Posted 25/03/2024 by Nell Fraser
Anti-siphoning list
Ahead of the 2022 Federal Election, the Australian Labor Party committed to reviewing the anti-siphoning scheme in the context of online streaming platforms. In place since 1994, the anti-siphoning scheme provides the national broadcasters and certain commercial television broadcasting licensees with priority access – over subscription television broadcasters – in acquiring broadcasting rights for a list of events deemed ‘in the national interest’. To date, the anti-siphoning list has only included sporting events.
The Government launched a review of the scheme in 2022. The Communications Legislation Amendment (Prominence and Anti-Siphoning) Bill 2023, introduced in November 2023, proposes a ‘modernisation’ of the scheme. Notably, the Bill extends the scheme to cover online services as well as subscription television; addressing a perceived regulatory loophole and seeking to minimise the risk of listed events migrating behind online paywalls. The Bill was referred to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 9 April 2024. See Bills Digest.
Prominence Framework
Prior to the 2022 Federal Election, Labor committed to ‘legislate a prominence regime to ensure audiences can easily find Australian services on connected TV platforms, like smart TVs’. The government ran a consultation process from late 2022 to early 2023. Provisions to establish a prominence framework were included as part of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Prominence and Anti-Siphoning) Bill 2023. Draft guidelines were published in February 2024.
The Minister for Communications has also flagged that the government will consider establishing a prominence framework for radio.
Community television licences
Currently, sections 96A and 103 of the Radiocommunications Act 1992 stipulate the expiry date of certain types of community television broadcast licences at 30 June 2024. The Broadcasting Services Amendment (Community Television) Bill 2024, introduced on 15 February 2024, proposes to remove this legislated end date. Instead, it provides ACMA with new functions to declare, by notifiable instrument, when the relative parts of the spectrum for community broadcasting are to be made available for alternative uses, and to determine, by legislative instrument, the date that this transition will occur.
These amendments will allow community television stations Channel 31 and Channel 44 to continue broadcasting beyond 30 June 2024.
Misinformation legislation
The Government has committed to ‘legislate to provide the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) with new powers to hold digital platforms to account and improve efforts to combat harmful misinformation and disinformation in Australia’. This measure reinforces the voluntary Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation, launched by the Digital Industry Group Inc. (DIGI) in 2021, and will extend to non-signatories of the voluntary code. The voluntary code was developed following a request by government in 2019.
An exposure draft of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2023 was released for public feedback on 25 June 2023. The exposure draft garnered 2,265 public submissions (available online) and approximately 20,000 comments. The Government has not announced a timeline for introduction of the Bill to parliament.
Content quotas for streaming services
Revive, the National Cultural Policy released in January 2023, included an action to ‘introduce requirements for Australian screen content on streaming platforms to ensure continued access to local stories and content in the third quarter of 2023 and to commence no later than 1 July 2024’ (p. 89). This commitment follows several years of campaigning by industry stakeholders.
Representatives from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts provided updates on the implementation of the policy at Senate Estimates hearings on 24 May 2023 (p. 34). and 24 October 2023 (pp. 8-10). Reporting in The Age on 8 November 2023 (and again on 10 November 2023) provides the most recent update on the proposed legislation.
News Media Bargaining Code
The News Media Bargaining Code ‘is a mandatory code of conduct which governs commercial relationships between Australian news businesses and ‘designated’ digital platforms who benefit from a significant bargaining power imbalance’. The code seeks to encourage platforms to remunerate news businesses for news content that is hosted on their platforms. There are currently no designated platforms, with the threat of designation acting as an incentive for platforms to enter voluntary commercial agreements with local news outlets.
On 18 December 2023, the Government agreed to implement all 5 recommendations of Treasury’s review of the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code.
On 29 February 2024, Meta announced that it would not renew commercial agreements in Australia, which are set to expire this year. While details of the agreements are not public, it has been reported that these provided roughly $70 million per year to local news outlets. In response, the Government has announced that they are ‘committed to the News Media Bargaining Code and is seeking advice from Treasury and the ACCC on next steps’.
News Media Assistance Program (News MAP)
The 2023 Budget included a budget measure of $1.6 million in 2023–24 to develop the News Media Assistance Program (p. 183). Public consultation on the program, which ‘will help guide and inform future Government intervention to support public interest journalism and media diversity in Australia, laying the foundations for a principled, targeted and evidence-based approach’, closed on 22 February 2024.
Reducing online harms
The Online Safety Act 2021 provides for industry bodies to develop codes to regulate 'class 1' and 'class 2' illegal and restricted online material. In 2023, the eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) registered 6 codes for class 1A and class 1B material. eSafety declined to register industry codes for Relevant Electronic Services and Designated Internet Services and will now determine standards for the 2 industries. Consultations on the draft standards closed in late December 2023, with the final codes expected to be registered in 2024. The development of standards for class 2 material (material considered inappropriate for children and general public access, including pornography) has not yet commenced. The Government has requested that the development of standards for class 2 materials ‘commence as soon as practicable’ (p. 4).
The Government has closed consultations on proposed amendments to the Online Safety (Basic Online Safety Expectations) Determination 2022.This determination, made under the Online Safety Act 2021, sets out the minimum safety expectations of online service providers.
The Government has requested online dating companies develop a new voluntary industry code of practice to increase safety on dating apps. This request follows the National Roundtable on Online Dating Safety.
The Government is also considering an approach to reducing online gambling harms. This follows the release of the final report, in June 2023, of the House of Representatives committee inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm.