Submissions made to the Department of Communications’ Local Content Review of radio, which closed at the beginning of this month, have not yet been made public on the department’s website.

A spokesperson for Senator Conroy last week told radioinfo last week:

“The submissions are currently being uploaded to the website and should be available for public viewing next week. The Minister will respond to the issues raised as part of the review report that will be tabled in Parliament in due course.”

The commercial radio sector is on the record as strongly opposing the local content rules, and the community broadcasting sector has also commented publicly about localism, but other submissions are unknown at this time.

CBAA General Manager Michele Bawden has told radioinfo about some of the key points made by the community broadcast sector in its submission:

“Community radio delivers local content to local communities,  content which is produced by and for the people of rural and regional Australia.

“Australian community broadcasters produce 77% of content locally at the local community radio station. This contributes significantly to the diversity and independence of news and views in Australia.

“Community radio listeners love the local content and diverse music styles that our stations provide. Listeners feel connected to the local community station. This sort of content is in such demand that our audiences have grown by 50% since 1996 and the number of community radio stations continues to increase across Australia.”

Bawden also wrote a comment article for the National Times on the subject (click the link below).

When other submissions become public radioinfo will bring you more viewpoints on regional radio localism.