Recommendations


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Recommendations

Recommendation 1

The Committee recommends that the Bill be amended to reduce the maximum period of the review cycle from five to three years.

Recommendation 2

The Committee recommends that the Bill be amended to provide that the first review is to be conducted within two years of the Bill obtaining Royal Assent.

Recommendation 3

The Committee recommends that the membership of the RTIRC be restricted so that no more than one service provider can be represented on the RTIRC and that the majority of the members be made up of representatives of organisations with an interest in regional affairs, such as, for example, the National Farmers' Federation, the Australian Local Government Association and the Isolated Children's Parents Association.

Recommendation 4

The Committee recommends that Telstra be required to respond to RTIRC reports within the same time frame as the Government.

Recommendation 5

The Committee recommends that the drafting inconsistencies in relation to the use of the term 'RTIRC Member' in proposed sections 158T, 158U and 158V be corrected.

Recommendation 6

The Committee recommends that:

  1. any local presence plan should be published in draft form to allow for responses from the public affected by it;
  2. that the final local presence plan should be publicly available on the ACMA website; and
  3. any local presence plan should be required to be a disallowable instrument.

Recommendation 7

Subject to the above recommendations, the Committee recommends that the Bill be passed.

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