Bills Digest No. 165 2002-03
Australian Film
Commission Amendment Bill 2003
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Concluding Comments
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
Australian Film Commission Amendment
Bill 2003
Date Introduced:
29 May 2003
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Communications, Information Technology
and the Arts
Commencement:
On the day on which the
Act receives the Royal Assent. The substantive amendments in
Schedule 1 are scheduled to commence on 1 July 2003.
The purpose of the Bill is to integrate
ScreenSound Australia with the statutory body, the Australian Film
Commission.
Background
In 1935, Cabinet decided to establish the
National Film and Speaking Record Library as part of the then
Commonwealth National Library. Subsequently, it became the National
Film and Sound Archive which was created as a separate Commonwealth
collecting institution in 1984 together with a Council to guide it
in its operation. In 1999, the organisation changed its name to
ScreenSound Australia the National Screen and Sound Archive.
ScreenSound Australia functions as an
operational group within the Department of Communications,
Information Technology and the Arts (DoCITA). ScreenSound Australia
is a leader in scientific archival research. It has more than
40,000 items of film, video, television, stills and recorded sound
that are available to industry for production purposes. ScreenSound
Australia also provides an online collection database.
ScreenSound Australia, at present, is funded
from the appropriation for DoCITA.
The Australian Film Commission (AFC) is a
statutory authority established in 1975. The AFC is a development
agency for the screen production sector in Australia. The AFC's
activities include financing the development of projects in film,
television and interactive media. The AFC also finances the
development of Indigenous film, television and digital interactive
program makers.
A DoCITA Review of Cultural Agencies
report recommended the integration of the AFC and ScreenSound
Australia and the Government has accepted the recommendation. The
integration is scheduled for 1 July 2003.
Australia
In a joint media release on 13 May 2003,
Senator the Hon Richard Alston, Minister for Communications,
Information Technology and the Arts and Senator the Hon Rod Kemp,
Minister for the Arts and Sport stated:
The synergies created by combining the resources
of the AFC and ScreenSound Australia will improve their current
educational and exhibition activities. It will also provide
national leadership in enhancing access to, and understanding of,
audiovisual culture.
Legislation will be introduced to facilitate the
integration and, for the first time, give clear recognition in
Commonwealth statute to the important work of collecting and
preserving the nation's sound and visual
heritage.(1)
Taken overall, Budget 2003-04 is reported as
being rather benign to the arts community.(2) There
were, however, cuts in funding to the National Gallery, the
National Museum and the National Archives.
While the integration of ScreenSound Australia
into the AFC is seen as 'radical', it is reported as providing an
opportunity for ScreenSound Australia to bring its archives into
the centre of the Australian film and television
industry.(3)
The Shadow Treasurer and Shadow Minister for
the Arts, Mr Bob McMullan MP, has suggested that the budget cuts
for the National Archives, the National Gallery and the National
Library will see up to 33 jobs lost.(4) On the issue of
the integration of ScreenSound Australia with the AFC, he said:
More information is needed about the effects of
this amalgamation on the functions of both bodies.
It is difficult to see how the amalgamation of two
different bodies with fundamentally different roles will improve
services to the film industry and the public. The AFC produces
films and ScreenSound preserves and provides access to them. We
will be watching closely to ensure that none of these function is
neglected.(5)
At present, staff of the AFC are appointed by
the Commission itself pursuant to section 29 of the Australian
Film Commission Act 1975 (the Act). The integration of
ScreenSound Australia with the AFC will see a more elaborate
structure introduced into the AFC, including the formal appointment
of a CEO by the Minister and the employment of staff under the
Public Service Act 1999. At Commission level, a second
Deputy Chair position will be created to recognise the expanded
functions of the AFC.
Item 1 inserts a definition
of 'CEO' into section 3 of the Act.
Item 2 amends the existing
definition of 'Deputy Chair' to reflect the expanded structure of
the AFC which will now have two Deputy Chairs. Item
3 and Item 5, respectively, insert new
definitions that provide the titles of 'First Deputy Chair' and
'Second Deputy Chair' in the Act. The distinction between the
deputies is to enable identification of which deputy formally
deputises in the absence of the Chair. Item 14
amends section 19 of the Act to allow the Governor-General to
appoint two Deputy Chairs and for the Minister to determine who is
'First' and who is 'Second'. Item 19 amends
section 20 of the Act to provide that the 'First Deputy Chair',
when available, deputises for the Chair.
Item 4 inserts a definition
of 'national collection' to identify the cultural and heritage
importance of the additional material held by the AFC following the
integration of ScreenSound Australia. Item 8 adds
additional functions to the AFC to identify the broader cultural
role for the AFC in developing, exhibiting and preserving the
'national collection'. Item 9 inserts a new
obligation on the AFC to use the 'national collection' in the
national interest. Item 10 provides specific
authority to the AFC to add to the 'national collection' by way of
purchase, deposit or loan and to provide public access to the
material by way of loan, hire, sale of programs made from the
materials, or otherwise. The AFC is also empowered to provide the
specialist services of ScreenSound Australia on a fee for service
basis.
Item 11 inserts an obligation
for the AFC to provide annual reports consistent with the
Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997, including
express reporting on the disposal by the AFC of any significant
items from the 'national collection'.
Item 23 inserts a new
Division 1 CEO into the Act. The new Division contains
sections 28A to 28K that deal with the appointment, by the
Minister, of the CEO of the AFC. Except for staff matters, the
Commission may give written directions to the CEO. In all other
respects the CEO is answerable to the Minister.
Items 24 enables DoCITA staff
employed under the Public Service Act 1999 to be
transferred for employment with the AFC and remain persons engaged
under the Public Service Act 1999.
Item 26 appoints the existing
'non-statutory CEO' of the AFC as the new CEO of the integrated AFC
and ScreenSound Australia as if that person had been appointed
under the new arrangements. The appointment runs to 31 December
2005 (the current term of employment).
Items 27 to 30 and
Item 32 provide for the transfer of assets,
liabilities, contractual rights and records of ScreenSound
Australia to the AFC.
Item 31 provides exemption
from State or Territory stamp duty or other tax which might
otherwise apply to the transfer arrangements.
During the examination of the DoCITA
portfolio, including the Australian Film Commission, at Senate
Estimates on 28 May 2003 the issue of the
integration of ScreenSound Australia and
AFC was discussed.(6) The evidence indicated that there
had been an internal portfolio review but the proposal did not
appear to have involved public consultation. The discussion also
included questioning as to the name for the integrated entity which
will retain the previous statutory title of AFC but will not
include reference to ScreenSound Australia
in its formal title. ScreenSound will, however, remain a
trading name for the integrated function.
It seems ironic that attention is given
to nomenclature within the revised internal structure of the AFC to
accommodate the integration of the culturally important
ScreenSound Australia, yet the name of
the integrated body does not reflect its expanded role.
- 'New arrangements for the Australian Film
Commission and ScreenSound Australia', Media release,
Senator the Hon Richard Alston, Minister for Communications,
Information Technology and the Arts and Senator the Hon Rod Kemp,
Minister for the Arts and Sport, No. B08/03, 13 May 2003.
- Cosima Marriner, 'Breathe easy: arts gets a
new start', Age, 15 May 2003. Gabriella Coslovich, 'Budget
windfall for arts', Age, 16 May 2003.
- Cosima Marriner, 'Breathe easy: arts gets a
new start', Age, 15 May 2003.
- 'Job Losses to Follow Cultural Review',
Media release, Bob McMullan Shadow Treasurer and Shadow
Minister for the Arts, 16 May 2003.
- ibid.
- Senate, Environment, Communication,
Information Technology and the Arts Legislation Committee,
Consideration of Budget Estimates, Committee
Hansard, 28 May 2003.
Brendan Bailey
4 June 2003
Bills Digest Service
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2003
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