Parental lock in domestic digital television reception equipment

The Broadcasting and Datacasting Services (Parental Lock) Technical Standard 2010 (the parental lock standard) requires that particular digital television reception equipment such as integrated digital televisions, digital television set-top boxes, personal video recorders and devices used to distribute television services among multiple connected televisions (e.g., in apartment buildings, hospitals or nursing homes):

• have parental lock capabilities, or
• distribute information that enables the parental lock capabilities in other domestic reception equipment to operate.

From 4 February 2011, it will be an offence under section 130B of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 to supply equipment that does not comply with the parental lock standard.

The parental lock standard requires the parental lock feature be available, and able to operate, in equipment for those who wish to use it. People who do not wish to use the feature will not be affected by the standard.

The information below is intended to assist suppliers in understanding the requirements of the parental lock standard and should not be relied on as legal advice or regarded as a substitute for legal advice in individual cases.

More detailed guidance about the standard’s objectives and operation is available in the explanatory statement to the parental lock standard.

• What is parental lock? How does it work?
• Who is required to comply with the parental lock standard?
• When does the parental lock standard take effect?
• What equipment is required to comply with the parental lock standard? What is each type of equipment required to do?
• What if I want to purchase equipment before the parental lock standard takes effect?
• Why was the parental lock standard introduced? How was it developed?
• Complaints, enforcement action and penalties

Parental lock videos

What is parental lock? How does it work?

Parental lock is a feature of digital television receivers which allows controlled access to programs based on their classification, for example, G, PG, M or MA.

The feature may be used by parents and guardians to protect their children from inappropriate or harmful content on television.

When activating parental lock in their equipment, users are prompted to select a program classification level above which they wish programs to be blocked (e.g., ‘PG and above’) and a personal identification number (PIN). The parental lock feature then prevents any program classified at or above the selected level from being shown on the equipment unless the PIN number is entered. Parental lock will not block programs that are not subject to classification such as news, current affairs and sports programs.

Specific instructions about how to use parental lock in your equipment will be available in the instruction manual provided with the equipment.

Who is required to comply with the parental lock standard?

Anyone who supplies domestic digital television reception equipment should familiarise themselves with the parental lock standard and make sure they meet the requirements that apply to them. The specific types of domestic digital television receivers covered by the standard are described in sections 7, 8 and 9 of the standard (as discussed under the following heading).

For the purposes of the parental lock standard, the term supply has the same meaning as in the Trade Practices Act 1974. That is, the meaning of the term includes supply (including re-supply) by way of sale, exchange, lease, hire or hire-purchase. Situations where a person would be considered to have supplied equipment include:

• an Australian-based manufacturer in Australia who sells equipment in Australia
• an Australian-based importer who sells equipment to a retailer on a wholesale basis, or directly to a consumer
• a retailer who sells equipment to a consumer.

When does the parental lock standard take effect?

The parental lock standard took effect on the 4 February 2011.

What equipment is required to comply with the parental lock standard? What is each type of equipment required to do?

Sections 7, 8 and 9 of the parental lock standard each specify requirements that apply to particular types of domestic digital television receivers.

The term domestic digital television receiver is defined in section 6 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, with reference to section 5 of the Radiocommunications Act 1992.

Examples of equipment that fall within the definition of domestic digital television receiver are provided below. More detailed guidance about the meaning of this term is available in the explanatory statement to the parental lock standard.

Section 7 of the standard applies to all domestic digital television receivers except those to which section 8 or section 9 of the standard applies (sections 8 and 9 are discussed below). Section 7 requires that all such equipment must have parental lock capabilities. Equipment to which section 7 applies includes integrated digital televisions, set-top boxes and personal video recorders.

Section 8 of the standard applies to domestic digital television receivers that can operate only when used with another device, and cannot be connected to a mains electricity supply other than through such a device. Section 8 requires that such equipment must, when used with software supplied with the equipment, have parental lock capabilities. Equipment to which section 8 applies includes:

• modular reception equipment designed to operate as a domestic digital television receiver when used in conjunction with a gaming console (e.g., PlayTV, which is designed to operate in conjunction with the Sony PlayStation 3)
• peripheral component interconnect (PCI) or universal serial bus (USB) connected modular reception equipment designed to operate as a domestic digital television receiver when used in conjunction with a laptop or home computer.

Section 9 of the standard applies to domestic digital television receivers that are an amplifier or distribution device used in association with the reception of digital television or datacasting services, and the redistribution of such services to one or more connected receivers to which section 7 or 8 of the standard applies (i.e., connected receivers that are required under the standard to have parental lock capabilities). Section 9 requires that all such equipment must, when distributing services, include the program classification information necessary to enable the parental lock capabilities to operate in the connected receiver(s). Equipment to which section 9 applies includes ‘head-end’ equipment used to enable reception of digital television and datacasting services in locations that contain multiple receivers such as apartment buildings, nursing homes, hotels, pubs, clubs and other such venues.

Under section 10 of the standard, two types of equipment are exempt from the requirement to comply with the standard:

1. receivers that were supplied for the first time before 4 February 2011
2. receivers that are imported into Australia for the sole purpose of being exported.

For the purpose of establishing whether the first exemption above applies to an item of equipment, all items of a particular model of equipment are treated generically. That is, if a single item of a particular model of equipment was supplied before 4 February 2011 (and therefore covered by the exemption), then every item of that model of equipment is covered by the exemption.

More detailed guidance about how sections 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the parental lock standard are intended to operate is available in the explanatory statement to the parental lock standard.

What if I want to purchase equipment before the parental lock standard takes effect?

The requirement to comply with the parental lock standard does not apply to equipment until the date mentioned in section 6 of the standard, 4 February 2011.

While the ACMA understands that a substantial proportion of equipment currently available includes the parental lock feature already, it is possible that some equipment supplied prior to 4 February 2011 may not have parental lock capabilities.

If you are considering the purchase of new equipment during the period leading up the commencement of the standard, you should seek advice from a retailer about which models contain the feature before finalising your purchase.

Why was the parental lock standard introduced? How was it developed?

The parental lock standard was determined by the ACMA in response to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Development of Technical Standards for Domestic Digital Television Reception Equipment) Direction No. 1 of 2009 (the Ministerial Direction). The Ministerial Direction was made on 21 October 2009.

Clause 4 of the Ministerial Direction directed the ACMA to exercise its power under section 130B(1) of the BSA, as soon as practicable, to determine technical standards to ensure that domestic reception equipment used for receiving any or all digital television broadcasting services or datacasting services have parental lock capabilities.

Clause 5(a) of the Ministerial Direction directed the ACMA to consider, during the course of determining a technical standard about child lock capabilities, whether to exempt any particular class of domestic reception equipment from the technical standards determined pursuant to the Ministerial Direction.

The Explanatory Statement to the Ministerial Direction states:

It is the Australian Government’s intention that, together with the classification of television content already in place under the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2004, mandating parental locks in digital television receivers will further protect children from viewing material which may be inappropriate or harmful and support parents and guardians in protecting their children from such content. The Government considers this an important objective as Australia moves towards a digital-only television environment and the amount of content and channels available to viewers increases.

On 24 February 2010, the ACMA released a discussion paper describing the approach it intended to take in determining the parental lock standard and seeking stakeholder comments on related issues (the parental lock discussion paper). The closing date for comments was 2 April 2010.

The ACMA received 13 submissions in response to the parental lock discussion paper. The submissions were considered by the ACMA in its drafting of the standard and published on the ACMA website shortly after the closing date. The discussion paper and submissions are available on the ACMA website.

Complaints, enforcement action and penalties

The requirement to comply with the parental lock standard does not apply to equipment until the date mentioned in section 6 of the standard, 4 February 2011.

In the first instance at least, the ACMA’s compliance approach will not involve compliance labelling and record keeping arrangements such as those that apply under the ACMA’s electromagnetic compatibility and telecommunications equipment regulatory regimes. Instead, the ACMA will adopt a complaint-driven approach under which it would take action (e.g., undertake an investigation that may lead to the application of enforcement action) only in response to complaints about non-compliance.

If you would like to make a complaint to the ACMA about equipment you believe may not comply with the parental lock standard, you may do so through the email address provided under 'contact' above. When submitting a complaint, it is important you include as much information as possible about the equipment in question, including: the name of the manufacturer, the model number, where you saw the equipment available for sale and any other matters you think may assist the ACMA to investigate the matter.

Within any related investigation, the ACMA would take steps to establish whether the apparent failure of parental lock to operate in a particular case was the result of a shortcoming in the program classification information transmitted by a broadcaster, rather than the failure of reception equipment to comply with the standard. Offence and civil penalty provisions in relation to the parental lock standard are set out in subsections 130B(2) and 130B(3) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. Contraventions of these provisions may be subject to pecuniary penalties of up to $165,000.

If the complaint-driven compliance approach proves to be an ineffective, or otherwise inappropriate, means of maintaining compliance with the parental lock standard, the ACMA may move to replace it with a more rigorous compliance regime (e.g., compliance labelling and record keeping arrangements established under the industry codes and industry standards provisions in Part 9B of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992).