This year both community and commercial radio will see its Codes of Practice reviewed and updated.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has approved the revised Community Radio Broadcasting Codes of Practice 2025. It comes into force on the 1st of July after a three year consultation process. The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) will support stations and their staff and volunteers with training and guidance materials to understand and comply with the Codes. 

The new Community Radio Broadcasting Codes of Practice (2025) can be found here: (Word/PDF)

Now the Commercial Radio Code of Practice is under review, the first since 2016/17 with the current version registered in 2017. 

The code covers:

• material not suitable for broadcast;  

• accuracy and fairness in news and current affairs programs; 

• advertising material; 

• Australian music quotas; 

• procedures for handling complaints related to possible breaches of the Codes;  

• broadcasts of emergency information; and 

• promotion of gambling and betting odds in live sports coverage. 

A copy of the draft revised Code as it stands, can be found here.

All stakeholders, be it radio listeners, industry members, community representatives and employees have an opportunity until May 18 to have input in this review as part of a public consultation. 

Submissions can be sent to  [email protected].

ARIA and the PPCA have put forward their hoped for changes to Australian music content. As have the ACMA who are working with Commercial Radio and Audio (CRA) and industry stakeholders to assess whether any changes to key areas of the Code are required.

CRA have put forward some issues to be considered if you are going to offer feedback:  

• Material not suitable for broadcast (clause 2): Whether the current decency provision is adequate and provides appropriate safeguards for children.
• News and current affairs programs (clause 3):
  • Whether the on-air correction provisions need to be strengthened beyond the changes proposed.
  • Whether the current Code obligations meet community expectations with respect to the role and responsibilities of commercial radio licensees in preventing the amplification of mis/disinformation. 
  • Whether any additional disclosure requirements are required in relation to commercial arrangements in news. 
• Australian music (clause 5): Whether the Australian music provisions remain fit for purpose. 
• Complaints (clause 10): 
  • Whether licensees’ online complaints processes are accessible. 
  • Whether the current complaints reporting provisions are adequate. 

The ACMA have also raised their areas of concern below:

Material not suitable for broadcast

Radio content is not subject to the National Classification Scheme and its advisory ratings, with which Australian audiences are familiar (G, PG, M, MA 15+ etc). Instead, the Code contains a general obligation requiring that program content not offend generally accepted standards of decency, whilst having regard to the demographic characteristics of the program audience (known as the ‘decency’ provision). Licensees must also not broadcast a feature program which has an explicit sexual theme as its core component unless it is broadcast between 7pm and 6am and an appropriate warning is made prior to commencement of the program and at hourly intervals during its broadcast.

The ACMA is aware of heightened concerns about certain commercial radio content and whether it meets ‘generally accepted standards of decency’. In February 2025, the ACMA opened two new investigations into The Kyle and Jackie O Show to consider possible systemic issues in relation to the decency and complaint handling provisions of the Code. This is in addition to two recently finalised investigations into the program that found breaches of the Code. Concerns about offensive and sexually explicit content on the program have also been raised through Parliament and in the media, particularly in relation to children’s exposure to material that is adult in nature during morning breakfast radio.

The public response to the recent on-air comments made by Marty Sheargold concerning the Australian women’s national soccer team, the Matildas, highlight that community concerns around ‘indecent’ or unacceptable content on commercial radio are not limited to one licensee or program.

CRA has proposed retaining the existing decency provisions in the draft code, without modification. The ACMA would encourage listeners to let CRA know their views on this matter in this Code review process, including on whether the current decency provisions are adequate or whether code amendments are needed to address concerns. This could include, for example, adding a requirement that licensees exercise ‘special care’ when considering content for programs scheduled during school drop-off and pick-up hours, broadening the existing restrictions around ‘explicit sexual themes’ to a wider range of content, or providing clearer warnings where content is broadcast in these periods that may not be suitable for children.

News and current affairs

A key area of community concern relates to the provision of news and current affairs. According to the News and Media Research Centre (N&MRC, 2024), trust in news among people who rely on radio as their primary source has fallen from 46% in 2023 to 37% in 2024 (-9pp). This drop also coincides with a comparable decline in trust in Australian democracy and public institutions.

The factors that most drive Australians to trust news are perceptions of high journalistic standards, and transparency around editorial processes (N&MRC, 2024). In annual complaints data provided by CRA each year, the ACMA observed that the proportion of complaints made to commercial radio broadcasters about News and Current Affairs provisions in their code has grown from 7% of all complaints in 2020–21 to 11% in 2023–24. The ACMA considers that radio listeners would benefit from CRA strengthening its news and current affairs safeguards in the code.

The Code requires commercial broadcasters to use ‘reasonable efforts to present news accurately and impartially’ and for news and factual material to be distinguishable from comment and, in the case of current affairs, ensure that viewpoints are not misrepresented or presented in a misleading manner by giving wrong or improper emphasis on certain material or by editing material out of context. Radio broadcasters argue, and the ACMA accepts, that some recognition of the dynamic and live nature of the radio format needs to be applied when considering accuracy issues.

However, there remains growing concern within the Australian community about online misinformation, rising from 64% in 2022 to 75% in 2024 (N&MRC, 2024). Considering rapid advancements in generative AI tools and the ease through which bad actors can manipulate the online information environment, the ACMA is concerned that the existing accuracy provisions alone may be insufficient to address the growing threat posed by online misinformation. There are examples where the mainstream media has inadvertently amplified false online narratives. This includes Australian radio outlets amplifying misinformation claiming that the Australian Electoral Commission’s acceptance of a ‘tick vs cross’ was designed to favour the ‘yes’ vote during the 2023 Indigenous Voice Referendum, when this dated back to 1988 (AEC, 2023).

The ACMA would welcome listener feedback to CRA on whether the Code should more explicitly commit broadcasters to take special care to confirm the legitimacy of non-authoritative sources to help prevent the amplification of mis- and disinformation – particularly when relying on material circulating on social media platforms.

Corrections

Given the dynamic and often live nature of news programming, including the need to report on stories where facts may still be in dispute, factual errors can occur from time to time. In these instances, it is important for listeners that news presenters correct the record in a timely manner and in a way that has the highest likelihood of being heard or seen by the same (or similar) audience.

The ACMA supports the proposed removal of the ‘reasonable efforts’ qualifier in the draft code. This provision, however, still allows radio broadcasters to make corrections on an alternative platform (including a website) or at a time that means that the correction is not likely to be heard by listeners originally exposed to the error. The ACMA understands that on-air corrections may be challenging in some circumstances and broadcasters prefer to retain the current flexibility. However, the ACMA considers that radio audiences would benefit if the code required that corrections were proximate to the error and brought to the attention of the same or similar audience.

Commercial interests 

ACMA research published in 2020 highlighted that commercial influence over news content was an area where existing regulatory protections may not be meeting audience expectations. It found that 83% of Australians were concerned about ‘news being influenced by large advertisers’, including sponsorship of news segments such as weather and finance, commercial businesses paying to have their products or services feature in news or offering goods and services for free during news (ACMA, 2020). The ACCC reported that just under a third of Australians aged 18+ reported that the issue they are mostly concerned about in the news is ‘stories that are made up for political or commercial reasons’ (ACCC, 2018).

The Broadcasting Services (Commercial Radio Current Affairs Disclosure) Standard 2022 requires disclosure of commercial arrangements in current affairs programs. Despite growing community concern, there is no equivalent obligation for disclosure of commercial interests influencing editorial decisions in news programs.

The ACMA acknowledges the growing importance of commercial arrangements to the sustainability of news programs signalled by industry. While news programs are required to be impartial under existing code provisions, the ACMA considers that radio listeners would benefit from the code being amended to ensure that all commercial arrangements that do, or could, impact or influence content or editorial decisions in both news programs and current affairs programs are disclosed in a clear and obvious manner.

Transparency and complaints handling 

Complaints are a core foundation of the co-regulatory framework and are the principal means by which the ACMA monitors compliance with the code. Strong transparency and accountability measures reinforce a content providers’ integrity and generates trust amongst audiences and the broader community around broadcasting content. However, there is limited publicly available information about how complaints are assessed and investigated internally or the outcomes of those complaint processes. This is an issue across the broadcasting industry codes.

The ACMA considers that radio listeners would benefit from broadcasters providing clear and prominent information on making a code complaint on their website(s), including access to simple and user-friendly complaint mechanisms, as well as publishing an annual complaints report including a summary of the number and substance of code complaints, how many were dismissed, how many were upheld and rectified.

The ACMA is also aware of other pathways that listeners may take to express their concerns about what they hear on radio, such as through social media. In addition to code complaint data, the ACMA considers that the industry would benefit from undertaking regular research into their listener’s views and concerns, including how these may change over time.

Australian music provisions

Over recent years, there has been a growing concern around the sustainability of the Australian music industry, and the role of Australian music quotas in the Code. The 2019 Inquiry into the Australian Music Industry by the House of Representatives’ Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts called for reform of these provisions, and public discourse on the impact of content quotas was enlivened in 2023 with the introduction of the Private Member’s Bill, Copyright Legislation Amendment (Fair Pay for Radio Play) Bill 2023.

Additionally, the current Code obligations relating to Australian music do not currently apply to digital-only (DAB+) radio services. The Code includes a provision stating that this exemption is to be specifically considered as part of the next material review of the Code.

The ACMA welcomes any additional feedback from listeners to CRA on the suitability of the current Australian music provisions more broadly as part of the review of the Code.

Safeguards for online services 

Currently, all broadcaster codes of practice apply to services delivered by terrestrial broadcast. The same or similar radio programs delivered over the internet are not subject to the same safeguards and cannot be investigated by the ACMA. This is a legislative barrier as the ACMA’s code registration powers and remit currently do not extend to online services.

In 2024, 31% of Australian adults aged 25-54 had listened to AM/FM/DAB+ radio online in a given week, compared to only 15% in 2021 (Edison Research, 2024). Listeners increasingly do not distinguish between radio content broadcast and delivered online and may expect comparable safeguards irrespective of listening platform.

The ACMA considers that listeners would benefit from broadcasters voluntarily committing to extend some or all their broadcast radio safeguards to radio content provided online. This approach has already been taken by the national broadcasters and would demonstrate the commercial radio industry’s responsiveness to changing listening behaviours and commitment to providing content safeguards for all of its audience.

This is a small but important window to share your own concerns and offer input to the review. Any submissions will be shared with the ACMA, unless it is clearly marked as confidential. The next step, after this consultation period, will see CRA prepare a proposed final version of the Code before submitting to the ACMA for registration.  

Submissions can be sent to [email protected]. The consultation period closes May 18, 2025.

Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.