25 July 2007
ACMA renews 4CRB Gold Coast’s community broadcasting licence with a change of community interest
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has renewed the licence of Queensland community broadcasting licence 4CRB Gold Coast, with a change to its community interest so that it now represent seniors in the licence area.
The licensee, Christian and Community Broadcasting Association Ltd, requested the change to its community interest which was previously the general community within the Gold Coast licence area.
‘ACMA is satisfied that 4CRB provides programming aimed at the seniors sector of the community and that it meets the relevant criteria for a community broadcasting service,’ said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman.
‘ACMA is charged with promoting the availability of a diverse range of radio services throughout Australia, as well as ensuring that broadcasters meet all their statutory obligations. This decision successfully balances both of these objectives and represents an acceptable outcome to the renewal process,’ he added.
Media contact: Donald Robertson, ACMA Media Manager (02) 9334 7980.
Backgrounder
Community broadcasting licence renewals
Community broadcasting licences are issued for a five year period. ACMA writes to a community licensee 58 weeks before the expiry of its licence requesting that it submit an application to renew its licence no later than 52 weeks before the expiry of the current licence.
The procedures for renewing a community broadcasting licence are set out in sections 90 and 91 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. Subsection 91(2A) of the Broadcasting Services Act enables ACMA to have regard to the same matters that it considers when allocating new community broadcasting licences under section 84(2). These matters are:
- the extent to which the proposed service would meet the existing and perceived future needs of the community within the licence area of the proposed service
- the nature and diversity of the interests of that community
- the nature and diversity of other broadcasting services (including national broadcasting services) available within that licence area
- the capacity of the applicant to provide the proposed service
- the undesirability of one person being in a position to exercise control of more than one community broadcasting licence that is a broadcasting services bands licence in the same licence area, and
- the undesirability of the Commonwealth, a State or Territory or a political party being in a position to exercise control of a community broadcasting licence.
ACMA has discretion as to whether it will conduct a renewal inquiry, the form it should take and what it will consider in an inquiry. ACMA may refuse to renew a community broadcasting licence if, having regard to these matters, it considers that it would not allocate a licence to the licensee.
