19 November 1999

Review of time share policy for temporary community broadcasting licences

The ABA is reviewing the time share arrangements for temporary community broadcasting licences.

The ABA is proposing to limit time periods for new groups and provide more established groups with longer time frames.

The ABA will consult with the community sector and affected groups before implementing any such changes.

The ABA is aware that a number of temporary community broadcasters have experienced financial and operational difficulties because of the requirement to share spectrum with other groups.

"The legislative provisions for temporary community licences require the ABA to licence all eligible applicants. In practice this means that if the number of applicants exceeds the number of available channels, the groups are required to share," said Professor David Flint, ABA Chairman.

ABA General Manager, Mr Giles Tanner explained, "The ABA’s current policy is that all groups sharing a channel will be given equal time periods".

The ABA is aware that this policy gives no incentive for groups to merge and may actually encourage groups to splinter. Moreover, established groups who may have had full use of a channel can find their access to airtime suddenly halved when a new group emerges.

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