The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) has found FIVEaa in breach of the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice 1999 for broadcasting a program, likely to have incited or perpetuated hatred against or vilified Aborigines on the basis of their race.

The ABA has also found FIVEaa breached the code by failing to respond to a written complaint about the broadcast.

On 21 May 2004, the ABA received a complaint about comments on Aborigines broadcast on the Bob Francis program on 17 February from 11pm-midnight.

The ABA has determined that the licensee of FIVEaa, Festival City Broadcasters Pty Ltd:

* breached clause 1.3(e) of the Codes of Practice, by broadcasting a program which was likely to have incited or perpetuated hatred against or vilified Aborigines on the basis of their race, and it was not presented reasonably and in good faith for purposes in the public interest, including discussion or debate about any act or matter

* breached clause 5.6 of the code, as it did not respond to a written complaint about the broadcast.

The ABA acknowledges that the licensee moved quickly to deal with the matter, and notes Bob Francis broadcast an apology for the distress caused by the broadcast.

FIVEaa has since implemented quarterly training, ongoing training and support, and monitoring.

FIVEaa plans further training in relation to compliance with all aspects of the code, not limited to a consideration of statements made in isolation but including the context of comments.

The ABA says that this, and the seriousness of the matter, has been discussed at length with Francis, who has made a commitment to properly address the issue.

“To remove the prospect of any repeat of such unacceptable conduct, FIVEaa has told the ABA it is committed to the training and management program, details of which have been provided to the ABA.”

The ABA also notes that in response to the breach finding, the licensee has implemented several additional steps:
* a formal process to ensure compliance with requirements, including the logging of complaints
* provision of a written response to complainants
* advising complainants of their right to go to the ABA if they are not happy with the licensee’s response
* maintaining a register of complaints, which is being administered personally by FIVEaa’s General Manager and Financial Controller.

The ABA notes that these were the first breaches against the relevant code provisions by the licensee in the past five years. As such, the Authority considers FIVEaa’s actions address the compliance issues, raised by the investigation, and will continue to monitor performance against the relevant code provisions.