SBS Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs Inquiry Into Nationhood, National Identity and Democracy September 2019
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SBS submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs Inquiry into nationhood, national identity and democracy September 2019 Key Points Independent, non-partisan public broadcasting delivers significant public benefits. SBS is key to sustaining and strengthening democracy, and building national identity. The principal function of SBS is to provide multilingual and multicultural radio, television and digital media services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect Australia’s multicultural society. SBS produces some of the most trusted news content in Australia, providing information and analysis from Australia and around the world in English on television and radio, and in 68 languages other than English via SBS Radio. SBS has an important role to play in reflecting and deepening our sense of nationhood and national identity, by exploring and celebrating the various communities that call Australia home through programs including its flagship dramas, entertainment programs, and documentaries. There are both social and economic benefits to a diverse and inclusive society. A recent study by Deloitte Access Economics for SBS found that improved social inclusion would mean quantifiable economic benefits to Australia of $12.7 billion per annum. While remaining an independent public broadcaster, SBS supports the fundamental elements of our democracy, including informing the Australian public in relation to the policies and actions of the Government. Informed public debate is core to the functioning of Australia’s democratic society. It is therefore critical that relevant legal frameworks are structured in a way that supports the public’s right to know, responsible journalism, and government accountability and transparency. Page 1 of 16 Introduction SBS welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs (the Committee) Inquiry into nationhood, national identity and democracy (the Inquiry). SBS is unique in the Australian media environment, and the world’s most linguistically diverse broadcaster. SBS reaches almost 100 per cent of the population through its six free-to-air TV channels (SBS SD, SBS HD, SBS VICELAND HD, SBS World Movies, SBS Food and National Indigenous Television (NITV)) and seven radio stations (SBS Radio 1, 2 and 3, SBS Arabic24, SBS PopDesi, SBS Chill and SBS PopAsia). Servicing 68 languages including SBS Arabic24, SBS Radio is dedicated to the nearly five million Australians who speak a language other than English at home, while the three music channels (SBS PopAsia, SBS PopDesi and SBS Chill) engage all Australians through music and pop culture from around the world. SBS’s reach is being significantly extended through SBS’s digital services, including SBS On Demand, the SBS Radio App and portals which make online audio programming and information available to audiences at a time and place of their choosing. Across all of its channels and platforms, SBS’s purpose is to inspire all Australians to explore, respect and celebrate our diverse world, and in doing so contribute to a cohesive society. SBS is responding to the Inquiry under the five parts of the Discussion Paper: Part A: Sustaining Democracy Part B: Nationhood and the nation state Part C: Social cohesion and cultural identity Part D: Governing in a democracy Part E: Public Debate Part A: Sustaining democracy SBS News and Current Affairs services SBS supports our democratic society by providing impartial and balanced news and information in English and 68 languages other than English, informing the community about local, national and global events, and enabling participation in civic life. SBS is an independent national broadcaster operating under the Special Broadcasting Service Act 1991 (the SBS Act), which guarantees SBS’s editorial independence. Under the SBS Act, SBS has sole responsibility for determining its content. Independent, non-partisan public broadcasting delivers significant public benefits, including holding the government and institutions to account, and reporting on matters in the public interest. While the Discussion Paper notes that ‘[t]here is a wealth of evidence showing a worrying decline in the level of public trust’1, SBS’s news and current affairs services are among the most trusted in Australia. The Essential Report Trust in Media survey, of which the most recent results were published in June 2019, demonstrates that SBS’s ‘television news and current affairs’ was 13 percentage points higher than commercial television news and current affairs and 14 percentage points higher than news and opinion in daily newspapers.2 SBS delivers content that enhances and enriches the Australian community through creating a more informed society, and promoting social and civic inclusion. Our unique 1 Discussion Paper, page 1 2 https://essentialvision.com.au/?s=trust+in+media&searchbutton=Search Page 2 of 16 connections and experience with multicultural and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities enable SBS to cover news and tell the stories of those communities with respect and dignity. In particular, the news, current affairs and information services provided by SBS inform and promote understanding among all Australians of different cultures and maximise opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds to engage in social, political and cultural discourse. SBS plays a vital role by providing credible, trusted, inclusive, balanced and independent services. SBS is the only nationally available Australian-based broadcaster providing news and current affairs services in a broad range of languages other than English (LOTE), and provides Australians with an unparalleled diversity of international and Australian programming. Importantly, while migrants to Australia can readily access homeland news and information from overseas sources, SBS delivers unique Australian news and information in-language—such as news on political developments, information about settlement resources, and details about Australian laws, culture and values. Digital literacy A core component of trust in media is digital literacy. In addition to recognising the vital role of SBS and the ABC in providing public interest journalism, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recently noted in its Digital Platforms Inquiry – Final Report that among other benefits, digital media literacy provides consumers with the ability to access, interpret and critically assess sources of journalism online.3 SBS’s experience in reaching audiences, including children, with educational resources, through the SBS Learn platform4, provides a basis for SBS to play a key role in any future digital literacy initiatives, particularly those which support multilingual and multicultural Australian communities. Part B: Nationhood and the nation state The services provided by SBS contribute to a shared sense of nationhood, from providing information about Australian culture to new migrants, to NITV’s storytelling about, for and by our First Nations people. The Discussion Paper notes that ‘Australia has a rich Indigenous history of over 60,000 years. It also has an important British colonial history from the late 18th century. It has become a diverse multicultural society’.5 A quarter of Australians were born overseas, almost half have at least one parent overseas, and 21 per cent (4.87 million people) speak a language other than English at home, according to the 2016 Australian Census.6 The Census 2016 also showed that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples represented 2.8 per cent of the population, up from 2.5 per cent in 2011, and 2.3 per cent in 2006.7 3 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Digital Platforms Inquiry – Final Report, https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Digital%20platforms%20inquiry%20-%20final%20report.pdf page 366 4 SBS Learn https://www.sbs.com.au/learn 5 Discussion paper, page 4 6 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016 Census available at https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject/2071.0~2016~Main%20Features~Cultur al%20Diversity%20Data%20Summary~30 7 https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/MediaRealesesByCatalogue/02D50FAA9987D6B7CA2581480 0087E03 Page 3 of 16 SBS Charter SBS has played a key role in Australia’s distinctiveness as a multicultural and Indigenous society, as well as creating and supporting social cohesion within and between communities. The SBS Charter (Appendix A) is provided in Section 6 of the SBS Act. The Charter states that ‘the principal function of the SBS is to provide multilingual and multicultural radio, television and digital media services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect Australia’s multicultural society’. It goes on to state that ‘SBS, in performing its principal function, must contribute to meeting the communications needs of Australia’s multicultural society, including ethnic, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.’ National Indigenous Television NITV is the home of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytelling, and has been part of SBS since 2012.8 NITV is a national free-to-air channel on SBS made by, for and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and delivers Australia’s only national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander television news service. NITV provides a positive exploration and celebration of historical and contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture