We have two types of regulation in Australia; Government and Self Regulation. For this area of knowledge you need to know; what each include, who is involved, how effective this type of regulation is and examples where the media has been regulated.
GOVERNMENT REGULATION
There are three major government bodies responsible for media regulation in Australia. They are;
- The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
- The Australian Classification Board (ACB)
- The Classification Review Board (CRB)
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA AUTHORITY (ACMA)
The Australian Communication and Media Authority is an organisation overseen by the Australian Government designed to regulate the media and make sure the media doesn't break their licence agreement given out by ACB. They will fine $ if the licence is breached.
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The Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) is a statutory authority within the Federal Government portfolio of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.
The ACMA works closely with relevant industries to achieve active self-regulation, while ensuring industry compliance with licence conditions, codes and standards. ACMA website |
AUSTRALIAN CLASSIFICATION BOARD (ACB)
The Australian Classification Board is another company overseen by Australian Government. This organisation is responsible for all media products gaining a licence and classification. It was called the Office of Film & Literature Classification (OFLC).
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There is a Commonwealth Act that sets out how the Classification Scheme operates. The scheme operates as a cooperative scheme between all the States and Territories of Australia. Enforcement of the scheme is covered by a Classification Enforcement Act for each State and Territory.
ACB website |
CLASSIFICATION REVIEW BOARD (CRB)
The Classification Review Board is an independent statutory body responsible for reviewing decisions of the Classification Board. Please note that while it is an independent body, Board members are appointed by the Governor-General, meaning that is still overseen by the government.
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The Classification Review Board is a different Board to the Classification Board. The Classification Review Board is a part-time Board who only meet to review decisions of the Classification as needed. The members of the Classification Review Board live in different parts of Australia and travel to Sydney to make review decisions.
Classification website |
CLASSIFICATIONS |
CHANGES TO RATINGS |
In Australia we have the following rating system:
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January 1st 2013 saw the introduction of an R18+ classification rating for gaming in Australia. This debate had been going on for years, and has only now been implemented.
Prior to this year any game that was above MA15+ was banned in Australia. |
SELF REGULATION
Self regulation includes two things. Firstly this is when a media organisation realises that they may have done the wrong thing and regulate themselves. Secondly organisations owned by the media have places for audiences to complain to if they are offended. This way the media can regulate themselves if they receive a lot of complaints about a particular product.
ASBThe Advertising Standards Bureau is an organisation that is solely in charge of advertisements. They have a set of standards that the advertising industry MUST obey. The public can complain to this organisation if they are offended by an advertisement .
COMMERCIAL RADIO AUSTRALIAThe radio industry has their own version of FreeTV. The Board of Commercial Radio Australia governed by a Board of Directors representing the major member groups including; Southern Cross Austereo,Grant Broadcasters,Capital Radio Network, Australian Radio Network, Southern Cross Austereo,Fairfax Radio Network, and DMG Radio Australia.
FASHION INDUSTRY SELF REG.
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FREE TVFree TV Australia (once known as the Federation of Commercial Television Stations (FACTS) began in 1960, just 4 years after TV introduced to Australia.
Now represents all of Australia's commercial free-to-air television licensees (one of the few bodies in Australia which represents every organisation in its sector). Free TV provides a forum for discussion of industry matters and is the public voice of the industry on a wide range of issues. HOW IT WORKS? Free TV is governed by a Board of Directors representing the major member groups; the Nine Network, the Seven Network, Network Ten, Southern Cross Austereo, Prime Television, WIN, NBN and Imparja Television. The Board is supported by a number of committees which formulate advice and recommendations in relation to policy and regulatory issues, engineering and technical issues, marketing and other areas affecting the industry. |
EXAMPLES OF REGULATION
In this video (right), Brett Lamb (LessonBucket) gives us an introduction to the reasons or arguments for having Media Regulation, and explains why it is in place.
Below are some examples of regulation that has occurred in Australia. You need to read about the issue and then work out the following:
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FIRST BANNED GAME SINCE R RATING |
SAINTS ROW IV - MA15+ NEW RELEASE |
June 25th 2013 – Saints Row IV was refused classification in Australia by The Classification Board. Is the 1st game to be rejected since the introduction of the R18+ rating.
Media commentators see that as a result, this will guarantee the game lots of free publicity and grey imports. The Board’s decision rules that the game “includes interactive, visual depictions of implied sexual violence which are not justified by context” as well as “elements of illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards”. |
After Saints Row IV was refused classification, Koch Media GmbH applied to the Classification Review Board for a review of the decision. On July 29th 2013 the CRB met in response to the receipt of the application from, and concluded that the newly edited version of Saints Row IV could now be released in Australia with an MA15+ classification.
This is a great example of Government regulation at work, but also offers a chance for us to discuss the issue.
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RIP N ROLL |
PACKED TO THE RAFTERS |
On the 30th May 2011 Adshel received a large amount of complaints about an ad about Safe Sex featuring two gay men in an embrace.
Adshel decided to remove all the ads to avoid being fined by ASB. It turned out that ALL of the complaints came from one group – the Australian Christian Lobby Group. There was a massive social backlash – Facebook groups, protests, twitter – Adshel decided to put the ads back up. |
The episode of Packed To The Rafters "Blurring the Lines" aired on TV on the 22nd September 2009. The audience was 1,766,00.
On May 20th 2010 ACMA found that they breached their PG rating for showing the main character fantasizing about having sex with his boss and masturbating. The show was rated PG but shown at 8:30pm which is a M time slot. The ACMA didn't fine Channel 7, but ordered their staff to undergo training around classification. The reason behind this is was their good history around classification. |
THE BIGGEST LOSER - CHILD PORN |
THE BIGGEST LOSER - SEX SCANDAL |
Deryck James Ward was a contestant on The Biggest Loser Australia 2010 with his sister. During filming he was arrested by the police on charges of child pornography.
Police found more than 1000 photos and videos on his home computer. He was arrested days before the season went to air on Channel 10. Channel 10 made a decision to re edit the show to not show any traces of Ward or his sister. This was before he was official charged. |
Ten reported an ‘inappropriate relationship’ between two contestants of The Biggest Loser 2013. The show made a decision to edit the TV series so these contestants and their families never existed.
“In line with our strict duty of care obligations, the incident was referred to the relevant authorities. Therefore, we cannot comment any further other than to say that contestants were unable to continue with the show.” – TEN spokesperson. |
THE KARATE KID |
BAN ON LIVE BETTING ODDS |
The Karate Kid, 2010, was originally given an M rating by the ACB due to violence. The film - starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith (son of Will Smith) was originally classified M but later changed to PG after an appeal from distributor Sony Pictures.
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In May 2013, TV networks agreed to implement restrictions to the display of live betting odds after Prime Minister Julia Gillard threatened to legislate a complete ban on live betting odds during any sporting game. The TV networks proposed to the Government only to show live betting odds at Quarter Time and Half Time breaks.
Gillard argues this doesn’t go far enough. This is a current issue and needs to be followed to see what the outcome is. |
UNFRIENDED POSTER BANNED |
FANTA AD BREACHES GUIDELINES |
A poster for the movie Unfriended was banned by the ASB because the advertisement could potentially promote the idea of suicide with the word shown on the poster in a mock internet search bar along with several autocompleted search terms. The ASB concluded: “It is not appropriate to display this word in an advertisement without providing support services information and in the absence of support information in the context of this advertisement the concept of suicide can be seen as attractive an option as being at a party or with your boyfriend.” Whilst Universal Pictures Australia said that they had followed every rule required, the posters are no longer in the market. |
Coca-Cola was forced to pull a Fanta TV ad and app from its marketing campaign for breaching guidelines designed to fight obesity.
The Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) found that the TV ad and tablet application were directed at children, which is a breach of industry guidelines. Coca-Cola said the campaign was aimed at teenagers aged 15 to 17 and the animated characters were depicted as teens, however the Board found that children would aspire to be like the teenagers, and that doing things like riding on a roller coaster and landing in a pool of bubbles were things children would enjoy. |
220 VIDEO GAMES BANNED IN 4 MONTHS
Australia has banned more than four times as many computer games in the past four months than in the entire period from 1994-2014, according to new figures from the Attorney-General's Department.
The huge spike in the number of games being censored results from a decision by the Federal Government to adopt a new model for classifying games sold through digital storefronts.
From July 1, Australia will officially begin participating in a global pilot program that attempts to regulate the enormous volume of games being released online using the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) tool, which has been adopted by the UK, the USA, Canada, Brazil, and most of Europe.
The huge spike in the number of games being censored results from a decision by the Federal Government to adopt a new model for classifying games sold through digital storefronts.
From July 1, Australia will officially begin participating in a global pilot program that attempts to regulate the enormous volume of games being released online using the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) tool, which has been adopted by the UK, the USA, Canada, Brazil, and most of Europe.