National Broadcasters Legislation Amendment (Enhanced Transparency) Bill 2017 [2018] AUSStaCSBSD 19 (7 February 2018)

• National Broadcasters Legislation Amendment (Enhanced Transparency) Bill 2017
• Privacy 197

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National Broadcasters Legislation Amendment (Enhanced Transparency) Bill 2017

Purpose	This bill seeks to amend the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983 and the Special Broadcasting Service Act 1991 to require the annual reporting of employees, including on-air talent, whose combined salary and allowances are in excess of $200,000
Portfolio	Communications and the Arts
Introduced	Senate on 6 December 2017

Privacy ^[197]

1.267 The bill seeks to require the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) to include in its annual reports the following details relating to the remuneration of employees and contractors over the reporting period:^[198]

• if an employee receives over $200,000 in salary and allowances, the report must include the employee's name, the total amount received, and the position or positions held by the employee over the reporting period; and

• if an individual receives a cumulative amount exceeding $200,000 under one or more on-air talent contracts,^[199] the report must include the individual's name, the total amount received, and the nature of the services performed by the individual for the ABC or the SBS.

1.268 The explanatory memorandum states that the disclosure of the names and remuneration details of ABC and SBS employees and contractors 'is necessary to achieve the legitimate Government objective of enhanced transparency and reducing the gender salary gap.'^[200] In this regard, the statement of compatibility also states:

The publication of de-identified and potentially aggregate information about these employees' [sic] and salaries and allowances, and payments made to contractors in key on-air roles, is considered inadequate because it would not provide the transparency required to not only allow the public to see how its money is being spent, but also in identifying if there is a gender salary gap across similar roles or level of talent. This reporting obligation will allow the public to have visibility of how proactive the national broadcasters are in closing any identified gender salary gaps.
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Publication of the employee or individual's name will allow the Australian public to identify the person and the role they perform, and assess whether the national broadcasters have achieved appropriate value for money in relation to the spending of public monies.^[201]

1.269 The committee acknowledges the importance of enhancing transparency in the public media sector and identifying and addressing gender salary gaps. However, the committee is concerned that disclosing the names and remuneration of employees and contractors may unduly trespass on those persons' right to privacy, as disclosure of a person's remuneration details would reveal that person's financial standing to the public at large.

1.270 Further, the committee notes that while the explanatory memorandum states that the disclosure of names and remuneration details is necessary to achieve enhanced transparency and to reduce the gender pay gap, it is unclear to the committee that this would be the only means of achieving this purpose. For example, publishing de-identified information about the number of employees and contractors receiving over $200,000 during the reporting period could also increase transparency around the expenditure of public money. Moreover, any gender pay gaps could be identified by publishing the number of female employees and contractors receiving over $200,000 over the reporting period, compared to the number of male employees and contractors in the same position or positions, without the need to name each individual. In this regard, the committee notes that Commonwealth Government departments and agencies typically publish the salaries and allowances of senior public servants employees by salary bands – and list the number of persons of each gender employed at each band, without disclosing the names or remuneration details of persons occupying individual positions.

1.271 The committee is concerned that, in publishing the names and remuneration details of ABC and SBS employees and contractors receiving more than $200,000, the bill impacts on the right to privacy of such persons and may unduly trespass on personal rights and liberties. The committee draws these scrutiny concerns to the attention of Senators and leaves to the Senate as a whole the appropriateness of publishing such details.

1.1

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[197] Schedule 1, item 3, proposed section 80A and Schedule 2, item 3, proposed section 73A. The committee draws senators' attention to these provisions pursuant Senate Standing Order 24(1)(a)(i).

[198] 'Reporting period', in this instance, means the period of 12 months commencing on 1 July each year. See section 8 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

[199] Under proposed subsection 80A(3) of the ABC Act, and proposed subsection 73A(3) of the SBS Act, an 'on-air talent contract' is a contract, other than a contract of employment, under which an individual performs services consisting of, or including, appearing on a television program or speaking or performing on a radio program.

[200] Explanatory memorandum, pp. 10 and 13.

[201] Statement of compatibility, pp. 6-7.