Policy Calendar
Screen Australia Review of Television Funding
Screen Australia has announced that it will review its funding of television production to ensure that the organisation is supporting the television production industry and Australian programming in an optimum way. ASTRA will provide a submission to this review; deadline 30 June. The consultation paper can be found here.
Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) Supplementary Discussion Paper
The Department of Environment has released a supplementary discussion paper on MEPS energy labelling for equipment and appliances. Submissions are due by 9 August 2010. The paper can be found here.
Digital Dividend Green Paper
On 5 January 2010 the Government released its Digital Dividend Green Paper in relation to spectrum freed up as the result of the transition between analog and digital television. Further information can be found at www.dbcde.gov.au
Status: ASTRA provided a submission to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy on 26 February 2010 which can be viewed here
Update: On 24 June 2010, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, announced that the Government will release 126MHz of spectrum as a digital dividend. The digital dividend will be released as a contiguous block of spectrum in the upper ultra-high frequency (UHF) band, comprising the frequency range 694 to 820 MHz inclusive.
Regulatory Framework for Communications Services in a Converged Environment
In the Department’s discussion paper ‘Regulatory Reform for 21st Century Broadband’ the Government flagged its intention to reform the regulatory framework for communications services in a converged environment. The Minister has subsequently reiterated this intention in speeches.
Status: ASTRA is awaiting an announcement as to the scope and timing of this review.
2010 Review of the Independent Production Sector
The Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts is conducting a review into the independent production sector. Information can be found at www.arts.gov.au
Status: ASTRA provided a submission to the Department 6 May 2010, which can be viewed here
Media Access Review
The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy released a discussion paper in relation to access to electronic media by the hearing and vision impaired. Information can be found at www.dbcde.gov.au
Status: ASTRA provided a submission to the review 29 January 2010 which can be viewed here
Review of Multi-Channels
On 4 December 2009, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, announced the release of the discussion paper ‘Content and Access: The future of program standards and captioning requirements on digital television multi-channels’. The discussion paper can be found at www.dbcde.gov.au
Status: ASTRA provided a submission to the review on 31 December 2009 which can be viewed here
Update: The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy published its report on multichannels. It can be found here.
Anti-Siphoning
On 20 August 2009, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, announced the release of a discussion paper ‘Sport on Television: A Review of the Anti-siphoning Scheme in the Contemporary Digital Environment’.
Status: ASTRA provided a submission to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in October 2009 which can be viewed here
