JULY 2013
Canberra
Purple Building
Benjamin Offices
Chan Street
Belconnen ACT
PO Box 78
Belconnen ACT 2616
T +61 2 6219 5555
F +61 2 6219 5353 / Melbourne
Level 44
Melbourne Central Tower
360 Elizabeth Street
Melbourne VIC
PO Box 13112
Law Courts
Melbourne VIC 8010
T +61 3 9963 6800
F +61 3 9963 6899 / Sydney
Level 5
The Bay Centre
65 Pirrama Road
Pyrmont NSW
PO Box Q500
Queen Victoria Building
NSW 1230
T +61 2 9334 7700
1800 226 667
F +61 2 9334 7799
© Commonwealth of Australia 2013
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced
by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction
and rights should be addressed to the Manager, Editorial Services, Australian Communications and Media Authority,
PO Box 13112 Law Courts, Melbourne Vic 8010.
Published by the Australian Communications and Media Authority
acma | ii
Contents (Continued)
About this guidance note 1
Key terms 2
Overview of local content plans 3
Local content plans 3
Minimum service standards 3
Meaning of ‘local’ 3
Annual reporting 3
Using the LCP2A form 4
Structure of the LCP2A form 4
Licensees that hold multiple licences or who are members of the same group company 4
Licence details 6
Licence area 6
Licence number 6
Reporting period 6
Reporting period start date / end date: 6
Compliance information 7
Eligible news bulletins 11
Eligible local news bulletins for the ACMA designated week 11
Eligible weather bulletins 13
Eligible local weather bulletins for the ACMA designated week 13
Submitting documents to the ACMA 17
Further information 17
acma | xiAbout this guidance note
The ACMA has developed this guidance note to assist holders of trigger event affected regional commercial radio broadcasting licences to complete and submit the annual compliance report about the licensee’s compliance with its approved local content plan.
Where an approved local content plan is in force for a licence during the whole or part of a relevant financial year, section 61CPA of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 requires the relevant licensee to submit an annual compliance report to the ACMA within 3 months after the end of that financial year.
This reporting requirement (and therefore this guidance note) applies to all regional commercial radio broadcasting licences except licences that are:
· a remote area service radio licence;
· a regional racing service radio licence; or
· allocated under subsection 40(1) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.
This guidance note is designed to be read in conjunction with electronic form LCP2A, which is the form approved by the ACMA for licensees to complete their local content plan annual reports required by the Act.
Copies of the legislation referred to in this guidance note – including the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, the local presence licence condition, the Broadcasting (Hours of Local Content) Declaration No. 1 of 2007, and the Broadcasting Services (Hours of Local Content) Regulations 2007 – are available from www.comlaw.gov.au. Many of the terms used in this guidance note and in the LCP2A form are defined in the legislation referred to above.
Licensees should note when completing their annual compliance reports that it is an offence to give false or misleading information or documents to the ACMA (section 137.1 of the Criminal Code 1995).
Key terms
Below is a list of the key terms used in this guide and the LCP2A form.
the Act / Broadcasting Services Act 1992the form / the LCP2A form.
the Instrument / Broadcasting Services (Meaning of Local) Instrument 2007
licensee / the holder of a regional commercial radio broadcasting licence
licence / a regional commercial radio broadcasting licence, not including a regional commercial broadcasting licence that is:
· a remote area service radio licence;
· a regional racing service radio licence; or
· allocated under subsection 40(1) of the Act.
local presence licence condition / Broadcasting Services (Regional Commercial Radio – Local Presence) Licence Condition 2012
the Regulations / Broadcasting Services (Hours of Local Content) Regulations 2007
Overview of local content plans
Local content plans
Under Subdivision C of Division 5C of Part 5 of the Act, where a licence becomes subject to a trigger event[1], the licensee must submit a draft local content plan for the licence to the ACMA for approval. The draft local content plan must set out how the licensee will comply with statutory requirements to meet minimum service standards for local news and information[2].
Minimum service standards
The minimum service standards for local news and information specify the minimum number of times per week (the target number) that the licensee is required to broadcast:
· ‘eligible local news bulletins’;
· ‘eligible local weather bulletins’; and
· local community service announcements.[3]
The target number refers either to a number specified in the legislation, declared by the Minister or, for the purposes of eligible local news bulletins, the average number of eligible local news bulletins broadcast under the licence during 52 weeks prior to the most recent trigger event (‘the benchmark year’), whichever is greater.
The minimum service standards also relate to emergency warnings and require licensees to broadcast those warnings as and when asked to do so by an emergency service agency.
If an approved local content plan is in force, the licensee must take all reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the plan.
Meaning of ‘local’
The Instrument defines the meaning of ‘local’ for the purposes of Subdivision B of Division 5C of Part 5 of the Act. Under the definition in the Instrument, news bulletins, weather bulletins, community service announcements and designated local content programs are local if they ‘relate to a licensee’s licence area’.
Annual reporting
Section 61CPA of the Act requires that where a local content plan has been in force during whole or part of the financial year, the licence is required, within three months of the end of the financial year, to give the ACMA a report about the licensee’s compliance with the approved local content plan during the financial year. Annual reporting is provided using the LCP2A form.
Using the LCP2A form
Structure of the LCP2A form
The LCP2A form has five parts, marked by tabs at the bottom of the form.
Respondents using the LCP2A form may be required to provide information at four of these five tabs:
1. Cover sheet
2. LCP2A
3. Declaration
4. Times
5. Instructions for completion*
* Denotes a tab containing information only
Licensees that hold multiple licences or who are members of the same group company
If a regional commercial radio licensee holds multiple regional commercial radio licences for which approved local content plans were in force during the financial year for those licences, then that licensee may use one form to report on annual compliance for up to 10 affected licences. The one form should only be used if all licensees had the same schedule of Eligible Local News Bulletins and Eligible Local Weather Bulletins during the sample week designated by the ACMA. The ACMA annual compliance letter sent to licensees following the end of the financial year designates the sample week
Different licensees within the same group company may also elect to use one form to report on compliance, for up to 10 affected licences, if they had the same schedule of Eligible Local News Bulletins and Eligible Local Weather Bulletins during the sample week designated by the ACMA. However, an authorised agent or authorised representative must provide a declaration to the ACMA regarding the accuracy of the report in the format provided on the Declaration tab of the electronic form. In addition, each licensee MUST be listed on the Declaration.
Licensees using one form for multiple licences MUST list each licence separately and answer the applicable questions for each licence in the form. If you are reporting on licences with different schedules of Eligible Local News Bulletins and/or Eligible Local Weather Bulletins during the sample week specified by the ACMA, you must complete a separate form for each set of licences.
If reporting on more than 10 licences, please submit additional forms.
1) Cover sheet tab
Tips
· Only complete cells coloured pale yellow.
· Enter the contact details of the authorised person the ACMA should contact regarding the information supplied in the annual compliance report.
· Enter the date on which the form is being submitted.
2) LCP2A tab
The LCP2A form allows up to 10 licences to be submitted on the one form. Apart from the unique licence number(s), each licence may also have variations in the data provided to answer Questions 1 through to 6 BUT the schedule of Eligible Local News Bulletins and Eligible Local Weather Bulletins MUST be the same for all the licences in the sample week designated by the ACMA in the annual compliance letter it sends to licensees each year.
Note: If the Eligible Local News Bulletins and Eligible Local Weather Bulletins are not the same for all the licences in the designated week separate forms must be completed. If you are reporting on more than 10 licences, even though the schedule of Eligible Local News Bulletins and Eligible Local Weather Bulletins are the same for all the licences in the specified week, the additional licences must be reported on in a different form(s).
The LCP2A form contains three main tables that must be completed:
· LICENCE DETAILS table – for licensees to enter information about the licence(s), including the licence area, licence number and information about the licensee’s compliance with the minimum service standards over the relevant financial year.
· ELIGIBLE NEWS BULLETINS table – for licensees to provide information about the broadcast of eligible local news bulletins during the week designated by the ACMA.
· ELIGIBLE LOCAL WEATHER BULLETINS table – for licensees to provide information about the broadcast of eligible local weather bulletins during the week designated by the ACMA.
Tips
· Pale yellow coloured cells – these cells have drop down lists from which the licensee must select the correct data. Instructions appear in a bubble when you click on each row, prompting the licensee to click the drop down arrow and select the appropriate data.
· Deep yellow coloured cells – these cells are for the licensee to complete. Instructions appear in a bubble when you click on each row, prompting the licensee for the data required.
· Pale blue cells must be left blank and will be automatically completed when you enable the ‘Calculate and Check’ validation tool. See ‘Instructions for completion’ tab for more information about accessing and enabling the ‘Calculate and Check’ validation tool.
Licence details
Licence area
Insert the name of the licence area(s) that you are reporting on by clicking in the cell and selecting from the dropdown options. The dropdown options show the correct name for the licence area.
If you are not sure of the correct name for the licence area, you can refer to the list of broadcasting licence areas on the ACMA’s website (www.acma.gov.au/licplan/defmaps/name.html).
Licence number
Insert the service licence number(s) of the licence(s) you are reporting on by clicking in the cell and selecting from the dropdown option(s).
Reporting period
Reporting period start date / end date:
For each licence number entered into the LCP2A electronic form, enter the START DATE and END DATE for the reporting period (i.e. the period during which an approved local content plan was in force during the financial year):
· Start Date –
o 1 July of relevant financial year
OR
o if you did not have any approved local content plan in force during part of the relevant financial year, enter the date of the ACMA approval of local content plan [format: dd/mm/yyyy].
End Date – 30 June of relevant financial year [format: dd/mm/yyyy]
Compliance information
QUESTION 1. Compliance with local news requirement
Did licensee broadcast at least the requisite number of eligible local news bulletins for each week (excluding the five week ‘holiday period’) in prime-time hours in the reporting period?
For each licence listed on the electronic form, indicate whether or not you broadcast at least the requisite number of ‘eligible local news bulletins’ during prime-time hours (5am – 8 pm) in the reporting period, as prescribed in the Broadcasting Services (Hours of Local Content) Regulations 2007. Answer by selecting either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ from the dropdown menu.
The requisite number of ELIGIBLE LOCAL NEWS BULLETINS (as set out in subsections 61CE(1) and (2) of the Act) each week is the greater of:
(a) five; or
(b) the average weekly number broadcast in the benchmark year [the 52-week period ending on the Saturday before the trigger event occurred].
If your response to Q1 was ‘No’ move on to Q1a. If your response was ‘Yes’ go to Q2.
QUESTION 1a.
If your answer to Q1 is 'No', please provide a reason.
If you responded 'Yes' to Q1 do not answer this question, instead go to Q2.
For each licence listed on the electronic form where you responded ‘No’ to Q1 and did not broadcast the requisite number of ‘eligible local news bulletins’ for any week during the reporting period (excluding the five week ‘holiday period’), answer this question by providing details explaining your reason for non-compliance.
You may provide an electronic attachment setting out details, if necessary. Please email any attachment to the ACMA along with the completed LCP2A electronic form.
QUESTION 2. Compliance with local weather requirement
Did licensee broadcast at least the requisite number of eligible local weather bulletins for each week (excluding the five week ‘holiday period’) in prime-time hours in the reporting period?