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1998-1999-2000
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH
OF AUSTRALIA
THE SENATE
BROADCASTING LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2000
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of Senator the Hon. Richard Alston, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts)
ISBN: 0642 463700
BROADCASTING
LEGISLATION
AMENDMENT BILL 2000
OUTLINE
The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment Bill (the Bill) amends the
Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA), the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation Act 1983 (the ABC Act), and the Special Broadcasting Service
Act 1991 (the SBS Act):
(a) to transfer provisions giving the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) the specific function of datacasting from the BSA to their respective enabling legislation; and
(b) to make a number of minor amendments to the provisions of the BSA
inserted by the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Digital Television and
Datacasting) Act 2000 (the Digital Act).
Clause 39 and 40 of Schedule
6 of the BSA, which were inserted by the Digital Act, give the ABC and the SBS
the function of providing datacasting services under a datacasting licence if
those Corporations respectively apply for a datacasting licence. These
provisions were included in Schedule 6 to achieve the following objectives:
§ making any ABC or SBS involvement in datacasting a matter for their respective Boards (and therefore not making it a charter function of those organisations); and
§ requiring
any ABC or SBS involvement in datacasting to be on the same basis as other
datacasters.
At present there is no reference to the provision of
datacasting services in either the ABC Act or the SBS Act. In order to best
reflect the ABC’s and SBS’s ability to datacast, the Bill amends the
BSA by removing the provision for ABC and SBS datacasting, and amends the ABC
and SBS Acts by inserting equivalent clauses.
The Bill also rectifies a
number of minor errors that occurred as a consequence of various amendments made
in the Senate to the Broadcasting Amendment (Digital Television and Datacasting)
Bill (the Digital Bill) during consideration of the Bill in June 2000.
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
The Bill is not expected to have any impact on Commonwealth expenditure
or revenue.
BROADCASTING
LEGISLATION
AMENDMENT BILL 2000
Clause 1 provides that the Bill, when enacted, may be cited as the
Broadcasting Legislation Amendment Act 2000.
Clause 2 provides that the Bill, when enacted, will commence on the day
on which it receives Royal Assent.
Clause 3 –
Schedule(s)
Clause 3 provides, in effect, that provisions in the BSA,
the ABC Act and the SBS Act that are specified respectively in Schedules 1, 2
and 3 to the Bill are amended or repealed in accordance with the applicable
items of those Schedules, and that other items in the Schedules have effect
according to their terms.
Item 1 – Amendment to subparagraph 5A(2)(o)(i) of Schedule
4
Clause 5A of Schedule 4 of the BSA defines a ‘multi-channelled
national television broadcasting service’ for the purpose of the
Schedule. Subclause 5A(2) sets out the types of programs the ABC and the SBC can
provide under a multi-channelled national television broadcasting
service.
At present, paragraph 5A(2)(o) of Schedule 4 of the BSA would
allow the ABC and the SBS to broadcast, as part of their multichannel services,
international news programs produced by the ABC. The proposed amendment corrects
subparagraph 5A(2)(o)(i) to include SBS-produced international news programs in
this provision.
Item 2 – Repeal of paragraphs 6(8)(ca) and 19(8)(ca) of Schedule
4
Paragraphs 6(8)(ca) and 19(8)(ca) of Schedule 4 of the BSA both refer to
‘Category B digital program-enhancement content’. These paragraphs
have no substantive operation after the deletion of subclauses 6(15)-(19) and
19(15)-(19) by amendments made in the Senate to the Digital Bill.
Item 3 – Amendment to paragraph 27A(1)(d) of Schedule
6
Clause 27A of Schedule 6 of the BSA provides that the ABA may make
an exemption order in relation to a transmission of matter by a datacasting
licensee where the matter of the content is proposed to be copied from the
Internet. Clause 20AA provides that the conditions contained in clauses 14 and
16 of Schedule 6 do not apply in relation a matter is the subject of an
exemption order under subclause 27A(1).
This proposed amendment omits an
incorrect reference to clause 20A in clause 27A and substitutes a reference to
clause 20AA of Schedule 6.
Item 4 – Amendment to subparagraph
37E(2)(a)(i) and 37F(2)(a)(i) of Schedule 4
Item 4 omits an incorrect reference to ‘SDTV mode’ in subparagraphs 37E(2)(a)(i) and 37F(2)(a)(i) of Schedule 4 and substitutes a reference to ‘SDTV digital mode’.
Item 5 – Amendment to the heading of Part 6 of Schedule
6
Consequential to the proposed deletion of clause 39 and 40 in Item 6,
it is proposed that the heading of the part be changed to ‘Part
6–Control of datacasting transmitter licence’ to reflect the nature
of remaining provisions in Part 6 of Schedule 6 of the BSA.
Item 6
– Repeal of clauses 39 and 40 of Schedule 6
Clauses 39 and 40
of Schedule 4 of the BSA give the ABC and SBS the function of providing
datacasting services under a datacasting licence if those Corporations
respectively apply for a datacasting licence. Consequential to the insertion of
equivalent clauses in the enabling legislation of the ABC and the SBS proposed
by Item 3 in Schedule 2 and Item 3 in Schedule 3 of the Bill, this Item repeals
clauses 39 and 40 of Schedule 4 of the BSA.
Consequential to the proposed amendment in Item 5 to the heading of Part
6 of Schedule 6 of the BSA, the note to Item 6 provides that the heading of
Clause 41, the remaining clause in this Part, be replaced with the heading
‘Datacasting transmitter licences not be controlled by the ABC or
SBS’.
Item 1 – Insertion of definition of ‘datacasting
licence’ in subsection 3(1)
This item inserts a definition of
‘datacasting licence’ in subsection 3(1) (the definition clause) of
the ABC Act. This term is used in the proposed new section 6A.
For the
purposes of the ABC Act, it is proposed that the term ‘datacasting
licence’ will be have the same meaning as in the BSA. In the BSA, a
‘datacasting licence’ means a licence to provide a datacasting
service under Schedule 6 of that Act.
Item 2 – Insertion of
definition of ‘datacasting service’ in subsection
3(1)
This item inserts a definition of ‘datacasting
service’ in subsection 3(1) (the definition clause) of the ABC Act. This
term is used in the proposed new section 6A. For the purposes of the Act, the
term ‘datacasting service’ will be have the same meaning as in the
BSA.
In the BSA, a ‘datacasting licence’ means a service
that delivers content:
§ whether in the form of text; or
§ whether in the form of data; or
§ whether in the form of speech, music or other sounds; or
§ whether in the form of visual images (animated or otherwise); or
§ whether in any other form; or
§ whether in any combination of forms;
to persons having equipment appropriate for receiving that content, where the
delivery of the service uses the broadcasting services bands.
Item 3
– Insertion of new section 6A
Item 3 inserts a new section 6A
which provides that where the ABC applies for and receives a datacasting licence
then, in addition to the ABC Charter functions contained in section 6 of the ABC
Act, the ABC has the function of providing a datacasting service under the
licence, and in accordance with the conditions of the licence. This provision
mirrors subclause 39(1) of Schedule 6 of the current BSA.
This provision
does not require the ABC to provide datacasting services. It provides the ABC
with the ability to choose how to best use its transmission capacity by enabling
it, for example, to use all the available digital transmission capacity to
provide multi-channelled national television broadcasting services rather than
datacasting services, if it so chooses.
The ABC would have the power
under section 25 of the ABC Act to apply for a datacasting licence. The ABC
would be able to apply its money in relation to the datacasting function under
section 68 of the ABC Act.
Where, as a consequence of new section 6A, it
becomes a function of the ABC to provide a datacasting service, any business or
other activity related to the performance of the datacasting function will be an
‘authorised business’ for the purposes of subsection 25A(2).
When performing the datacasting function, the ABC will be subject to the
datacasting regime Schedule 6 of the BSA in the same way as other
datacasters.
Item 1 – Insertion of definition of ‘datacasting
licence’ in subsection 3(1)
This item inserts a definition of
‘datacasting licence’ in subsection 3(1) (the definition clause) of
the SBS Act. This term is used in the proposed new section 6A.
For the
purposes of the SBS Act, it is proposed that the term ‘datacasting
licence’ will be have the same meaning as in the BSA. In the BSA, a
‘datacasting licence’ means a licence to provide a datacasting
service under Schedule 6 of that Act.
Item 2 – Insertion of
definition of ‘datacasting service’ in subsection
3(1)
This item inserts a definition of ‘datacasting
service’ in subsection 3(1) (the definition clause) of the SBS Act. This
term is used in the proposed new section 6A. For the purposes of the Act, the
term ‘datacasting service’ will be have the same meaning as in the
BSA.
In the BSA, a ‘datacasting licence’ means a service
that delivers content:
§ whether in the form of text; or
§ whether in the form of data; or
§ whether in the form of speech, music or other sounds; or
§ whether in the form of visual images (animated or otherwise); or
§ whether in any other form; or
§ whether in any combination of forms;
to persons having equipment appropriate for receiving that content, where the
delivery of the service uses the broadcasting services bands.
Item 3
– Insertion of new section 6A
Item 3 inserts a new section 6A
which provides that where the SBS applies for and receives a datacasting licence
then, in addition to the SBS Charter functions contained in section 6 of the SBS
Act, the SBS has the function of providing a datacasting service under the
licence, and in accordance with the conditions of the licence. This provision
mirrors subclause 40(1) of Schedule 6 of the current BSA.
This provision
does not require the SBS to provide datacasting services. It provides the SBS
with the ability to choose how to best use its transmission capacity by enabling
it, for example, to use all the available digital transmission capacity to
provide multi-channelled national television broadcasting services rather than
datacasting services, if it so chooses.
The SBS would have the power
under section 44 of the SBS Act to apply for a datacasting licence. The SBS
would be able to apply its money in relation to the datacasting function under
section 58.
Where, as a consequence of new section 6A, it becomes a
function of the SBS to provide a datacasting service, any business or other
activity related to the performance of the datacasting function will be an
‘authorised business’ for the purposes of subsection 52(2).
When performing the datacasting function, the SBS will be subject to the
datacasting regime in Schedule 6 of the BSA in the same way as other
datacasters.