EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Approved by the Australian Communications and Media Authority
Broadcasting Services Act 1992
Variation to Licence Area Plan – Emerald Radio 2019 (No.1)
Authority
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) has made the Variation to Licence Area Plan – Emerald Radio 2019 (No.1) (the instrument) under subsection 26(2) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the Act).
The ACMA may, by legislative instrument, vary licence area plans (LAPs) under subsection 26(2) of the Act.
Purpose and operation of the instrument
LAPs determine the number and characteristics, including technical specifications, of broadcasting services that are to be available in particular areas of Australia with the use of the broadcasting services bands.
The Australian Broadcasting Authority determined the Licence Area Plan – Emerald (Radio) – March 1998 (F2005B00750) (Emerald LAP).
The instrument varies the characteristics, including technical specifications, of radio broadcasting services in the Emerald area of Queensland. It removes the technical specifications for three planned but not operating open narrowcasting transmitters in Blair Athol to allow the frequencies to be used for future planning options.
The instrument also updates all transmitter site nominal locations, Australian Map Grid references for transmitters and special conditions for national, commercial, and community radio broadcasting services to bring these into line with the actual operating conditions of the services and the form of other licence area plans. It also includes a provision to state how instruments and other writing are incorporated into the Emerald LAP. Further details of the instrument are set out in Attachment A.
The instrument is a disallowable legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003 (the LA).
Document incorporated by reference
The instrument varies the Emerald LAP to incorporate the Broadcasting Services (Technical Planning) Guidelines 2017, as in force from time to time.
The Broadcasting Services (Technical Planning) Guidelines 2017 may be accessed free of charge from the Federal Register of Legislation: www.legislation.gov.au.
Consultation
Before the instrument was made, the ACMA was satisfied that consultation was undertaken to the extent appropriate and reasonably practicable, in accordance with section 17 of the LA.
Before making the decision to vary the Emerald LAP, the ACMA invited comment on a consultation paper which explained the proposed variations to the Emerald LAP, along with proposed variations to other licence area plans for other areas of Queensland, namely Kingaroy, Bundaberg and Toowoomba/Warwick. The consultation paper provided the background to the proposals and was published on the ACMA website on 13 June 2019. The ACMA invited comment on the proposals from the national broadcasters, and broadcasting licensees in the licence area and in overlapping and adjacent radio licence areas. Comment was also sought from state MPs and local government.
The consultation period ended on 19 July 2019 and the ACMA received no submissions in relation to the Emerald LAP proposals.
Regulatory impact assessment
The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR), in a guidance note titled “Carve-Outs” (available at: https://www.pmc.gov.au/resource-centre/regulation/carve-outs-guidance-note), has established a “carve-out” for variations to LAPs where those variations are unlikely to have more than a minor regulatory impact (OBPR reference number: 13301). A carve-out is a standing agreement between OBPR and a government agency which sets aside the requirement for a preliminary assessment to be sent to OBPR for certain types of proposed regulatory change. The ACMA has formed the opinion that the instrument falls within the terms of the carve-out with OBPR reference number 13301.
Statement of compatibility with human rights
Subsection 9(1) of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 requires the rule-maker in relation to a legislative instrument to which section 42 (disallowance) of the LA applies to cause a statement of compatibility with human rights to be prepared in respect of that legislative instrument.
The statement of compatibility set out below has been prepared to meet that requirement.
Overview of the instrument
The instrument varies the Licence Area Plan – Emerald Radio – March 1998. The instrument makes radiofrequency spectrum available for, and changes existing characteristics including technical specifications of, certain radio broadcasting services in the Emerald RA1 and RA2 licence areas, the Moranbah RA1 licence area, the Blackwater RA1 licence area and the Wooranbinda RA1 licence area.
Human rights implications
The ACMA has assessed whether the instrument is compatible with human rights, being the rights and freedoms recognised or declared by the international instruments listed in subsection 3(1) of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 as they apply to Australia.
Having considered the likely impact of the instrument and the nature of the applicable rights and freedoms, the ACMA has formed the view that the instrument does not engage any of those rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
The instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.
Attachment A
Notes to the Variation to Licence Area Plan – Emerald Radio 2019 (No.1)
Section 1 Name
This section provides for the instrument to be cited as the Variation to Licence Area Plan – Emerald Radio 2019 (No.1).
Section 2 Commencement
This section provides for the instrument to commence at the start of the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Section 3 Authority
This section identifies the provision of the Act that authorises the making of the instrument, namely subsection 26(2) of the Act.
Section 4 Variation
This section varies the Emerald LAP as set out in paragraphs (a) to (h).
Paragraph 4(a) renames the Emerald LAP as the “Licence Area Plan – Emerald Radio”.
Paragraph 4(b) amends the text after the heading “DETERMINATION” by numbering the paragraphs under the heading as clauses (1), (2) and (3).
Paragraph 4(c) amends clause (2) by:
updating the reference to the number of national radio broadcasting services made available in the Emerald RA1 licence area so that the text reads “16 national”,
updating the text to read “be available” by omitting the word “made”,
updating the text to read “plan” instead of “determination” or “Determination”, and
amending the references to the Schedule and series of Attachments contained in the instrument so that it reads “Schedule One, Attachments 1.2 -1.34, and Attachments 1.38-1.43”.
Paragraph 4(d) amends clause (3) by:
updating the text to read “be available” by omitting the word “made”, and
updating the text to read “plan” instead of “determination” or “Determination”.
Paragraph 4(e) inserts clause (4), clause (5), clause (6) and clause (7) in the Emerald LAP. New clauses (4), (5) and (6) update information about the community radio broadcasting services available in each of the relevant licence areas. Clause (7) ensures that a reference to a schedule or an attachment is a reference to a schedule or an attachment to the Emerald LAP, and that a reference to the Broadcasting Services (Technical Planning) Guidelines 2017 or another legislative instrument includes a reference to that legislative instrument as in force from time to time. Clause (7) also provides that a reference to any other kind of instrument or writing is a reference to that other kind of instrument or writing as in force or existence at that time the reference was included.
Paragraph 4(f) amends the page headed “SCHEDULES”.
Paragraph (g) omits all existing Schedules and inserts new Schedules One, Two, Three, Four and Five (contained in Schedule 1 to the instrument).
Paragraph 4(h) omits all existing Attachments and inserts new Attachments (contained in Schedule 2 to the instrument). It omits Attachments 1.35, 1.36 and 1.37 as they refer to the three planned but not operating open narrowcasting transmitters in Blair Athol that are no longer required within the Emerald LAP.