Variation to Licence Area Plan – Remote Western Australia Radio – 2025 (No. 1)

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Approved by the Australian Communications and Media Authority

Broadcasting Services Act 1992

Variation to Licence Area Plan – Remote Western Australia Radio – 2025 (No. 1)

Authority

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) has made the Variation to Licence Area Plan – Remote Western Australia Radio – 2025 (No. 1) (the instrument) under subsection 26(2) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the Act).

The ACMA may, by legislative instrument, vary a licence area plan (LAP) 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 made available in particular areas of Australia with the use of the broadcasting services bands.

The Australian Broadcasting Authority determined the Licence Area Plan – Remote Western Australia Radio (F2005B01264) (Remote WA LAP) on 27 August 1996.

The instrument varies the characteristics, including technical specifications, of radio broadcasting services in remote parts of Western Australia.

The main variations are to assist the conversion of transmission of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) national radio broadcasting services of 6WF and 6PB from the AM frequency band to the FM frequency band in the Perth area of Western Australia. The instrument does this by:

• changing the technical specifications to the 6FMS commercial radio broadcasting service at Lancelin and Leeman to make FM spectrum used by that service available for the 6WF service in Perth; and
• changing the technical specifications to the 6SAT commercial radio broadcasting service at Lancelin and Leeman to make FM spectrum used by that service available for the 6PB service in Perth.

The instrument also makes minor variations, including updates to some transmitter site nominal locations and replacing Australian Map Grid References for transmitters with co-ordinates using the Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994 (GDA94).

It is a condition of each transmitter licence issued under section 102 of the Radiocommunications Act 1992 (Radiocommunications Act) that the licensee:

• must not operate a radiocommunications transmitter otherwise than in accordance with any relevant technical specifications determined under subsection 26(1) of the Act (paragraph 109(1)(d) of the Radiocommunications Act); and
• must comply with guidelines developed by the ACMA under section 33 of the Act (paragraph 109(1)(e) of the Radiocommunications Act).

Operation of a radiocommunications device is not authorised by an apparatus licence (including a transmitter licence issued under section 102 of the Radiocommunications Act) if it is not in accordance with the conditions of the licence (subsection 97(4) of the Radiocommunications Act). Under section 46 of the Radiocommunications Act, it is an offence, and subject to a civil penalty, to operate a radiocommunications device otherwise than as authorised by a spectrum licence, apparatus licence or a class licence. The Radiocommunications Act prescribes the following maximum penalties for the offence:

• if the radiocommunications device is a radiocommunications transmitter, and the offender is an individual – imprisonment for 2 years;
• if the radiocommunications device is a radiocommunications transmitter, and the offender is not an individual – 1,500 penalty units (which is $495,000 based on the current penalty unit amount of $330);
• if the radiocommunications device is not a radiocommunications transmitter – 20 penalty units ($6,600).

The Radiocommunications Act, in subsection 46(3), prescribes the following maximum civil penalties:

• if the radiocommunications device is a radiocommunications transmitter – 300 penalty units ($99,000);
• if the radiocommunications device is not a radiocommunications transmitter – 20 penalty units ($6,600).

It is an offence, and subject to a civil penalty, to possess a radiocommunications device for the purpose of operating the device otherwise than as authorised by a spectrum licence, apparatus licence or class licence (section 47 of the Radiocommunications Act). The Radiocommunications Act prescribes the same penalties for this offence and civil penalty contravention as for the offence and civil penalty contravention in section 46 of the Radiocommunications Act.

In addition, an apparatus licensee must not contravene a condition of the licence. Contravention is subject to a civil penalty (section 113 of the Radiocommunications Act). The Radiocommunications Act prescribes a maximum civil penalty of 100 penalty units ($33,000).

A provision-by-provision description of the instrument is set out in the notes at Attachment A.

The instrument is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003 (the LA), and is disallowable.

Item 13 of the table at regulation 12 of the Legislation (Exemptions and Other Matters) Regulation 2015 provides that LAPs are not subject to the sunsetting provisions in Part 4 of Chapter 3 of the LA. According to the explanatory statement to that regulation:

Instruments made under section 26 of the Broadcasting Services Act include licence area plans … These instruments provide for the planning of broadcasting services. They are intended to be enduring to provide certainty for industry in making significant investment decisions concerning the provision of broadcasting services in the relevant licence areas.

The Explanatory Memorandum for the Legislative Instruments Bill 2003 stated that some of the rationales for exemption from sunsetting included:

• where the instrument is clearly designed to be enduring and not subject to regular review…
• where commercial certainty would be undermined by sunsetting. For example, the table includes plans of management made under the Fisheries Management Act 1991 – substantial investments are made in reliance on plans that are intended to be in force for substantially longer periods than 10 years.

There are a number of factors that point to the benefit of commercial certainty being undermined if LAPs were to sunset every 10 years, and which suggest that LAPs are intended to be enduring:

• Broadcasting services have been provided in Australia since the first half of the twentieth century, and continue to be a significant part of daily life in Australia.
• There is no express power to revoke a LAP. The bulk of the services provided are intended to be for long duration. Commercial and community broadcasting licences are allocated for five years, and are subject to regular renewal after that time. Under section 47 of the Act, the ACMA must renew commercial broadcasting licences unless it is satisfied that allowing the licensee to continue to provide commercial broadcasting services would lead to a significant risk of an offence or a breach of a civil penalty provision under the Act occurring, or a breach of the licence conditions occurring. The regulatory regime clearly intends that generally, once commenced, these services continue uninterrupted, where possible.
• A person must not be in a position to exercise control of more than two commercial radio broadcasting licences, or one commercial television broadcasting licence, in the same licence area (sections 53 and 54 of the Act). Particular considerations apply to overlapping licence areas (section 51 of the Act). A change to a licence area may cause section 51 of the Act to operate in circumstances where it did not previously operate, and place a person in breach of section 53 or section 54 of the Act.
• The provision of broadcasting services involves the deployment of significant infrastructure, especially the radiocommunications transmitters used to provide the service that are planned in licence area plans. As of 19 November 2024, there were 261 commercial radio broadcasting licences, 68 commercial television broadcasting licences and 361 community radio broadcasting licences in force. Combined with the national broadcasters and open radio narrowcasting services, this is a substantial group of stakeholders who would be compelled to make submissions to advance their interests and protect their significant investments if LAPs were to sunset and be remade every 10 years.

Parliament continues to have oversight of variations to LAPs, as these instruments are subject to disallowance under the LA. It also has oversight through other mechanisms (e.g., the relevant Senate Estimates Committee). The Minister has the power to give the ACMA a direction about the exercise of the ACMA’s powers to make or vary a LAP for a particular area (see subsection 26(8) of the Act).

Documents incorporated by reference

In accordance with section 14 of the LA, the instrument amends the Remote WA LAP to incorporate the Broadcasting Services (Technical Planning) Guidelines 2017 (the 2017 Guidelines) made under section 33 of the Act, as in force from time to time. The 2017 Guidelines may be accessed from the Federal Register of Legislation, free of charge, at www.legislation.gov.au.

The instrument also incorporates the Geodetic Datum of Australia known as GDA94, gazetted in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No. GN 35 on 6 September 1995, as existing at the time the instrument commenced (see paragraph (28)(c) of the Remote WA LAP). Gazette No. GN 35 can be accessed, free of charge, at 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.

2021 consultation

In April 2021 the ACMA conducted a consultation regarding options for replanning FM frequencies in the Perth area. This consultation was undertaken in response to requests from the ABC and commercial radio broadcasting licensees using the AM band in the Perth area, who sought improvements to the quality of their broadcasting services by the conversion of existing broadcasting services from AM to FM. The consultation paper identified up to 5 additional high-power/wide-coverage FM frequencies that could be used; however, to achieve this outcome some existing FM broadcasting services would need to change frequency, including broadcasting services planned in the Remote WA LAP.

The ACMA received 17 submissions to the 2021 consultation. Following consideration of the issues raised by the submissions the ACMA published an outcome statement on 14 September 2022. This statement outlined that the ACMA would progress the conversion of the ABC’s AM services to FM in the Perth area (which this instrument assists in achieving), while deferring conversions of commercial radio broadcasting services, pending industry consensus. The ACMA also said it would not use those identified FM frequencies to plan new commercial radio broadcasting or open narrowcasting radio services in the Perth area, because this would be too disruptive to the market.

2025 consultation

Before making the decision to vary the Remote WA LAP, the ACMA published a consultation paper on its website on 29 August 2025, which provided background to its proposal to vary the Remote WA LAP, including explaining that the proposed variations were required to facilitate changes in services planned in the Licence Area Plan – Perth LAP (Perth LAP). This paper also proposed variations to broadcasting services planned in the Perth LAP, and those variations are subject of a separate variation instrument and accompanying explanatory statement. The following stakeholders were notified by email about the release of the consultation paper:

• the commercial radio broadcasting licensees in the Remote WA LAP affected by the proposals;
• radio broadcasting licensees in the Perth RA1, Armadale RA1, Fremantle RA1, Kalamunda RA1 and Wanneroo RA1 licence areas;
• national broadcasters in the Perth licence area and surrounding areas;
• the peak industry bodies Commercial Radio & Audio, Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, and Australian Narrowcast Radio Association;
• State and Federal members of Parliament whose electorates include the Perth area, and civic bodies including local councils, shire libraries and community associations.

A social media awareness campaign was also conducted on Facebook and Instagram between 9 and 26 September 2025 to alert the general public within the Perth region to the consultation. This resulted in 1,004,438 impressions of the social media awareness campaign.

The consultation period ended on 26 September 2025, with 15 submissions received.

None of the 15 submissions raised objections to the proposals to vary the Remote WA LAP.

The ACMA published an addendum to the consultation paper on the ACMA website 3 October 2025 for consultation. This was in response to concerns raised in 2 of the submissions received on a proposed change to the technical specifications for a community radio broadcasting service in the Perth RA1 licence area. This matter did not concern the proposed variations to broadcasting services in the Remote WA LAP. This consultation closed on 17 October 2025. Three submissions were received in response to the consultation to the addendum. None of these submissions raised any concerns about the changes to broadcasting services planned in the Remote WA LAP.

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 amends the Remote WA LAP to make spectrum available to convert transmission of the ABC national radio broadcasting services 6WF and 6PB, in the Perth area from AM to FM frequencies. The FM transmission of 6WF will replace its AM transmission, while the AM transmission of the 6PB service will not be switched off and will be simulcast with the FM transmission; the AM transmission of the 6PB service is required by the Parliamentary Proceedings Broadcasting Act 1946. To facilitate the availability of new FM spectrum for the ABC 6WF and 6PB services, changes to the FM frequency and technical specifications of both the 6FMS and 6SAT commercial radio broadcasting services at Lancelin and Leeman are required.

The instrument also makes minor variations, including updates to some transmitter site nominal locations and replacing Australian Map Grid References for transmitters with co-ordinates using Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994.

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.

The instrument changes the broadcast technology and improves the quality of the sound of radio broadcasts but does not alter the content or the availability of radio programs to listeners. The ACMA considers that the impact of the instrument will be of a technical nature and will not impact the ability of broadcasters to reach listeners, nor the nature or type of content that is available to them. In these circumstances and having considered the nature of the applicable rights and freedoms, the ACMA has formed the view that these changes to 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 – Remote Western Australia Radio – 2025 (No. 1)

Section 1 Name

This section provides for the instrument to be cited as the Variation to Licence Area Plan – Remote Western Radio – 2025 (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.

The Federal Register of Legislation may be accessed, free of charge, at www.legislation.gov.au.

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 Amendments

This section provides for the Remote WA LAP (F2005B01264) to be varied as set out in Schedule 1 to the instrument.

Schedule 1 – Amendments

Item 1

Item 1 inserts two rows into the table at Schedule One of the Remote WA LAP. The new row at sub-item 1(1) contains the FM frequency on which the 6FMS commercial radio broadcasting service will be able to continue to transmit in the Lancelin area of the Remote WA LAP. The new row at sub-item 1(2) contains the FM frequency on which the 6SAT commercial radio broadcasting service will be able to continue to transmit in the Lancelin area of the Remote WA LAP.

Item 2

Item 2 amends Attachment 1.65 of the Remote WA LAP to omit the reference to the Broadcasting Services (Technical Planning) Guidelines 2007 (2007 Guidelines) and substitutes that reference with the 2017 Guidelines. Item 2 also inserts a note headed ‘Availability of TS10002393’ after the ‘Output Radiation Pattern’ table in Attachment 1.65. This note states that TS10002393 (the technical specification number of the service described in Attachment 1.65) will cease to be available 8 weeks after the first day on which a broadcasting service is transmitted by transmitter TS12001072 in accordance with the specifications set out in Attachment 1.65A.

Item 3 and Schedule 2

Item 3 inserts Attachment 1.65A into the Remote WA LAP after Attachment 1.65. Attachment 1.65A is at Schedule 2 to the instrument. New Attachment 1.65A plans a transmitter on which the 6FMS commercial radio broadcasting service will continue to transmit its service on, once it no longer transmits in accordance with the specifications in Attachment 1.65.   

Item 4

Items 4 amends Attachment 1.67 of the Remote WA LAP. Item 4 varies the nominal location of the radiocommunications transmitter planned by the attachment and omits the Australian Map Grid references for that transmitter and substitutes them with co-ordinates using GDA94. The amendment to the nominal location does not represent a change to actual operating location of the radiocommunications transmitter but regularises the location that is currently being used for its operation. Item 4 omits a reference to the 2007 Guidelines and substitutes that reference with a reference to the 2017 Guidelines. Item 4 omits ‘15W’ from the ‘Output Radiation Pattern’ table and substitutes ‘100W’ to reflect a change in the maximum effective radiated power of the radiocommunications transmitter planned by the attachment. Item 4 also inserts a note headed ‘Advisory Note’ after the ‘Output Radiation Pattern’ table. This note states that that the service has been planned on an interference limited basis with the possibility of interference to the service below a planned minimum median field strength level.  

Item 5

Item 5 amends Attachment 1.103 of the Remote WA LAP to omit the reference of the 2007 Guidelines and substitutes that reference with the 2017 Guidelines. Item 5 also inserts a note headed ‘Availability of TS10002394’ after the ‘Output Radiation Pattern’ table in Attachment 1.103. This note states that TS10002394 (the technical specification number of the service described in Attachment 1.103) will cease to be available 8 weeks after the first day on which a broadcasting service is transmitted by transmitter TS12001073 in accordance with the specifications set out in Attachment 1.103A.

Item 6 and Schedule 3

Item 6 inserts a new Attachment 1.103A into the Remote WA LAP after Attachment 1.103. Attachment 1.103A is at Schedule 3 to the instrument. New Attachment 1.103A plans a transmitter on which the 6SAT commercial radio broadcasting service will continue to transmit its service on, once it no longer transmits in accordance with the specifications in Attachment 1.103.

Item 7

Items 7 amends Attachment 1.105 of the Remote WA LAP. Item 7 varies the nominal location of the radiocommunications transmitter planned by the attachment and omits the Australian Map Grid references for that transmitter and substitutes them with co-ordinates using GDA94. The amendment to the nominal location does not represent a change to actual operating location of the radiocommunications transmitter but regularises the location that is currently being used for its operation. Item 7 omits a reference to the 2007 Guidelines and substitutes that reference with a reference to the 2017 Guidelines. Item 7 omits ‘15W’ from the ‘Output Radiation Pattern’ table and substitutes ‘100W’ to reflect a change in the maximum effective radiated power of the radiocommunications transmitter planned by the attachment. Item 7 also inserts a note headed ‘Advisory Note’ after the ‘Output Radiation Pattern’ table. This note states that that the service has been planned on an interference limited basis with the possibility of interference to the service below a planned minimum median field strength level.