Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Digital Dividend) Bill 2013 makes minor amendments to the datacasting licensing regime in the Broadcasting Services Act and the Radiocommunications Act. The digital dividend spectrum, which is scheduled to be auctioned in April 2013, will enable a range of advanced mobile broadband services to be provided into the future. In order to release this spectrum, broadcasting services currently occupying the relevant channels need to be cleared. The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy will then re-designate the spectrum from its current formal assignment as part of the broadcasting services bands. This re-designation is only expected to occur once all broadcasting services are relocated by the end of 2014. The datacasting licensing regime in the Broadcasting Services Act currently imposes a range of content requirements for providers of datacasting services in broadcasting services bands.

In absence of the changes introduced by this bill, these requirements would potentially apply where a new service commences in digital dividend spectrum in advance of its re-designation. However, the bill will not affect existing services which already operate as datacasting services in broadcasting spectrum. These will continue to be subject to the datacasting rules. The provision that is in the bill also includes a safety net to ensure that the proposed changes are not used to circumvent the intended purpose of the datacasting rules.

I would like to thank the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications for their work on the inquiry into this bill. I would also like to thank the opposition and the shadow minister for communications for his cooperation in agreeing to an amendment to this legislation that he will put forward, and the government will support that amendment in a cooperative manner. I thank members for their contributions to the debate. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move amendments (1) and (2) as circulated in my name together.

(1) Clause 2, page 1 (lines 8 to 9) omit the clause, substitute:

2 Commencement

  (1) This Act, other than items 1 to 24 of Schedule 1, commences on the day after this Act receives the Royal Assent.

  (2) Items 1 to 24 of Schedule 1, commence on 1 October 2013.

(2) Schedule 1, page 5, at the end of the Schedule, add:

25 ACMA review and report

     The Minister must direct the ACMA to review and report on the provision of spectrum for low interference potential device class licences and provide a transition pathway for such licences by 30 July 2013.

I can confirm what the minister has just said—that we have had some very useful discussions concerning these appropriate amendments to this bill, which will have the support of the government. The purpose of the amendments are simply to ensure that the ACMA reviews and reports on the provision of spectrum for low-interference potential device class licences and to provide a transition pathway for such licences by 30 July this year.

This is an issue that was first raised by the member for Dunkley, and I thank him for his initiative in doing so. There are, as I said earlier today, somewhere between 120,000 and 150,000 radio microphones. These are low-interference wireless devices which are currently using white spaces in the broadcasting bands—126 megahertz of which is about to be to be vacated as part of the digital dividend. These devices have not yet found a new home and, in that lack, there is the potential for great loss and inconvenience to those persons using those devices. Of course, the ACMA and the department have been rightly criticised for failing to provide a clear pathway, a transition pathway, for those devices and their owners. So I welcome the agreement of the government to support these amendments, which simply require the minister to direct the ACMA to, as I said earlier, review and report on the provision of spectrum for these licences and provide a transmission pathway for them by 30 July 2013. It is somewhat late, but it is better late than never. I commend the amendments to the House.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government supports the amendments and thanks the shadow minister for the cooperation in policy terms. It is an example of the fact that we had a request from the shadow minister last week for a short inquiry. I agreed to that request on behalf of the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, and as a result of that short inquiry we have these amendments that the government will be supporting this evening.

Question agreed to.

Bill, as amended, agreed to.