Broadcasting of Senate and committee proceedings

 

1 - Radio and television broadcasting of Senate proceedings

  1. The Senate authorises the broadcasting by Australian Broadcasting Corporation television of question time in the Senate.

  2. If the House of Representatives allows the television broadcasting of question time in that House, the distribution of the television broadcast between the 2 Houses shall be in accordance with the distribution of the radio broadcast, provided that the Senate is broadcast on not less than 3 days in any 2-week sitting period.

  3. The Senate authorises the broadcasting by radio and television stations of excerpts of its proceedings in accordance with the following conditions:

    1. Conditions governing the broadcasting of excerpts of proceedings by radio and television stations

    2. Access to the proceedings of the Senate for the recording and broadcasting of excerpts of proceedings is subject to an undertaking to observe, and to compliance with, the following conditions.
    3. Recordings and broadcasts may be made only from channel 2 on the house monitoring system.
    4. Broadcasts of excerpts shall be used only for the purposes of fair and accurate reports of proceedings, and shall not be used for:
      1. political party advertising or election campaigns;
      2. satire and ridicule; or
      3. commercial sponsorship or commercial advertising.
    5. Reports of proceedings shall be such as to provide a balanced presentation of differing views.
    6. Excerpts of proceedings which are subsequently withdrawn may be broadcast only if the withdrawal is also reported.
    7. The instructions of the President of the Senate or his or her delegates in respect of the broadcasting of excerpts, which are not inconsistent with these conditions, shall be observed.

2 - Radio and television broadcasting of committee proceedings

The following rules apply in relation to radio and television broadcasting, including rebroadcasting, of the proceedings of a committee.

  1. Recording and broadcasting of proceedings of a committee may occur only in accordance with the authorisation of the committee by a deliberate decision of the committee.

  2. A committee may authorise the broadcasting of only its public proceedings.

  3. A committee may determine conditions, not inconsistent with these rules, for the recording and broadcasting of its proceedings, may order that any part of its proceedings not be recorded or broadcast, and may give instructions for the observance of conditions so determined and orders so made. A committee shall report to the Senate any wilful breach of such conditions, orders or instructions.

  4. Broadcasting of committee proceedings shall be for the purpose only of making fair and accurate reports of those proceedings, and, in particular:
    1. shall not be the subject of commercial sponsorship or be used for commercial advertising; and
    2. shall not be used for election advertising.

  5. Recording and broadcasting of proceedings of a committee shall not be such as to interfere with the conduct of those proceedings.

  6. Where a committee intends to permit the broadcasting of its proceedings, a witness who is to appear in those proceedings shall be given reasonable opportunity, before appearing in the proceedings, to object to the broadcasting of the proceedings and to state the ground of the objection. The committee shall consider any such objection, having regard to the proper protection of the witness and the public interest in the proceedings, and if the committee decides to permit broadcasting of the proceedings notwithstanding the witness’s objection, the witness shall be so informed before appearing in the proceedings.

3 - Broadcasting of proceedings of committees when considering estimates

The public proceedings of legislative and general purpose standing committees when considering estimates may be relayed within Parliament House and broadcast by radio and television stations in accordance with the conditions contained in paragraphs (4) and (5) of the order of the Senate relating to the broadcasting of committee proceedings, and in accordance with any further conditions, not inconsistent with the conditions contained in those paragraphs, determined by a committee in relation to the proceedings of that committee.

(14 August 2006: with effect 11 September 2006 J.2481)

4 - Access to video recordings of Senate proceedings

Persons other than television stations may make use of video recordings of Senate proceedings, subject to the following conditions:

Recordings of proceedings are to be used only for the purposes of:

  1. providing fair and accurate reports of Senate proceedings; or
  2. providing information about the proceedings and operations of the Senate,

    And shall not be used for:

  3. political party advertising or election campaigns;
  4. satire or ridicule; or
  5. commercial advertising.

5 - House Monitoring Service — extension

  1. The Senate authorises the extension of the House Monitoring Service television coverage of the proceedings of the Senate and Senate committees to persons and organisations, as determined by the President, on terms and conditions determined by the President.

  2. The President shall report to the Senate on persons and organisations in receipt of the service and on any terms and conditions determined under paragraph (1).

    (13 February 1997, 1 – 5 being a consolidation of earlier orders)

6 - Electronic broadcasting of Senate and committee proceedings

The Senate authorises the publication by electronic means, including by the Internet, in sound and visual images, of proceedings of the Senate and its committees, subject to the rules applying to radio and television broadcasting of Senate and committee proceedings.

(31 August 1999 J.1606)