{"id":6045,"date":"2020-04-16T03:38:16","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T03:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=6045"},"modified":"2020-04-16T03:38:16","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T03:38:16","slug":"immediate-covid-19-relief-for-australian-media-as-harmonisation-reform-process-also-kicks-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/04\/16\/immediate-covid-19-relief-for-australian-media-as-harmonisation-reform-process-also-kicks-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Immediate COVID-19 relief for Australian media as harmonisation reform process also kicks off"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"region region-content\">\n<div id=\"block-system-main\" class=\"block-system-main block block-system\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<article id=\"node-100785\" class=\"node node-article clearfix\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<div class=\"field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden page-styles\">\n<div class=\"field-items\">\n<div class=\"field-item even\">\nThe Morrison Government today announced a package of measures to help sustain Australian media businesses as they do their vital work of keeping the community informed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Tax Relief<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 A 12-month waiver of spectrum tax for commercial television and radio broadcasters<\/li>\n<li><strong>Investing in Regional Journalism<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 A $50 million Public Interest News Gathering program<\/li>\n<li><strong>Short-Term Red Tape Relief<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Emergency suspension of content quotas in 2020<\/li>\n<li><strong>Harmonising Regulation to Support Australian Content<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Release of an Options Paper developed by Screen Australia and the Australian Communications and Media Authority, commencing a fast-tracked consultation process on how best to support Australian stories on our screens<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said \u201cMany Australians are doing it tough right now and the media sector is sharing that pain, especially in regional areas. Broadcasters and newspapers face significant financial pressure and COVID-19 has led to a sharp downturn in advertising revenue across the whole sector.<br \/>\n\u201cWe are acting to offer urgent short-term support to the media sector. At the same time we are progressing our December 2019 commitment to consult on the future framework to support Australian stories on our screens.\u201d<br \/>\nThe Morrison Government will provide $41 million in spectrum tax rebates, offering immediate financial relief to commercial television and radio broadcasters across Australia.<br \/>\nThe new $50 million Public Interest News Gathering (PING) program will support public interest journalism delivered by commercial television, newspaper and radio businesses in regional Australia. PING is funded with $13.4 million in new money as well as repurposing unallocated funds from the Government\u2019s Regional and Small Publishers Jobs and Innovation Package (RSPJIP). This responds to the ACCC\u2019s recommendation, in its Digital Platforms Inquiry, to enhance the RSPJIP to better support high quality news, particularly in regional and remote Australia.<br \/>\n\u201cThe Government recognises that public interest journalism is essential in informing and strengthening local communities,\u201d Minister Fletcher said.<br \/>\nCOVID-19 has effectively halted production of Australian screen content, making it impossible for free-to-air and subscription television businesses to meet Australian content obligations.<br \/>\n\u201cAs an emergency red tape reduction measure, I have suspended Australian drama, children\u2019s and documentary content obligations on free-to-air and subscription television for 2020. A decision will be taken before the end of this year as to whether this suspension should continue in 2021.<br \/>\n\u201cIt remains critically important that we have Australian voices on Australian TV, so there will be no change to the requirement for broadcasters to meet an overall 55 per cent Australian content obligation,\u201d Minister Fletcher said.<br \/>\nThe Government is accelerating its work to determine the future extent of Australian content obligations on free-to-air television broadcasters, and whether these should apply to streaming services. This work is critical to the future of the culturally and economically important Australian film and television production sector.<br \/>\nTo guide this work, the Government is today releasing an Options Paper, developed by Screen Australia and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Consultation with key stakeholders, including ministerial roundtables, will occur over the next eight weeks.<br \/>\n\u201cI want to thank ACMA and Screen Australia for their detailed, evidence-based study of the state of the Australian film and television sector, which carefully considers the cultural and economic importance of screen stories, the regulatory framework, and the support the Government provides to the screen sector through a range of mechanisms and policy settings,\u201d Minister Fletcher said.<br \/>\n\u201cRegulated free-to-air broadcasters are competing with unregulated digital platforms and video streaming services. It has been evident for some time &#8211; and the COVID-19 crisis has made it even more obvious &#8211; that this is not sustainable.<br \/>\n\u201cThese arrangements threaten the sustainability of television broadcasters &#8211; and in turn the sustainability of the film and television content production sector.<br \/>\n\u201cThat is why I want to seek industry feedback on the options put forward by ACMA and Screen Australia, and work with industry on a plan for the future, including how to best secure the market opportunity created by the explosion of streaming services.<br \/>\n\u201cWe need to re-emerge from COVID-19 with a regulatory framework suited to the twenty-first century that recognises today\u2019s competitive landscape &#8211; where television broadcasters compete with streaming services and a myriad of other internet-based businesses \u2013 and which positions both the television sector and the content production sector for a sustainable future,\u201d Mr Fletcher said.<br \/>\nMore information about the measures announced today, as well as a copy of the Options Paper, can be found at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.communications.gov.au\/media_package\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.communications.gov.au\/media_package<\/a>.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"left-sidebar col-lg-4 order-lg-1\" role=\"complementary\">\n<div class=\"region region-sidebar-first\">\n<section id=\"block-views-d10120da31ba3b4d5d199e727ee86aa5\" class=\"sidebar-section block-views-d10120da31ba3b4d5d199e727ee86aa5 block block-views\"><\/section>\n<section id=\"block-views-article-feeds-two-recent\" class=\"sidebar-section block-views-article-feeds-two-recent block block-views\">\n<div class=\"view view-article-feeds view-id-article_feeds view-display-id-two_recent view-dom-id-13dfc62712f168e62383957ef2fd9fae\">\n<div class=\"view-content\">\n<article class=\"lpa-article-sidebar-entry \">\n<div class=\"views-field views-field-field-news-article-type\">\n<div class=\"field-content\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Morrison Government today announced a package of measures to help sustain Australian media businesses as they do their vital work of keeping the community informed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures include: Tax Relief\u00a0\u2013 A 12-month waiver of spectrum tax for commercial television and radio broadcasters Investing in Regional Journalism\u00a0\u2013 A $50 million Public &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/04\/16\/immediate-covid-19-relief-for-australian-media-as-harmonisation-reform-process-also-kicks-off\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Immediate COVID-19 relief for Australian media as harmonisation reform process also kicks off&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6045\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}