Appendix 3 - Resolution on the Broadcasting of Proceedings passed by the House of
Representatives on 9 December 2013[1]
Broadcasting of Proceedings
That this House:
- repeal the following resolutions:
- Broadcasting
and re-broadcasting of excerpts of proceedings, adopted 30 November 1988;
- Televising of
proceedings, adopted 16 October 1991;
- Extension of House
monitoring service, adopted 28 September 1993;
- Radio
broadcasting of parliamentary proceedings - general principles, adopted
20 September 1994; and
- Broadcasting
of proceedings - conditions for broadcasters, adopted 1 May 1996; and
- in their place, adopt the following resolution:
1 Provision of broadcast
- The
House authorises the broadcast and re-broadcast of the proceedings and excerpts
of proceedings of the House, its committees and of the Federation Chamber in
accordance with this resolution.
- The
House authorises the provision of sound and vision coverage of proceedings of
the House, its committees, and of the Federation Chamber, including records of
past proceedings, through the House Monitoring Service and through the
Parliament of Australia website.
- Access
to the House Monitoring Service sound and vision coverage of the proceedings of
the House, its committees and the Federation Chamber is provided to persons and
organisations as determined by the Speaker, on terms and conditions determined
by the Speaker which must not be inconsistent with this resolution.
- The
Speaker shall report to the House on persons and organisations in receipt of
the service and on any terms and conditions determined under paragraph 1(c).
- Use
of sound and vision coverage of proceedings of the House, its committees and
the Federation Chamber, including records of past proceedings, published on the
Parliament of Australia website is subject to conditions of use determined by
the Speaker.
2 Broadcast of House of
Representatives and Federation Chamber proceedings – House Monitoring Service
Access to proceedings provided through the House Monitoring
Service is subject to compliance with the following conditions:
- Only the following
broadcast material shall be used:
- switched
sound and vision feed of the House of Representatives, its committees and the
Federation Chamber provided by the Parliament that is produced for broadcast,
re-broadcast and archiving; and
- official
broadcast material supplied by authorised parliamentary staff.
- Broadcast
material shall be used only for the purposes of fair and accurate reports of
proceedings, and shall not be used for:
- political party
advertising or election campaigns; or
- commercial sponsorship
or commercial advertising.
- Reports
of proceedings shall be such as to provide a balanced presentation of differing
views.
- Excerpts
of proceedings which are subsequently withdrawn may be broadcast only if the
withdrawal is also reported.
- The
instructions of the Speaker or his or her delegates, which are not inconsistent
with these conditions or the rules applying to the broadcasting of committee
proceedings, shall be observed.
3 Broadcast of committee
proceedings
The following conditions apply to the broadcasting of
committee proceedings:
- Recording
and broadcasting of proceedings of a committee is subject to the authorisation
of the committee.
- A committee may
authorise the broadcasting of only its public proceedings.
- Recording
and broadcasting of a committee is not permitted during suspensions of
proceedings, or following an adjournment of proceedings.
- A
committee may determine conditions, not inconsistent with this resolution, for
the recording and broadcasting of its proceedings, may order that any part of
its proceedings not be recorded or broadcast, and may give instructions for the
observance of conditions so determined and orders so made. A committee shall
report to the House any wilful breach of such conditions, orders or
instructions.
- Recording
and broadcasting of proceedings of a committee shall not interfere with the
conduct of those proceedings, shall not encroach into the committee’s work
area, or capture documents (either in hard copy or electronic form) in the
possession of committee members, witnesses or committee staff.
- Broadcasts
of proceedings of a committee, including excerpts of committee proceedings,
shall be for the purpose only of making fair and accurate reports of those
proceedings, and shall not be used for:
- political party advertising
or election campaigns; or
- commercial sponsorship
or commercial advertising.
- Where
a committee intends to permit the broadcasting of its proceedings, a witness
who is to appear in those proceedings shall be given reasonable opportunity, before
appearing in the proceedings, to object to the broadcasting of the proceedings
and to state the ground of the objection. The committee shall consider any such
objection, having regard to the proper protection of the witness and the public
interest in the proceedings, and if the committee decides to permit
broadcasting of the proceedings notwithstanding the witness’ objection, the
witness shall be so informed before appearing in the proceedings.
4 Radio broadcast of
parliamentary proceedings by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation – general
principles
The House adopts the following general principles agreed to
by the Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings on 19
March 2013:
- Allocation of the
broadcast between the Senate and the House of Representatives
The proceedings of Parliament
shall be broadcast live whenever a House is sitting. The allocation of
broadcasts between the Senate and the House of Representatives will be in
accordance with the standing determinations made by the Joint Committee on the
Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings. It is anticipated that over time,
the coverage of each House will be approximately equal.
- Re-broadcast of questions
and answers
At the conclusion of the live
broadcast of either House, questions without notice and answers thereto from
the House not allocated the broadcast shall be re-broadcast.
- Unusual or exceptional
circumstances
Nothing in these general
principles shall prevent the Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of
Parliamentary Proceedings from departing from them in unusual or exceptional
circumstances.
5 This resolution shall continue in
force unless and until amended or rescinded by the House in this or a subsequent
Parliament.
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