Remaking of the Determination – and initial consultation – are amongst the first steps toward the delivery of broader and long-lasting media reforms.
The remaking for a finite period will also provide stability for industry while these broader regulatory reforms are developed and progressed.
The Australian Government’s goal for the reform program is to consistently regulate services that make available ‘like’ content and support the achievement of key policy objectives with the flexibility to accommodate new and emerging services and technologies.
The current Determination underpins much of Australia’s media regulation architecture and has the effect of excluding certain types of online media, including live-streaming, from the definition of a ‘broadcasting service’.
However, the Determination is dated and results in online simulcast and live-streaming services being regulated very differently to broadcasting services, although they are increasingly indistinguishable from each other from a consumer perspective as they often have the ‘look and feel’ of television and radio.
Industry feedback from the consultation process will inform the Government’s decision on the remaking while helping to inform the development of future reforms, including a review of the anti-siphoning scheme and legislating a new prominence framework.
