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Current Issues
The Role and Funding of Radio Australia
E-Brief: Online Only issued 18 September 2000
Dr Kim Jackson, Analysis
and Policy
Social Policy Group
The nature and scope of the services provided by Radio Australia have
been the subject of some controversy in recent years. The closure of the
Cox Peninsula transmitter site and the reduction in services resulting
from the 1997-98 Budget decisions have coincided with a period of political
instability and conflict in the region that is its main audience. This
has led to a revaluation of the importance of its role, culminating in
the Government's recent announcement of additional funding over the next
three years.
This brief provides some background on these issues, together with links
to relevant sites and documents on the Internet.
Australia's first overseas broadcasting service began two months after
the beginning of the Second World War. Its objective was to support the
BBC's External Service in counteracting enemy propaganda. Various bodies
were responsible for the organisation in its early years: the Australian
Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in the period 1942 to 1944, and the Commonwealth
Department of Information in the years before and after this term. The
organisation had no statutory basis and in 1950 it was transferred back
to the ABC by administrative decision. The Menzies Government appears
to have taken the view that the credibility of the service would be enhanced
if it followed the British model of a broadcaster independent of direct
Government control, rather than that of the United States, where the 'Voice
of America' was an arm of Government.
It was agreed between the Government and the ABC that Radio Australia's
programs would be based on domestic broadcasts, but with special programs
for south-east Asia and the western Pacific. A liaison officer from the
Department of External Affairs would work with the ABC editorial staff
on these programs, but final responsibility for broadcasts would rest
with the ABC. This situation continued through to the 1970s.
In 1975 the Whitlam Government established an independent inquiry into
Radio Australia. This was conducted by Sir Keith Waller and reported in
December 1975. It recommended that the ABC retain responsibility for the
organisation and that this situation be given a statutory basis. It also
proposed that Radio Australia's transmitting facilities be improved and
extended. Similar recommendations were also made by the Committee of Review
of the ABC (Dix Report) in 1981.
A statutory basis for the service was finally established in 1983, with
the passage of the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983. Section
6 of the Act establishes the Charter of the Corporation. This sets
out its functions and duties. Under section 6(1)[b] one of the functions
of the ABC is:
- to transmit to countries outside Australia broadcasting programs of
news, current affairs, entertainment and cultural enrichment that will:
- encourage awareness of Australia and an international understanding
of Australian attitudes on world affairs; and
- enable Australian citizens living or travelling outside Australia
to obtain information about Australian affairs and Australian attitudes
on world affairs.
- While the Charter provides a rationale for Radio Australia, there
are no specific provisions in the legislation concerning the establishment,
structure and role of the organisation.
The ABC does not own the transmitting facilities it uses to broadcast
its programs, including those of Radio Australia. The Australian Broadcasting
Commission Act 1932 specified that the Postmaster General should undertake
the provision and operation of all technical services associated with
the transmission of programs. The National Broadcasting Service continued
to be operated by the Postmaster-General's Department until the creation
of Telecom Australia in 1975. Thereafter Telecom provided and operated
the transmitters and equipment under contractual arrangements with the
Department of Communications, which was responsible for planning, funding
and the supervision of the functions performed by Telecom.
All of these functions were brought under one body with the establishment
of the National Transmission Agency (NTA) in 1992. At this time, Radio
Australia was using fourteen transmitters based in Darwin, Carnavon, Townsville
and Shepparton. The Carnavon site was subsequently closed, with its 300
kilowatt transmitter being refurbished and transported to the Cox Peninsula
site at Darwin. On 30 June 1997 the Cox Peninsula site was also closed
following decisions made in the 1997-98 budget (see
below).
In July 1997 the Government announced that it would sell the NTA and
in December 1998 Parliament approved legislation
to permit the sale. Under the arrangements announced
by the Government, the national broadcasters' access to transmission
facilities would be protected and they would be funded directly for the
purchase of their transmission requirements. In March 1999 NTL
(a UK based telecoms and media company) won the bid to own and operate
the national transmission network. This did not include the Cox Peninsula
site.
Radio Australia is currently using eight NTL transmitters at Shepparton
and Brandon.
Under the agreement with the Labor government, the ABC was funded on
a triennial basis (1994-95 to 1996-97), with 1994-95 the base year and
funding for subsequent years indexed to the non-farm GDP deflator. The
ABC was exempt from the application of the Government efficiency dividend,
was allowed to retain any additional revenue it generated and was not
to be subject to any Departmental savings proposals. In return, the ABC
itself was not to bring forward any new policy proposals requiring additional
Budget outlays before the 1997-98 Budget. This funding agreement was negotiated
between the Government and the Corporation, and had no statutory basis.
On the 16 July 1996 the Minister for Communications and the Arts, Senator
the Honourable Richard Alston, announced
a Review of the future role and functions of the ABC by Mr Bob Mansfield.
He also stated that "In examining the ABC and the very significant
future funding pressures which its many activities are likely to place
on the budget, the Government has decided that the current level of funding
cannot continue indefinitely". Funding for 1996-97 would be reduced
by 2% (the reduction in running costs required of all Government departments
and agencies) while in 1997-98 funding would be reduced by $55 million.
Funding levels for later years would be determined in the 1997 Budget
taking into account the Mansfield Report recommendations.
The Mansfield report The challenge of a better ABC was completed
in December 1996. The recommendations of the report, together with a number
of associated documents and press releases, are available from this
page.
Mansfield made the following recommendations with regard to Radio Australia:
- That the requirement for the ABC to broadcast programs to audiences
outside Australia should cease;
- that the ABC should retain the ability to transmit programs outside
Australia if it chooses;
- that the ABC should be permitted to apply net savings from the closure
of Radio Australia to the achievement of its savings target - this should
include any transmission savings, consistent with the Government's commitment
to fund the ABC directly for its transmission costs.
Mansfield considered that the ABC should not have the provision of overseas
services as a priority in its Charter and that if the Government wished
to maintain an overseas broadcasting service, then it should be funded
"in the context of the public diplomacy effort" (ie. by the
Department of Foreign Affairs).
The Mansfield Review also reported that the total cost to the Government
of Radio Australia services in 1996-97 was an estimated $20.5 million,
comprising $13.5 million in ABC costs and $7 million spent by the National
Transmission Agency (NTA) on shortwave transmission facilities in Darwin,
Shepparton and Brandon.
In April 1997 it was reported that the initial Government decision to
abolish Radio Australia had been reversed following pressure from the
Department of Foreign Affairs and foreign governments. The Minister for
Communications, Senator Alston, was also reported as supporting the continuation
of Radio Australia, but not at the expense of the ABC budget. The 1997-98
Budget confirmed these reports with the following decisions:
- the ABC would receive $4.7 million in 1997-98 (rising to $5.0 million
in 2000-01) to maintain Radio Australia services from 1 July 1997. The
funding would provide an English language service via satellite throughout
the Asia Pacific, an English language service via shortwave transmission
to Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the South Pacific, and a shortwave Tok
Pisin language service to PNG.
- The $4.7 million would be obtained from savings within the Communications
and Foreign Affairs portfolios. $3.2 million would be obtained from
Communications through reduced expenditure on discretionary capital
works by the NTA. The remaining $1.5 million would be met by Foreign
Affairs through a transfer from their overseas aid program. An additional
$2.5 million from the same source would be used to offset transmission
costs.
In May 1997 the ABC Board decided to provide an additional $1.6 million
from its domestic budget allocation to maintain programs in Bahasa Indonesia,
Chinese, Khmer and Vietnamese. This meant that Radio Australia's budget
for 1997-98 was $6.3 million, compared with $13.5 million for 1996-97.
To meet this reduction, staffing was decreased by more than half (from
144 to 68) and there were significant reductions in English and foreign
language output.
The 1997-98 Budget reduced the funds for shortwave transmission of Radio
Australia programs from around $7 million to $2.5 million. This was sufficient
to operate the Shepparton transmitter site (mainly directed at the Pacific)
and two small transmitters at Brandon serving PNG. Funding for the satellite
service was included in the $3.2 million provided by the Department of
Communications.
The Government also announced in the 1997-98 Budget that Radio Australia
services would no longer be broadcast from the NTA facility on the Cox
Peninsula after 30 June 1997 and that the NTA would investigate alternative
uses for the site. The closure of the site severely downgraded coverage
of Asia, particularly in Indochina, Malaysia and Thailand.
In June 2000 it was reported that the Cox Peninsula transmitter site
had been leased to Christian
Vision, an evangelistic broadcaster controlled by Mr Bob Edmiston.
It has been reported that Mr Edmiston would consider a request from Radio
Australia for broadcast time, but that it would depend on what they wanted
to broadcast and at what times (Sydney Morning Herald, 7 June 2000,
"We might be Christians, but we're no nut cases").
On the 8 August 2000 the
Government announced that it would provide Radio Australia with an
additional $3 million p.a. for three years to strengthen its transmission
arrangements and to enhance its online services. The Chairman of the ABC
has stated
that they will now examine transmission options, including Cox Peninsula,
for the expansion of the Asian service.
In May 1997 the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References
Committee released its report on The
Role and Future of Radio Australia and Australia Television. The Committee
recommended:
- that funding for Radio Australia be sufficient for it to maintain
its current range of services;
- that additional funding be provided to establish a Burmese language
service and to expand the Khmer language service.
A minority report by Government Senators made further recommendations,
including:
- that the shortwave service to PNG and the pacific be maintained;
- that satellite be the primary means of transmission to Asian countries;
- that the Department of Foreign Affairs provide some funding for the
service; and
- that consideration be given to establishing Radio Australia under
a funding arrangement separate from the ABC.
The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade report
Australia
and ASEAN: Managing Change (March 1978) contains a section on Radio
Australia (in Chapter
Nine). The Committee recommended that the Government restore the Cox
Peninsula transmitters to full operation for the use of Radio Australia.
The Annual Reports of the ABC contain information about the role and
operations of Radio Australia. The most recent data is from the section
on International
Broadcasting in the 1998-99
Annual Report. Annual reports for 1993-94 and later years can be obtained
from this page.
The Radio Australia site of ABC
Online contains:
The Friends of the ABC (Victoria)
have a number of documents relating to Radio Australia in their archive,
including inquiry submissions and ministerial correspondence.
The BBC World
Service site contains much useful information about the organisation
and its role. It includes an Annual
Review and a FAQ
page.
Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty is a private non-profit corporation funded by the US Congress.
It broadcasts primarily to Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle
East.
The Voice of America is the United
States Government's overseas broadcasting service.
The Open Directory Project has a comprehensive list
of international broadcasters.
For copyright reasons some linked items are only available to
Members of Parliament.
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