Licence breaches down by half this year – ABA report

There is a greater level of compliance with ABA licence requirements this year according to the Australian Broadcasting Authority’s Annual Report 2002-03, which was tabled in Federal Parliament this week. The number of investigations where the ABA found licence breaches is down by 55%.

The ABA found a breach in 50 of the total 106 investigations completed in 2002-03, compared with 91 out of a total 163 investigations completed in 2001-02. Thirty-two of the investigations found breaches related to codes of practice, and 18 to licence conditions.

Two investigations relating to commercial radio stations resulted in codes breaches, compared with five in the previous reporting period. Both concerned complaints handling. 18 breaches were in relation to commercial television stations.

Community radio accounted for 7 of the 32 investigations resulting in codes breaches, 18 fewer than the previous reporting period. Of these seven investigations, two concerned complaints handling, compared with six in 2001-02.

In the previous reporting year, conflict resolution was the most problematic area in relation to codes breaches by community radio stations. The registration of a revised Community Broadcasting Code of Practice by the ABA in 2002-03 that addressed deficiencies in dispute resolution resulted in only one of the nine complaints concerning dispute resolution warranting an investigation.

Of the 15 investigations resulting in breach findings in relation to community radio, 13 of these concerned the licence condition proscribing the broadcast of advertisements. In the previous reporting period, 12 investigations resulted in breaches concerning this condition.

There was one investigation resulting in a code breach in relation to ABC radio in 2002-03, compared with six for the ABC in 2001-02. The breach concerned the manner in which ABC radio handled a complaint.

There was one investigation resulting in a code breach in relation to SBS television in 2002-03, compared with none in the previous reporting period.

There were two investigations resulting in breaches of the Broadcasting Services Act, both relating to open narrowcasting radio services. In the two investigations, the ABA determined, among other things, that the licensees in question were providing a commercial broadcasting service without a licence.

In total, the ABA completed 106 investigations in 2002-03, 56 down from the previous year’s figure of 163. The average time taken for the ABA to complete an investigation was approximately eight weeks, three weeks less than the 11 weeks’ average time taken during the previous reporting period.