New legislation, known as the Omnibus Repeal bill, is set to grant the ACMA more discretion in whether or not they investigate all compaints recieved.

Prior to yesterday, which was dubbed ‘repeal day,’ the ACMA was required to investigate any complaint it received through the proper process, but now the Federal Government has moved to streamline the Broadcasting Services Act to make it more efficient, removing the strict requirement for every complaint to be formally investigated.

Allowing the ACMA more legislative flexibility will tgive the ACMA the choice to not investigate complaints it finds to waste resources and give more lenience to smaller broadcasters, such as community radio stations which do not earn significant revenue.

The ACMA has released the following information about the legislative changes: 

In relation to the discretion to investigate broadcasting complaints we can note that:

• Agencies with an investigative function typically have a discretion to investigate.
• Amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 and the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 will give the ACMA a broad discretion to investigate complaints about broadcast, online and interactive gambling content where the ACMA thinks it is ‘desirable’ to do so
• This amendment will allow the ACMA to take no action on complaints that are, for example, misconceived, trivial, stale or inappropriately divert the ACMA’s resources and the resources of broadcasters.  It is expected to allow a more efficient and effective use of resources on investigations– this is a key benefit.
• The ACMA may consider developing criteria or principles for the exercise of its discretion over time.
• As a matter of courtesy and best practice, the ACMA anticipates that it would continue to acknowledge receipt of complaints.

In relation to the discretion to exempt smaller commercial radio and television broadcasting licensees from provision of audited accounts we can note that:

• The Omnibus Repeal bill includes an amendment to section 205B of the BSA to provide the ACMA with discretion to exempt classes of licensees from the requirement to submit audited balance sheets and audited and profit and loss accounts
• The amendment envisages that the ACMA will grant exemptions by making a legislative instrument.
• The exemption is expected to provide the ACMA with discretion to consider exemptions for licensees that do not have significant revenues, reducing the number of licensees required to submit audited accounts.
• Once the bill has passed, the ACMA expects to consult with industry on the application of its discretion policy and intends to redesign its forms so that each licensee only needs to fill out one form regardless of how many licences it holds, making it less onerous for licensees to comply.