Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The sixth key criterion is the undesirability of the Commonwealth, a state, a territory or a political party being in a position to exercise control of a community broadcasting licence.

These criteria aim to ensure that community broadcasting reflects the needs and wants of the local community. Like any other registered organisation or not-for-profit, they also require services to demonstrate their impartiality, independence, utility, uniqueness and capacity to deliver. They also make clear that the process is not commercial and competitive in nature but, rather, aimed at supporting broadcasters whose work and content supports and serves the community in which they operate.

The bill goes some way to addressing the frustration that many community broadcasters feel in having to meet often complex compliance obligations without the resources of commercial stations, bearing in mind that many of these community radio stations are staffed almost entirely, or very significantly, by volunteers. Currently, when allocating new licences, the date of allocation is the date on which ACMA has irrevocably decided to allocate the licence. I repeat: irrevocably. There is no room for change. It's a burden imposed on organisations without the resources and staff of commercial broadcasters. It means that broadcasters who may have very limited advance notice to prepare their station for broadcast lose out on the use of their broadcasting spectrum, reducing the effective duration of their licence at their own cost.

This bill aims to change that. It allows successful licensees to work with ACMA to plan and make necessary arrangements for broadcasting before their licence comes into effect. This is about ACMA, as a regulator, partnering with the community broadcasting sector instead of penalising without regard for the shifting nature of volunteer and community engagement. Under the new provisions, licensees seeking a renewal of their community broadcasting licence may now, in exceptional circumstances, lodge late applications for renewal before their current licence expires. By removing the automatic refusal and allowing for some leniency, these community-run radio broadcasters have a little bit of wiggle room to meet their obligations, seek additional support and assess their capacity at the time of renewal without losing five or more years of hard work. Our volunteer organisations, particularly in regional Queensland seats like mine and yours, Mr Deputy Speaker, face constant volunteer shortages, transient teams and high rates of turnover. It's hard enough to get someone to come and work for money at the moment, let alone to get them to come and volunteer. By granting this little bit of grace, we can give them a fair go when they may need it most.

In conclusion, these changes may not seem terribly significant to the vast majority of us in this place, but to the thousands of Australians across the country who volunteer and work in community broadcasting and, more particularly, to the thousands—in fact, millions—of Australians who rely upon community broadcasting for their music and news this is just so very, very important. This bill could mean the difference between their station existing in five years or not at all. For the millions of Australians who listen to community radio, including the roughly 149,000 on the Sunshine Coast, this bill ensures that they'll have access to good music and local content for many years to come. I commend the bill to the House.

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