Alan Eggleston (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

Today I would like to speak on the Communications Legislation Amendment (Information Sharing and Datacasting) Bill 2007.

At the core of this Bill are two aims, the first one relates to the sharing of information by the Australian Communications and Media Authority or the ACMA and the second relating to decisions concerning Channel A and Channel B datacasting transmitter licences.

As a whole, the measures contained in this Bill will help the ACMA better carry out its duties and establish clear guidelines for certain engagements with other organisations so that they too can work more effectively.

As a government department, the ACMA carries out very important work for the people of Australia and it is the duty of this government, as elected by those people to develop and produce legislation that will help ACMA carry out its duties which is why we have this Bill before us today.

To elaborate on the first part of this bill regarding information sharing, the ACMA, as a government department, collects vast amounts of information relevant to its duties from a wide variety of individuals, organisations and other government departments.

The value and importance of this information goes beyond the duties of ACMA to others who have a legitimate interest in that information to better serve the Australian public and in some circumstances, the world’s population in areas which I shall discuss later.

Despite the benefits that sharing this information would give, the circumstances under which ACMA can legitimately pass on information, to whom they can pass that information on to, and under what conditions that information can be passed on is unclear.

This bill would amend the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 (the ACMA Act) to authorise the disclosure of certain information by the ACMA to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Departments, government agencies and regulatory bodies.

Providing ACMA with an appropriate level of certainty in regard to information sharing will help improve the efficiency of their activities and the activities of those with whom the information is to be shared.

An example which has been discussed previously and which I will also discuss today is how this bill will assist both the ACMA and the Australian Competitions and Consumer Commission, the ACCC, in terms of their respective roles relating to the Government’s media ownership reforms that took effect from 4 April 2007.

In the question of a proposed merger for example, both agencies are likely to receive evidence relating to the question of control of commercial broadcasting licences.

The issue here is the ability of these two agencies to share such information which is legitimately relevant to the carrying out of their duties.

Amendments to the Trade Practices Act 1974, which have already been before this Parliament, allow the ACCC to disclose protected information to other entities such as the ACMA, but currently the ACMA has no authorisation to complement the ACCC’s share information capacity

This Bill will provide the necessary information sharing authorisations and is not a simple copy of the ACCC’s authorisations but rather a special made set of legislative amendments that are more appropriately suited to the ACMA’s responsibilities and ongoing relationships.

Another benefit of these amendments is that it will help reduce duplication and the reporting burden on industry.

As was shown in the recent review of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Bill 2007,  there is a real cost in time and resources for industry when they are obliged to provide similar information to separate government authorities be they local, state, national or a combination.

As ACMA’s responsibilities for the regulation of broadcasting, the Internet, radiocommunications and telecommunications involve gathering a variety of information from many different sources across Australia and indeed the world, there will surely be many circumstances in which unnecessary burdens and overlapping will be avoided.

Here is list of some of the Authorities that would be better able to carry out their functions with the development of an information sharing capacity in ACMA:

• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
• Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
• Commissioner of Taxation.
• Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO).
• Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
• Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee (RTIRC).
• Australian Federal Police (AFP).
• Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
• Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

While all of the entities I have so far spoken about have been Australian, ACMA, through its regulation of the Internet in Australia, also has a need to co-operate with overseas agencies.

The global nature of the internet means that issues such as offensive on-line content and international crime require co-operation between relevant government agencies.

Through authorising ACMA to share information with the Australian Federal Police and their overseas counterparts and other relevant agencies, Australia can more effectively participate in combating those crimes which use the internet and other mediums of communication.

What I have so far discussed are just a few of the benefits that could come from the sharing of information by ACMA but we should not ignore that this information can also be used for illegitimate means as well.

A lot of the information that ACMA handles has the potential to be commercially sensitive or personal in nature

Accordingly, this bill includes a number of provisions that will ensure that sensitive and personal information is provided with appropriate protection.

Despite concerns being raised that the bill does not specifically note the application of the Privacy Act 1988, the Privacy Act 1988 will continue to apply to the ACMA and the Minister, and any information collected regardless of whether or not the Bill specifically notes its continued application or makes reference to the definition of ‘personal information’ as defined in the Privacy Act 1988.

Now the second section of this bill deals with datacasting and specifically aims to amend the Radiocommunications Act 1992 and the Datacasting Charge (Imposition) Act 1998.

The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Digital Television) Act 2006 amended the Radiocommunications Act to allow for the allocation of two previously unallocated channels of the television broadcasting spectrum known as ‘channel A’ and ‘channel B’.

Channel A licences will allow new free to air, in-home digital television services, while channel B licences can be used for a wider range of services, including mobile television.

This bill shall allow ACMA greater flexibility in carry out its spectrum management functions for Channels A and B.

The proposed changes will allow ACMA to vary the radiofrequency spectrum for a licence after it has been issued.

At the moment, datacasting transmitter licences are the only category of apparatus licence which ACMA does not have the ability to change a frequency for after it is allocated.

Once ACMA allocates a frequency to that licence, it is unable to make changes which limit its ability to deal with a range of technical issue that they arise.

This bill will bring uniformity for ACMA spectrum management functions by giving it the same flexibility in relation to the full suite of transmitter licences that it administers.

While concerns have been raised regarding interference, the ACMA is confident that the application of its well established, robust planning process will prevent as far as possible interference happening and to put in place procedures for dealing with the problem should such problems arise.

The Technical Planning Guidelines made under section 33 of the Broadcasting Services Act will continue to be applied and are specifically designed to guard against interference with existing television services.

These guidelines minimise the likelihood of interference occurring and providing a means of appropriately managing any interference that does occur.

Another provision included in this Bill is aimed at amending the Datacasting Charge (Imposition) Act 1998 so that a fee is not payable where a licensee provides datacasting services on a channel B datacasting transmitter licence.

This shall put into effect the Government’s announcement that Channel B licences would not be subject to an annual licence fee.

In conclusion, this bill will result in ACMA being able to better carry out its duties.

As a government organisation, it exists for the benefit of the people of this country and it is the duty of this government to ensure that such benefits continue and improve.

By providing it with a capacity to share information ACMA will not only be able to better serve the public in its duties but it will also help other organisations engage important issues such as the online safety of our children.

This bill is about creating a more efficient government that can get the job done with a minimum burden on the public and industry which is something I strongly support.

I commend this bill to the Senate and I look forward to seeing the future efforts of this government as it continues to raise the bar on efficiency and effectiveness.