New laws passed through Parliament today by the Albanese Government will enhance access to media services for all Australians by supporting free TV services and sports coverage in the streaming era.
The passage of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Prominence and Anti-siphoning) Bill 2024 today marks a significant step in modernising Australia’s media laws and delivers on a key election commitment of the Albanese Government.
These new laws ensure that Australians can easily find and access free-to-air television services on new smart televisions.
The prominence framework will prohibit the manufacturers of internet-connected televisions from suppling a device that doesn’t comply with a set of minimum prominence requirements.
As part of new regulations to be established for devices, manufacturers must:
- install applications providing broadcasting-video-on-demand television services provided by free-to-air television broadcasters; and
- make those services available on the primary user interface of regulated devices.
Australians will continue to be able to customise their devices, and manufacturers will otherwise be able to operate their services as they see fit.
The reforms to the anti-siphoning scheme will regulate online streaming services for the first time. The ‘broadcast safety net’ approach affirms the ongoing importance of free-to-air broadcasting in the provision of free access to coverage of iconic sporting events.
The reforms mean that no media content service may acquire a right to televise or provide coverage of a listed event to audiences in Australia until a free-to-air broadcaster has a right to televise the event on a broadcasting service.
The reforms support continued free access to nationally important and culturally significant sporting events – now and into the future.
