Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) Yes. A copy of the generic letter sent to licensees of self-help facilities not being converted to digital in remote areas, including remote Indigenous communities, is attached (available from the Senate Table Office).

(2), (3) and (8) The department has not provided assistance or information to homes or communities about the establishment of digital self help facilities. Decisions about whether or not to establish such facilities, or to upgrade existing facilities which are not on the broadcasters' self-help upgrade list, are matters for the local community.

Communities considering converting their self-help facilities to digital themselves, rather than accessing the government-funded Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) service and the Satellite Subsidy Scheme, must make their own arrangements to assess the option. The relevant local authorities will also need to contact the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) about the availability of suitable television spectrum and other technical matters.

(4) Consultations with Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council, Northern Peninsula Regional Council and Hope Vale Aboriginal Shire Council were undertaken by officers of the Digital Switchover Taskforce between September and December 2010. Consultation was also undertaken with the Regional Organisation of Councils of Cape York which is the peak body representing Aboriginal Shire Councils in Far North Queensland.

The recent review of the Indigenous Broadcasting and Media Sector (the Review) undertook a comprehensive consultation process, including public forums and meetings with key stakeholders in the Indigenous and mainstream broadcasting sectors and government agencies. Those consulted included the Australian Indigenous Communications Association, the Indigenous Remote Communications Association, National Indigenous Television, Indigenous Community Television, Imparja Television, the remote Indigenous television operators, NBN Co, the Northern Territory State Government and Broadcast Australia. The Review also drew upon previous government reviews into Indigenous broadcasting and relevant audience research data.

  (a) Due to the remoteness of Indigenous communities throughout Australia, the Review was unable to locate or source sufficiently accurate data to determine the extent of current television and recording devices within these communities.

  (b) While Remote Indigenous Broadcasting Services television operators have the ability to insert local content within their transmissions networks the Review was unable to determine the extent which operators use this facility and the actual hours of local content that is produced and transmitted. (c). The use of indoor aerials was not surveyed.

(5) (a) Eligible households located in identified remote Indigenous communities who rely on an existing self-help tower that will not be converted to digital, will receive a fully subsidised installation, requiring no household co-payment, of the necessary satellite reception equipment needed to convert to VAST.

  (b) Because households in identified remote Indigenous communities will receive a fully subsidised installation package to convert to VAST, no consultation about the subsidy amount in identified remote Indigenous communities was undertaken.

Liaison with affected Queensland Aboriginal Shire Councils and TV tower licensees took place in February 2011. Some Councils were contacted last year and were looking forward to the lack of tower maintenance burden with VAST. This is also the first time such a comprehensive range of free-to-air entertainment, news, children's and sports channels has been provided to very remote towns in Australia.

Further liaison with Indigenous Broadcasting peak bodies, relevant Queensland Remote Indigenous Media Organisations (RIMOs), and town representatives took place before SSS applications opened on 30 May 2011. This was to inform Remote Indigenous Communities (RICs) of the free VAST install opportunity for each household and to communicate the subsidised VAST rollout details.

(6) The Government considers that satellite is an efficient and effective means of delivering digital television to remote communities. Terrestrial self-help retransmission facilities have a number of limitations that do not apply to satellite: they impose on-going, and not always predictable, costs on local communities and councils for their operation and maintenance; they have an inflexible coverage area which cannot accommodate population shifts beyond the area served by the transmitter; and they can be subject to extended outages when there are transmitter faults if licensees have difficulty accessing spare parts and/or experienced technicians, particularly when transmitters are located in isolated or remote areas.

In addition, self-help transmitters do not cover all parts of Australia not served by broadcaster-operated transmitters, and consequently even if all of the nearly 700 existing self-help retransmission sites were converted to digital, this would still not ensure that all viewers throughout Australia would be able to access digital television services.

(7) New households, established after the satellite subsidy period expires, in areas served by the VAST service will need to purchase and install a VAST set top box and a satellite dish to receive the VAST service at their own cost.

(8) Please see response (2) above.