A bill to support community broadcasting, the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Community Radio) Bill 2022, has passed through the Parliament.
The Bill is expected to streamline licensing, provide greater certainty for stations, and enhance the sustainability of the community broadcasting sector.
Supporting the bill in parliament, the Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, said, “These reforms are consistent with the government’s commitment to support the sustainability of the community broadcasting sector and better reflect its important role in the diversity of Australia’s media and broadcasting environment.”
Community Broadcasting Association of Australia CEO, Jon Bisset (pictured), thanked the Minister for progressing the Bill in a busy Parliamentary period and thanked MPs for their strong bi-partisan support of the sector.
He says, “On behalf of all community radio stations and community TV the CBAA thanks the Parliament for their strong acknowledgement of the contribution our sector makes to the cultural and social fabric of the nation.
“I also thank Parliament for bi-partisan support of this bill, which will make it easier for existing community radio stations to renew their licences, removing uncertainty by ensuring it is a non-competitive process.
“The Bill also allows the (the Australian Communications and Media Authority) to be flexible in setting renewal deadlines and in providing advanced notice of broadcasting licence commencement dates.”
MPs and Senators from all parties addressing the bill made a special effort to thank their local station volunteers for their commitment to their local communities and also acknowledged the essential role community radio plays in an increasingly concentrated media environment as one of the only remaining local sources of news and information, particularly in regional and remote communities.
MP, Member for Goldstein, Zoe Daniel, said, “Community radio is an essential element in the jigsaw that makes up our media landscape, offering diversity through a range of voices at a time when there has been disturbing concentration in the mainstream media.”
Regional MPs noted how important community broadcasting services have been during bushfires, COVID and continuing floods with Member for Riverina, Michael McCormack, saying, “Without them—I said this before; I wasn’t overegging it—people in emergencies, particularly in fire emergencies, would die if they did not have those signals, those alerts, those updates and that information which is given on an instantaneous basis, whether it’s bushfires, floods or severe thunderstorm warnings.”