Legislation to effect the introduction of digital radio into Australia was tabled in Parliament on 28 March 2007. It was subsequently referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications Information Technology and the Arts (ECITA) to conduct an inquiry. The CBAA made two submissions.

Although the Bill was passed by the Senate, and is shortly due to receive assent, the CBAA will be seeking legal advice regarding interpretation of the legislation and the management models that are possible under the new law. These models will be discussed during consultation sessions due to take place later in 2007.

This document was produced in preparation for the ‘Digital Radio Symposium’ held in September 2006. It was part of a sector consultation process to identify options for the involvement of community broadcasters in the digital radio framework.

In January 2006, following the announcement of the digital radio framework, the CBAA provided implementation and cost models to the Government in a paper called ‘Adding Digital Value’. The modeling formed the basis of a successful bid for funding in the 2007 Budget.

The cost modeling in this paper was updated on October 2006 to reflect costs changes likely with use of the AAC+ audio coding rather than MPEG Layer 2.

In October 2005, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts announced a framework to guide the introduction of digital radio in Australia. The CBAA has lobbied hard over the last decade for community broadcasters to have the same entitlements to digital capacity as the national and commercial broadcasters.

Following the Government’s commitment in 2004 to work with industry on the introduction of digital radio into Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) released a discussion paper inviting submissions on the merits of placing restrictions on the planning and allocation of broadcasting services in certain frequency bands that may be suitable for digital radio.

Go to the digital radio framework.

The Government sought comment on the issues associated with the development of a policy and regulatory framework for the introduction of digital radio in Australia. It released an Issues Paper
in December 2004.

Threshold Issues for Digital Radio in Australia is the CBAA’s submission, dated April 2005.

Digital Radio Technology Update (September 2004), which provides a technical analysis of the major technology options for digital radio, and Stocktake of Implementation Strategies for Digital Radio, which provides an overview of the various approaches being adopted overseas.

The Group’s final report in March 2004 focused on four aspects:

• An overview of various digital radio technologies;
  
• The roll-out of digital radio in major markets overseas, including case studies;
  
• The nature of services and the drivers for consumer take-up; and
  
• Options and implications of a number of threshold issues in the Australian context.
  
  
  
  

The Government’s Digital Radio Advisory Committee (DRAC) was established in 1995 and released its report in 1997. The Committee was a consortium of Government and industry stakeholders, including the CBAA.

The Digital Radio Advisory Committee (DRAC) was established in August 1995 by the former Minister for Communications and the Arts as a forum for interested parties to discuss the technological, planning and policy implications of the introduction of digital radio broadcasting, and to provide the Government with advice on the associated issues.

Go to discussion paper.