introduces measures to harmonise the regulatory framework for Australian content obligations.

Recommendation 2

2.40
The committee recommends that the Government considers mechanisms through which Australia can capture a greater share of post-production work for film and television projects produced in Australia.

Recommendation 3

2.47
The committee recommends that future iterations of the Regional and Small Publishers Innovation Fund, or similar funds established in the future, include a framework for an outcomes or effects test enabling the decision-maker to exercise discretion to award funding consistent with the intended outcome(s) of the program, despite an unintended technical non‑compliance where the applicant would in all other regards be compliant and competitive.

Recommendation 4

2.49
The committee recommends that the amended bill be passed.

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About this inquiry

The bill proposes to amend the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 to ‘reduce the expenditure required by subscription television broadcasting licensees on new eligible drama expenditure from 10 per cent to 5 per cent; provide for subscription television captioning rules to be made by legislative instrument; remove the requirement that all frequency channels allotted or reserved in a digital radio channel plan be within the same frequency band; provide that a regional commercial radio broadcasting licensee does not breach a licence condition if it is only as a result of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) making a new licence area population determination; and extend the timeframe for the ACMA to make grants under the Regional and Small Publishers Innovation Fund beyond 30 June 2021’.



Past Public Hearings

07 Jun 2021: Canberra