“Community television in Australia is finally assured of a permanent future,” according to the CBAA.

Now reaching an audience of over 2 million people around Australia, aspiring CTV operations are preparing to move into a “new and secure regulatory framework” which passed through Parliament last week.

Legislation introduced by the Government has successfully passed through Parliament enabling the ABA to issue community TV licences next year. The CBAA is “delighted to note that this legislation acknowledges both the community needs and financial imperatives of a modern not-for-profit community television station.”

The legislation enshrines community television along with community radio, now 30 years old, as the third tier of free-to-air broadcasting in Australia providing media diversity and local content that is increasingly at risk in our global media environment.

Community television proponents have worked hard over the last 8 years, with no government support or industry subsidy, to prove there is a role for community television in Australia. The CBAA “appreciates the recognition given to this sector by the government and all political parties” in supporting the speedy passage of this new legislation through Parliament.

Under the legislation:

 Corporate governance and accountability of CTV licensees will be improved;

 CTV services will be regulated to ensure that they do not operate in the same way as commercial television broadcasting services;

 CTV broadcasting licensees will be able to broadcast 7 minutes of sponsorship time in any hour, increased from a voluntary 5 minutes;

 The ABA will be able to impose conditions on all CTV licences on matters such as community access to air-time, governance and provision of annual reports to the ABA;

 Conditions will be imposed on CTV licensees in relation to sale of air-time to draw a balance between the revenue raising requirements for the CTV sector and the community and not-for-profit nature of the sector;

 Arrangements for digital carriage of CTV broadcasting services will be reconsidered before the expiration of the moratorium on 31 December 2006.