Below are my notes on the presentation by Glen Boreham, Chair of the Convergence Review, to the Communications Policy and Research Forum, held on Sydney on Monday 7 November.
Please note that these are my personal notes; they are not reflective of any views I may hold as Chair of the ALRC Review of the National Classification Scheme.
Glen Boreham, keynote presentation to CPRF 2011
Convergence Review
* no longer clear who media rules apply to in context of convergence – legislation of 20 years ago is now out of date e.g Internet viewing of video from TVs
* legislation of 1990s was designed to achieve “silo-ed” public policy objectives e.g. Broadcasting Services Act saw TV as uniquely powerful in shaping culture and society
* switch to digital-only TV and Rollout of NBN have further implications
* problem of continually updating existing legislation to changes – BSA was 100 pages in 1992 – now 1000 pages
* Australian content in convergent environment – differs across platforms – do these differences continue to be relevant
* Main Challenges (“big rocks”)
- media diversity – cross-media/competition rules
- local content in multi-platform environment
- community standards incl. advertising, accuracy in news
* bottom-up rebuild of BSA required – new legislation – may focus on layers rather. Than industry-specific rules
* regulatory parity: like services regulated in a like way – “content is content” regardless of platform
* there may be cases where some platforms should be treated differently e.g. TV time zones
* community expectations continue to have a role – higher restrictions for Tv as compared to other platforms
* need for adaptable legislation – new regimes may need to be effective into the 2030s
* transparency: addressing political compromises that now create deep inefficiencies – discriminatory treatment needs to be visible and transparent
* Final Report
- media diversity, competition and market structure
- spectrum allocation and management
- community standards
- Australian and local content
- layering, licensing and regulation
* independent Media Inquiry reporting in Feb 2012 – Convergence Review in March 2012
* there has not yet been an equivalent inquiry in another country
* draft review in Dec 2011