The newly established ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) continues to send some strong messages to community radio stations to get their house in order regarding key issues for the sector. ACMA’s latest decision has found that York FM (6YCR) in York Western Australia, breached the Community Broadcasting Code of Practice by not having proper complaints handling procedures in place.
The ruling comes after a series of findings about sponsorship breaches in ethnic programs.
ACMA’s message is that complaints handling and sponsorship compliance are two areas it will be very interested in during the next 12 months, and is a warning to stations embarking on licence renewals to watch these areas closely.
6YCR licensee York Community Radio Inc, failed to have in place “a written policy and procedure to facilitate internal conflict resolution,” according to ACMA.
On 4 April 2005, the ABA (now ACMA) received a written complaint alleging that the licensee had failed to encourage members of the community to participate in the operations and programming of the service because it required presenters to sign an agreement which included the reimbursement of costs for damage to station property.
It was also alleged that the licensee failed to establish a written conflict resolution policy.
ACMA was not worried about the payment for damages clause in the membership agreement, but did determine that the station breached clause 6.2 of the Community Broadcasting Code of Practice by failing to have in place a written policy and procedure to facilitate internal conflict resolution.
ACMA noted that in response to the breach finding, the licensee is now formulating an internal conflict resolution policy, which is anticipated to be finalised by mid-September 2005. It considers that these actions address the compliance issues raised by the investigation and will continue to monitor the licensee’s compliance with this requirement.
A large number of community radio licence holders will fall due for their licence renewals under from ABA 66 within the next 12 months, and many stations are looking at their compliance regime now in preparation for the renewal. This and other recent ACMA decisions send strong signals about some things that will be of interest to ACMA as it embarks on the licence renewal process for those stations.
Meanwhile, AFTRS has launched a short workshop to assist stations preparing for licence renewals (see other radioinfo story).