Australia has two separate public service broadcasting organisations, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Special Broadcasting Service Corporation (SBS). The ABC provides information and entertainment services of general interest on both radio and television, while the much smaller SBS provides specialised services focused on fulfilling the media needs of Australia’s culturally diverse population. Both broadcasters are public corporations operating under Charters enacted by Australia’s federal Parliament. While ultimately accountable to the government for the way in which they spend public funds, both the ABC and the SBS are independent of governmental control and enjoy substantial creative and editorial freedom. This section will examine the specific services, mandate, governance and financing of both broadcasters separately in turn.

I. Services Provided

The ABC provides a national television network (ABC-TV), available on terrestrial reception throughout the nation. The system has production facilities and transmission centres in all State capitals, as well as the national capital, Canberra, and the City of Darwin, and reception is available to virtually all Australians. ABC-Radio also operates six distinct audio-broadcast services. Metropolitan Radio, a network of nine stations, one in each State capital, as well as one in each of Darwin, Canberra and Newcastle, provides a core service of news, current affairs, talk, information, sport and entertainment programmes. Regional Radio, a national network of around 70 AM and 180 FM stations, as well as State and national satellite services, provides a mix of local, regional, State and national programming for audiences outside the capital cities. The ABC also operates four speciality radio networks. The Radio National network features programmes on the arts, religion, politics, the law, news and current affairs, science and technology, history, health, adult education and social change, economics and international affairs. Classic FM is, as the name suggests, dedicated to classical music. Triple J is a youth network featuring predominantly popular music, but also carrying news and current affairs, comedy and special features. Finally, ABC runs News Radio, a continuous news and current affairs service, with live broadcasts of both Houses of Parliament when they are sitting (29).

II. Public Service Mandate

The Charter of the ABC, set out in Section 6 of the 1983 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act (ABC Act)(30), establishes the functions of the Corporation, which are "to provide within Australia innovative and comprehensive broadcasting and television services of a high standard as part of the Australian broadcasting and television system consisting of national, commercial and public sectors." More specifically, the Charter calls upon the ABC to provide broadcasting programmes that "contribute to a sense of national identity and inform and entertain, and reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community," in part by promoting music, drama, and other performing arts in Australia. It also requires the ABC to provide educational broadcasts as a substantial component of its programming.

The ABC has a subsidiary international mandate, (i) to promote and encourage international awareness of Australia, and Australian outlooks on world affairs, by transmitting information and entertainment programmes to foreign viewers; and (ii) to enable Australian citizens living or travelling outside Australia to obtain information about Australian affairs while abroad. In this way, the public service broadcasting organisation acts both as a mirror to the nation and as a window for the world into Australian life and culture.

The ABC’s Charter defines its role in the context of a broader competitive media environment. To this end, it instructs the corporation to take account of the broadcasting services provided by the commercial and public sectors of the Australian broadcasting and television system in formulating its own programming complement. The Charter also imposes responsibility on the ABC, as the provider of an independent national broadcasting and television service, "to provide a balance between broadcasting programmes and television programmes of wide appeal and specialised broadcasting programmes and television programmes." Consistent with its public role, the ABC is required to have regard for the multicultural character of the Australian community throughout its operations (31).

More specifically, several requirements in relation to programming are imposed on the ABC. Its enabling statute requires the ABC to develop and maintain an independent service for the broadcasting of news and information, and the ABC is required to broadcast daily, from all national radio and television stations, regular sessions of news and information relating to current events within and outside Australia (32).

Section 4 of the Parliament Proceedings Broadcasting Act (1946)(33), requires the ABC to broadcast the proceedings of the Senate, the House of Representatives or a joint sitting of both Houses of the Commonwealth Parliament on such days and during such periods as the Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings determines. The proceedings are to be broadcast from medium wave radio stations in each State capital city and Newcastle, and from such other radio stations as may be prescribed.

III. Governing Structure

     A. Internal Governance

The ABC Act empowers it to carry out all the functions necessary to the operation of a national broadcaster. Internally, the ABC is governed by a Board of Directors, established by the Act (34), which consists of a managing director who is appointed by the Board for five years, and between six and eight other Directors who are appointed by the Governor General (that is, the Cabinet). Prior to appointment, the qualifications of potential Directors must be assessed for experience relating to the provision of broadcasting services or in communications or management, expertise in financial or technical matters, and cultural or other interests relevant to the oversight of a public service broadcasting organisation (35). Unqualified political appointees are ineligible. Directors may only be terminated for cause, which is defined to include misbehaviour or physical or mental incapacity, bankruptcy, failure to comply with their obligations, or absence from three consecutive Board meetings without leave of the Chairma (36).

According to Section 8 of the Act, the Board is required "(a) to ensure that the functions of the Corporation are performed efficiently and with the maximum benefit to the people of Australia; (b) to maintain the independence and integrity of the Corporation; (c) to ensure that the gathering and presentation by the Corporation of news and information is accurate and impartial according to the recognised standards of objective journalism," as well as to ensure the Corporation’s general compliance with the broadcast regulation framework. In order to have the benefit of additional expert opinion, Section 11 enables the Board to establish an Advisory Council to advise it on matters concerning broadcasting and television programmes. The Council’s recommendations are purely for the information and guidance of the Directors, and have no binding authority. The Board can also establish Advisory Councils in relation to any State, Territory or region of Australia.

The federal government of Australia has jurisdiction over broadcasting, and therefore ultimate legislative control over the ABC. However, the terms of the ABC’s Charter, mandating it to provide comprehensive and independent news and information broadcasting for all Australians, combined with the terms under which Directors of the corporation are appointed, ensure the ABC a large measure of editorial independence from the government. These provisions are respected in practice, and government manipulation of the public service broadcasting organisation would violate longstanding customary political norms.

Recently, the High Court of Australia has ruled that the basic democratic institutions of Australia, as established by its constitution, create an implied freedom of political communication which the elected government cannot abrogate (37). Although this judicially created freedom is relatively untested, and has never been applied in the context of government control over public service broadcasting, it nonetheless introduces a further safeguard for the independence of Australia’s public service broadcasting organisations.

Although political control is not presently an issue in Australian broadcasting, fears have been raised that the quality and integrity of the service may be compromised by inadequate funding. The most important lever of power presently, discussed below, is the government’s control over the public grants on which the ABC is dependent (38).

Under Section 78 of the ABC Act, the Minister for Communications is empowered to direct the ABC to broadcast certain matters free of charge if he is of the opinion that this is in the national interest. However, if he does so, the Minister must cause a statement containing particulars of and reasons for the direction to be laid before the Commonwealth Parliament. Except in relation to the broadcasting of matter in the national interest or as provided for in other legislation, the ABC is not subject to direction by the Government.

The public also has some limited measure of control over the ABC’s conduct, through formal statutory procedures for dealing with public complaints. According to the ABC Act, upon receiving a written complaint alleging that an error of fact has occurred in a programme, the ABC must refer the complaint to a community affairs officer as soon as is practicable. The officer will assess the seriousness of the complaint and on that basis decide whether or not to investigate further. A further investigation must consider whether the complaint is justified and the findings must be reported to the principal community affairs officer. If the officer decides that the complaint is justified, he or she must inform the complainant and the managing director of the ABC, who is then required to ensure that the ABC broadcasts a prompt retraction or apology in appropriate terms.

As the national broadcast regulator, the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) also has a limited measure of control over the ABC. The ABC is required to develop codes of practice relating to programming matters and to submit these codes to the Australian Broadcasting Authority (39).

Under the Broadcasting Services Act (1992)(40), the Broadcasting Authority can hear complaints concerning both the ABC and the SBS. This is a procedure of last resort, however, coming into play only if a complaint has first been made directly to the ABC or SBS to the effect that it has contravened an established code of practice and the complainant either has not received an answer within 60 days or has, in his or her opinion, received an inadequate response. Only then may an aggrieved party lodge a complaint with the ABA, which must in turn investigate unless it is satisfied that the complaint is frivolous or vexatious, was not made in good faith, or pertains to a matter that is not covered by a code of practice.

The ABA has, however, very limited powers to deal with complaints concerning national broadcasters. The 1992 Act provides that if, after investigating a complaint, the ABA is satisfied that the complaint was justified and that action should be taken to encourage compliance with the relevant code of practice, the ABA may recommend to the national broadcaster that it comply with the code or take such other action as is suggested, including broadcasting or otherwise publishing an apology or retraction. The ABA has no direct power to enforce compliance with its recommendations. If, however, appropriate remedial action is not taken by the national broadcaster within 30 days, the ABA can report the matter to the Minister, who must ensure that a copy of the report is laid before both Houses of Parliament within seven sitting days (41).

Pursuant to Section 19 of the ABC Act, the ABC is required to prepare an annual report. The annual report must contain particulars of each broadcast made as a result of a Ministerial direction, codes of practice, any gift, devise or bequest accepted by the ABC during the year, any advice received from the Advisory Council, a summary of activities of the community affairs officers, and any actions taken in response to complaints.

Part IV of the ABC Act deals with financial matters. The ABC is prohibited from broadcasting commercial advertising and, as a result, is largely dependent on government funds (42). In the year to 30 June 1999, the ABC received about AUS$ 600 million or about 80% of its funding from the government, the remaining 20% coming from its own activities, such as network services and concerts. The Board annually submits estimates of the receipts and expenditure of the ABC for the following fiscal year to Parliament, which then votes an annual allocation to the ABC.

In the late 1990s the ABC, along with state-funded broadcasters in several other countries, has had to endure a series of reductions to its funding base. In an April 1997 press release, the Board of the ABC publicly called on the government to make a firm commitment to stable funding (43). The Board indicated that unless its funding uncertainties were ameliorated, the Corporation would have to consider austerity measures including the production of less news and current affairs programming, the reduction of overall Australian content, and the closure of regional radio stations. These financial pressures mean that while the ABC enjoys freedom of expression in its programming, its ability to exercise that freedom, and thus fulfil its public service mandate, is threatened by changing economic realities.

The SBS is Australia’s unique multicultural and multilingual public service broadcasting organisation, founded in 1975 to serve Australians of diverse ethnic backgrounds and to promote cultural awareness. The Special Broadcasting Service Act(SBS Act)(44) establishes SBS as a corporation with a Charter, at Section 6, setting out what the Australian people through the Parliament require as a national speciality broadcaster. The SBS’s Charter specifies that its principal function is to "provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians, and, in so doing so, reflect Australia’s multicultural society."

The SBS operates a television channel, SBS TV, which broadcasts a combination of purchased and specially produced programming. Half of the SBS’s scheduled programming is in languages other than English, and it’s weekly viewership extends to some 4.6 million Australians. The SBS also operates five radio channels, Radio Melbourne 1 and 2, Radio Sydney 1 and 2, and the National Radio Network. All programmes start with news and contain a mixture of current affairs, talks, views, sports, community information and music.

The SBS’s Charter states that its principal function is to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate, and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect Australia’s multicultural society. The Charter clearly specifies SBS’s public service obligations in the performance of its functions. According to the Charter, the SBS must "contribute to meeting the communications needs of Australia’s multicultural society, including ethnic, Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander communities; and increase awareness of the contribution of a diversity of cultures to the continuing development of Australian society; and promote understanding and acceptance of the cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity of the Australian people; and contribute to the retention and continuing development of language and other cultural skills; and as far as practicable, inform, educate and entertain Australians in their preferred languages; and make use of Australia’s diverse creative resources; and contribute to the overall diversity of Australian television and radio services, particularly taking into account the contribution of the ABC and the public broadcasting sector; and contribute to extending the range of Australian television and radio services, and reflect the changing nature of Australian society, by presenting many points of view and using innovative forms of expression."

Internally, the SBS is governed by a Board of Directors which consists of the Managing Director and between four and eight non-executive directors (45). The latter are appointed on a part time basis, by the Governor General, for not more than two five-year terms. In appointing non-executive directors, the Governor General shall have regard to the need to ensure that the directors collectively possess an appropriate balance of expertise in the areas required to govern the SBS effectively, including an understanding of Australia’s multicultural society and the needs and interests of the SBS’s culturally diverse audience. The directors themselves are expected to originate from a diversity of cultural perspectives. As with the ABC Board, directors may only be removed for cause and are otherwise independent of the government.

Powers and responsibilities mirror those of the ABC Board, discussed above. Pursuant to Section 50, the SBS is required to establish a community advisory committee to assist it in fulfilling its duty to be aware of, and responsive to, community needs and opinions on matters relevant to the Charter.

According to Section 47, the Board is required to establish a corporate plan that sets the objectives of the SBS and outlines its strategies and policies. The corporate plan must also set out revenue, expenditure and borrowing forecasts, performance indicators and targets, and the measures that the Board proposes to adopt to ensure that it is aware of and responsive to community needs and opinions on matters relevant to the Charter. A copy of the corporate plan must be given to the Minister. Section 51 states that if the Board is of the opinion that matters have arisen which may prevent or significantly affect the achievement of the objectives, strategies, policies, or revenue or expenditure forecast set out in the corporate plan, the Board must notify the Minister immediately, and give reasons for their opinion.

Section 13 of the SBS Act guarantees that the broadcaster is independent from government interference in editorial and creative programming decisions. The responsible Minister may give written directions to the SBS Board in relation to the performance of its functions. This power is, however, circumscribed by certain restrictions. Pursuant to Section 11, the Minister may only give a direction after consultation with the Board, and then only in relation to the proper performance of the SBS’s mandate. He must not give any directions in relation to the content or scheduling of programmes to be broadcast. Section 12 enables the Minister, when he is of the opinion that the broadcasting of a particular matter by the SBS would be in the national interest, to direct the SBS to broadcast that matter from all, or specified, SBS broadcasting stations. In this case, the SBS must broadcast the matter free of charge, in accordance with the direction. The Minister may direct that a matter be broadcast in a specific language.

The Board is required to prepare an annual report to Parliament, pursuant to Section 91 of the Act. The report must contain a number of particulars, including ministerial directions and any broadcasts made as a result of ministerial directions, gifts, devises, bequests accepted by the SBS during the year, how the programming activities during the year have related to the Charter obligations of the SBS, and the revenue earned from advertising or sponsorship during the year.

The SBS Board is required to establish codes of practice relating to programming matters, and to inform the ABA of them. However, the SBS is not subject to programme standards determined by the ABA. Nevertheless, if a citizen files a complaint on the grounds that the SBS has failed to comply with one of its own codes of practice, and fails to receive a satisfactory response, he or she may lodge a complaint with the ABA. The process is similar to that which applies to the ABC, discussed above.

As with the ABC, the principal source of revenue for the SBS is an annual public grant (46). Unlike its larger sibling, however, the SBS is permitted to broadcast five minutes of commercials per hour as a supplemental source of income. Section 45 of the SBS Act permits the SBS to broadcast advertisements and sponsorship announcements before or after programmes and during natural programme breaks, provided they do not exceed five minutes in any hour of broadcasting. The Board is required to develop and publicise guidelines on the kinds of advertisements and sponsorship announcements that it is prepared to broadcast and may develop guidelines on other matters relating to advertisements and sponsorship announcements, including placement and duration, and the kind of advertisements and announcements that that may be carried on particular kinds of programmes. It is also required to develop and publicise guidelines on the kinds of community information and community promotional material that it is prepared to broadcast.

In the year to June 1999, the SBS received about AUS $90 million or 77% of its funding from government sources, the remainder coming mainly from advertisements.