A U S T R A L I A N B R O A D C A S T I N G A U T H O R I TY annual report Sydney 1999 Annual Report 1998–99 © Commonwealth of Australia, 1999 ISSN 1320-2863 Design by Media and Public Relations Australian Broadcasting Authority Photographs: Rhonda Thwaite Printed in Australia by Printing Headquarters, NSW For inquiries about this report, contact: Publisher Australian Broadcasting Authority at address below For inquiries relating to freedom of information, contact: FOI Coordinator Australian Broadcasting Authority Level 15, 201 Sussex Street Sydney NSW 2000 Tel: (02) 9334 7700 Fax: (02) 9334 7799 Postal address: PO Box Q500 Queen Victoria Building NSW 1230 Email: [email protected] Web site: www.aba.gov.au 2 Introduction 3 Annual Report 1998–99 4 Introduction Contents Letter of transmission 3 Introduction to the report 7 Members’ report 8 Perfomance report 21 Expert advice 21 Advice to the government 22 International liaison 27 External liaison 29 Planning the spectrum 34 Analog planning 35 Digital planning 39 Licence allocations 42 Commercial broadcasting licences 43 Open narrowcasting services 45 Community broadcasting licences 46 Temporary community broadcasting licences 47 Special events 48 Subscription television broadcasting licences 48 Broadcasting licence renewals 49 National services 49 Retransmission 49 Community television trial 49 Opinions on category of service 49 Control 51 Monitoring 52 Investigations 52 Applications for prior approval 57 Applications for opinions on control 57 Notices by the Authority 57 Subscription broadcasting licences 58 Notification requirements 58 Programming content 59 Codes of practice 61 Investigations 63 Australian content 66 5 Annual Report 1998–99 Children’s television 70 Research 71 Anti-siphoning 75 Resources 77 Review of structure 78 Certified agreement 78 Planning 79 Development and training 80 Information management 81 Information technology 82 Internal communications 82 Travel contract 83 Service charter 83 Appendixes 85 1. Additional matters, including staffing 86 2. Presentations, articles and conferences 92 3. Freedom of information statement 96 4. Licence area plans and aspirant community broadcasters Licence area plans released in 1998–99 110 New transmitters planned 1998–99 111 Aspirant community broadcasters 1998–99 112 5. Investigations into programming matters no breach finding 115 breach finding 120 summaries of breaches found 125 6. Children’s television Children’s television consultants 1998–1999 142 C & P programs classified 1998–99 143 7. Financial statements 145 Index 167 6 Introduction Introduction to the report ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ The report is presented in accordance with the reporting requirements for Commonwealth Authorities’ departmental annual reports, under section 1 and schedule 9 of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997. The Authority meets its mission statement (see inside front cover) by means of six objectives. Each of these objectives is addressed, together with the outcomes and highlights of the reporting period, in the following section on performance reporting. A detailed discussion of the Authority’s achievements against those objectives begins on p.21. In summary, the contents of this annual report are: • Members’ report, including significant issues during the reporting year. • Corporate overview, including structure of the Authority, and a summary of its powers and functions. • Performance reports, the Authority’s achievements and activities for the year, assessed against the Authority’s Corporate Plan objectives. • Staffing matters. • Freedom of information. • Financial statements. 7 Annual Report 1998–99 Members’ report The year in review This year the Authority has consolidated by settling in to its new structure and working procedures. The outcomes of the structural review have enabled the Authority to embrace the challenges of new responsibilities in a changing environment, while fulfilling its core functions. The Authority has continued this year to perform its functions in adminstering the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 giving due regard to developing appropriate systems and improving processes. The Authority has also given a renewed focus to the transparency of its processes. This approach has been particularly evident in three new areas of responsibility—planning for digital broadcasting services, datacasting and regulating unsuitable content on the Internet. On 15 July 1999, just after the close of the period covered by this report, the media spotlight turned on core principles of the Broadcasting Services Act: its self-regulatory philosophy and the charge, that providers of commercial and community broadcasting services ... be responsive to the need for a fair and accurate coverage of matters of public interest. The path through this examination of the desire by Parliament though the Authority’s commercial radio inquiry will highlight the public interest in broadcasting in Australia. Digital broadcasting Australian broadcasting is on the edge of a revolution as we get closer to the start-up date for digital broadcasting: 1 January 2001. The Authority has been faced with a particular challenge this year since the Television Broadcasting Services (Digital Conversion) Act 1998 came into force in July 1998. As well as continuing analog planning, the Authority had to move quickly to develop a detailed framework for the conversion to digital television and to ensure the tight timetable for digital planning could be met. The Authority was assisted in this by an injection of extra funds both in this financial year and in the next three. The Authority sees the protection of the public interest as paramount. It has sought to minimise the number of changes viewers will have to make to their existing reception equipment to receive digital broadcasts. At the same time it has sought to reduce costs to broadcasters by maximising their ability to use existing transmission facilities. Two key factors contributing to successful conversion to digital broadcasting are adequate consumer education and the industry taking on a high level of responsibility for resolving any problems that arise. The release of draft channel plans was in accordance with the strict timetable the Authority set itself in order to give broadcasters as much time as possible to test the technology and establish their infrastructure before 1 January 2001. The Authority has used its public consultation processes to full effect in developing these plans, ensuring a full exchange of information. The Authority is assisting the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts in its development of a proposal for converting radio services to digital. It is actively participating, along with other government and industry bodies, in the policy and technical planning work. 8 Introduction Datacasting provides another policy challenge in the introduction of digital broadcasting services. The Authority made submissions to the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts’ Review into the Scope of Datacasting Services, and contributed to the Australian Communications Authority’s discussion paper on the review. The Authority also provided the Minister with advice on a datacasting trial. The Minister responded by directing the Authority to conduct the trial, for which the Authority subsequently developed a draft regulatory policy. The Authority will finalise the policy and conduct the trial later this year. Online Services Parliament has given the Authority the role of administering the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Online Services) Act 1999. The Authority has continued to consult widely with the online services community, both domestic and international. The Authority has monitored national and international regulatory developments and maintained, and increased, its participation in international groups who are at the forefront of online content issues. This Act establishes, from 1 January 2000, a co-regulatory regime for Internet content administered by the Authority. The scheme is based on the investigation of complaints by the Authority and the development of codes of practice by the industry. The Authority is developing material to assist industry understand the operation of the regulatory scheme. The Authority is also working towards achieving the Government’s objective of having all Government services online by 30 June 2001. The Authority has made extensive improvements to its own web site <www.aba.gov.au> during the year, as part of its commitment to making its services, information and expertise available to all Australians. The Authority is aware of the enormous benefits the Internet offers to all Australians, but is also aware that some users may feel uncomfortable using the Internet, or be unaware of its benefits. In order to assist families in their use of the Internet, and so that all Australians can benefit, the Authority, supported by the National Office of the Information Economy, developed and designed the Australian Families Guide to the Internet, <www.aba.gov.au/family> which provides people with all the information they need about safe Internet access for children, plus links to many useful and fun sites for children. Planning and licensing In addition to its new role in planning for digital services, the Authority continued its core function of planning and licensing services using the existing analog spectrum, Australia-wide. During the year, the Authority released 15 new licence area