20 October

Investigations into program matters

There were 136 breaches of codes of practice, licence conditions or the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 by broadcasters in 1998-99, according to the Australian Broadcasting Authority’s Annual Report tabled in Parliament this week.

There were 52 more breaches found in 1998-99 than in the previous reporting period. Of the 136 breaches, 75 related to codes of practice (59 in 1997-98), 55 were breaches of licence conditions (24 in 1997-98), and six were breaches of the Act (one in 1997-98).

"The increase in the number of breaches of licence conditions and of the Act is of concern to the Authority. It partly reflects a continued vigorous compliance regime practised by the Authority in the reporting period," the report says.

Much of the increase in the number of breaches can be attributed to three issues: the scheduling of non-program matter on commercial television, the broadcasting of political matter without the authorisation details and compliance with the Children’s Television Standards.

Of the 75 breaches of codes of practice, 57 related to commercial television services, 4 to commercial radio, 8 to community radio, 4 to ABC television and 2 to ABC radio.

For commercial television, issues relating to the scheduling of non-program matter resulted in 34 breaches of the code. The findings were mainly the result of differences in the way licensees and the Authority interpreted the provisions of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice. The Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations (FACTS) undertook to amend this code by clarifying the provisions. The Authority registered the revised Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice on 8 April 1999.

There were 23 other code breaches relating to commercial television services. Thirteen breaches related to the handling of complaints by licensees, nine to classification issues and one to accuracy in a current affairs program.

Of the 55 breaches of licence conditions, 52 related to commercial television services, 2 to community radio and 1 to commercial radio.

One investigation, into the broadcasting of political matter on six Queensland commercial television services resulted in the Authority finding 28 breaches of the licence condition that requires political matter to be immediately followed by an announcement of the required particulars (commonly called the authorisation details or tag). The Authority took no action with regard to the breaches, taking into account the fact that the Authority’s Guidelines for the Broadcasting of Political Matter were not published at the time of the broadcasts and that it was difficult for licensees to apply the requirements of the licence condition with any certainty prior to their publication. However, all licensees have been put on notice that future breaches of this licence condition are likely to be regarded more seriously by the Authority, and treated accordingly.

Twenty-four breaches of licence conditions related to non-compliance by commercial television licensees with the requirements of the Children’s Television Standards. While the breaches were mainly administrative in nature, the Authority will closely monitor licensees’ compliance with the Standards over the next reporting period.

The six breaches of the Act all related to the provision of a commercial radio service without a licence to do so. In each case, the offender held an apparatus licence for the provision of an open narrowcasting service. The Authority issued a notice under section 137 of the Act to each service provider directing the service provider to cease providing a commercial radio service. Two service providers ceased providing their service upon receipt of the notice from the Authority. The Authority is yet to determine whether the other three service providers (two breaches concerned the one service provider) have complied with the Authority’s notices.

The ABA also found four breaches by ABC television and two breaches by ABC radio relating to the ABC’s Code of Practice. Significantly, the number of breaches concerning the handling of complaints by the ABC fell from eight in 1997-98 to two in 1998-99.

The Authority did not find any breaches of codes of practice relating to SBS television or radio services, subscription television services, subscription radio services, open narrowcasting television services or open narrowcasting radio services.

The ABA completed 109 investigations into program related matters in the financial year 1998-99. This was 14 per cent fewer than the 135 completed in 1997-98. The average time taken by the ABA to complete an investigation was approximately 15 weeks, four weeks longer than in 1997-98.

Media contact: Donald Robertson, ABA Manager Media and PR, on (02) 9334 7980.

20 October 1999 Backgrounder attached (two pages)

BACKGROUNDER

The complaint process

The complaint process administered by broadcasters and the ABA is laid down in the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. The Act requires that complaints from viewers and listeners about program content matters that are covered by a code of practice be directed in the first instance to the broadcaster concerned.

If the ABA receives a complaint that there has been a breach of the Act or of a licence condition, it immediately begins an investigation.

Complaints about breaches of codes of practice are first dealt with by the broadcaster. It is the broadcaster’s responsibility to deal with the complaint and to resolve it to the satisfaction of the complainant.

If a station fails to respond to a written complaint within 60 days, or if the complainant believes the response to be inadequate, the complainant has the right to take the matter to the ABA for investigation. The ABA is obliged to investigate these unresolved complaints.

As part of its investigation procedure, the ABA seeks a report from the broadcaster on its own investigation into the unresolved complaint.

A breach of a code of practice is not a breach of a licence condition or of the Act. The ABA may make compliance with a code a condition of a broadcaster’s licence, but the code is intended to be an integral part of a self-regulatory process. The ABA’s response to a breach of a code is to work with the broadcaster to ensure that the broadcaster concerned rectifies problems with its performance against the code. The ABA has the power to make compliance with a code a licence condition where there are repeated breaches of the code or a broadcaster proves unwilling to take remedial action.

Because the regulatory onus is on the broadcasters themselves, when dealing with breaches of codes, the ABA has worked with the broadcasters concerned, or with industry representative bodies, to ensure problems identified are rectified, that steps are taken to ensure such a breach does not recur, and, if necessary, appropriate amendments are made to codes.

In relation to the breaches of licence conditions and the Act, although the ABA has the discretion to take punitive action against licensees, Parliament has made clear in s.5 of the Act that such action must be commensurate with the seriousness of the breach. In all cases of a breach of condition in the 1998-99 year, the ABA was of the view that the finding of a breach and the response of the licensee in remedying the breach was commensurate with the seriousness of the breach.

The ABA can also investigate complaints about the national broadcasters, the ABC and SBS. However, the ABA can only investigate complaints about material broadcast on the ABC or SBS that is covered by a code of practice.

Complaints received by the ABA

Although under the codes of practice for the various sectors of the broadcasting industry primary responsibility for the resolution of complaints rests with the broadcasters themselves, many members of the public contact the ABA directly with complaints about radio and television. These complainants are informed of the complaint procedure and directed to the relevant broadcaster.

People who contacted the ABA with their complaints were provided with a full explanation of the complaints process and, if required, were also provided with copies of relevant information such as codes of practice. To assist telephone callers, the ABA has a free call entry in the White Pages of every telephone directory in Australia as well as an after hour answering facility for recording comments from the public. To assist hearing impaired people, the ABA has a telephone typewriter and also provides a telephone interpreter service.

FACTS and the Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters (FARB) provide the ABA with quarterly complaint reports: these contain summaries of complaints made to commercial broadcasters. The ABA publishes extracts of these reports in its monthly newsletter, ABA Update.

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