The Joint Broadcasting Committee (Committee) of the Australian Parliament tabled its Three Broadcasting Reform Proposals report in late June. The Committee has recommended that the 75% population reach rule applicable to Australian television broadcasting should be abolished provided there are legal protections for local content in regional Australia.
Background
The 75% population reach rule in section 53 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth) (BSA) prohibits a person from being in a position to exercise control of commercial television broadcasting licences whose combined licence area populations exceed 75% of the population of Australia.
