FECCA s Submission to the ABC and SBS Towards a Digital Future Discussion Paper

FECCA s Submission to the ABC and SBS Towards a Digital Future Discussion Paper November 2008

1: The role of national broadcasting The ABC and SBS discussion paper and the 2020 Summit statement canvass updating the public broadcaster s role and functions with regard to the revolutionary changes occurring with digital media and the wider array of broadcasting services arising from these developing technologies. This submission will focus less on the critical technological aspects of the conversion to a digital broadcasting world and more on the need to maintain the important overarching principles that underpin our public broadcasters such as: maintaining access and equity; responding to Australia s cultural, linguistic and faith diversity; and ensuring that our public broadcasters properly reflect the reality of the Australian community today which is any many aspects both culturally and faith diverse. While a digital world may present different platforms for media engagement, content will always remain king. For that reason the specially legislated role of the public broadcasters will remain as relevant as ever. While digital technology will be important in improving and diversifying broadcasting it is important that the underlying principles which drive the public broadcasters such as access, universality and cultural diversity are not discarded. The legislated public broadcaster charters with their wider social and cultural objectives underpin the operations of our public broadcasters and are critically important. FECCA wants to see the cultural diversity aspects of these charters both maintained and strengthened. Australia has high levels of cultural, linguistic and faith diversity. The 2006 Census shows that Australians come from more than 200 different ancestries and speak more than 300 different languages at home, including Indigenous languages. Almost one in four Australians were born overseas (23.9 per cent) and up to half of all Australians (45 per cent) were born overseas or have one or both parents born overseas. 16.2 per cent of Australians, or around three million people, speak a language other than English at home. Australia s largest languages other than English spoken at home are Italian (316,897), Greek (252,223), Cantonese (244,549), Arabic (243,657), Mandarin (220,600), and Vietnamese (194,854). One of FECCA s primary concerns during any revision of the public broadcaster s role is that this diversity is reflected in the charters, policies and practices of our public broadcasters. 1a The ABC FECCA supports the ABC as a high quality and independent public broadcaster. We note that 1(a)1 of the ABC Charter requires the ABC to reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community and 2(a)iv requires the ABC to take account of the multicultural character of the Australian community. FECCA would like to see these charter objectives retained in any update of the ABC Charter arising from this discussion paper and review process. 1

While the ABC is addressing its cultural diversity obligations, FECCA has concerns that the ABC still has work to do in this area and that its cultural diversity charter objectives need to be retained as a minimum. Some ABC drama programming does not reflect the multicultural reality and richness of Australia s current population. Negative images and stereotyping of certain CALD communities across the media continues to be cited as an issue. Concerns have also been raised about indiscriminate racial profiling in broadcasting and the use of the word pom to describe people of English backgrounds. FECCA would like to see more broadcasting on the ABC that reflects Australia s cultural diversity and more faces on the ABC who reflect the actual faces of Australia today. As Opposition Leader, Malcolm Turnbull, noted recently, there is no person who can look into the mirror and say that is an Australian face or that is an American face. The ABC needs to continue to work towards having more diversity in its programming that better reflects the Australian community in the 21 st century. It is important that ABC management and its board also reflects Australia s cultural diversity. 1a SBS As Australia s peak multicultural body with a large and diverse national membership base FECCA has a particular interest and commitment to the future of SBS as Australia s preeminent multicultural public broadcaster. The SBS legislative charter states that SBS must provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television for all Australians. Five of the eight legislative requirements around that charter relate to multiculturalism, cultural diversity and linguistic diversity. Since 1980 SBS has been an integral part of a vibrant, multicultural and cohesive Australian society. It is critical that the overriding emphasis in the SBS charter around multicultural and multilingual services and reflecting and responding to Australia s cultural diversity is maintained and not diluted in any reforms undertaken through this discussion paper and review process. For instance SBS television has been criticised in recent times for becoming less multicultural, particularly during peak viewing times. This has been attributed by some to the introduction of advertising to SBS and the need to secure advertising revenue through higher ratings. It is important legislative underpinnings to focus SBS around multicultural and multilingual broadcasting remain in place. FECCA supports SBS as a strong and vibrant multicultural and multilingual broadcaster delivering services to all Australians. This includes the three million Australians who speak a language other than English at home and who do not receive similar services from other public and free-to-air commercial television broadcasters. SBS s role in providing social inclusion to many Australians is hugely important. SBS also has a critically important role in assisting in the effective 2

settlement process of the large numbers of migrants that come to Australia each year. FECCA notes the SBS Plans for the Future document which this review process should consider fully. SBS needs greater funding to pursue its objectives in a digital world and their initial claim for $70 million per annum as part of their new triennial funding agreement from 2009-12 has FECCA s full support. SBS has not received a significant funding boost in many years and with the renewed emphasis on SBS s multicultural broadcasting objectives an SBS funding increase is warranted and long overdue. FECCA also supports other aspects of SBS Plans for the Future document including a new SBS World multichannel with predominantly languages other than English (LOTE) programming, including important features such as children s LOTE programming and English language tuition programming. This is the type of innovative and beneficial programming that a digital environment allows for. It also builds social capital and strengthens social inclusion. SBS multilingual radio services are critically important to CALD communities and their effective settlement so FECCA also fully supports plans to improve the hugely important SBS radio division including through upgrading SBS radio services in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide and increasing services through digital conversion. FECCA has called for more culturally and linguistically diverse representation on the SBS Board and stated that SBS management should also reflect Australia s cultural diversity. Equally important we believe that SBS independence from the ABC should be made explicit and the review should rule out any merger with the ABC, and ensure that SBS retains its distinctly multicultural flavour. For Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds SBS Radio may be their only source of news, information, education and information services. SBS role here with regards to social inclusion and effective settlement is of huge importance. SBS must retain its fundamental multicultural and multilingual character, which is vital to a large number of Australians in their daily lives. To view FECCA s detailed SBS policy go to: http://www.fecca.org.au/pdf/fecca_sbs_policy_08.pdf 3

2: Harnessing new technologies to deliver services FECCA believes that public broadcasting should be accessible to all Australians irrespective of their location and cultural and linguistic background. While digital opens up the opportunity for greater output of content, issues of equitable access and pricing also arise which are of particular concern to disadvantaged communities such as some migrants and refugees. With regards to SBS vitally important multilingual radio network digital opens up the possibilities for a greater range of LOTE programming. At present there is much competition for SBS limited analogue radio coverage and new and emerging and growing African or Asian language groups are sometimes missing out as well as numerically smaller language groups such as Yiddish and Gaelic. With a relatively modest amount of increased funding SBS could extend its important multilingual radio services to more Australians. The full SBS radio network suite should be extended to Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide and SBS television and radio should also be made more widely available in regional Australia. SBS Television and radio programming should always include bilingual programming in prominent Australian languages other than English such as Indigenous languages, Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Spanish, German, Hindi, Macedonian, Croatian, Korean, Turkish, Polish, Tagalog, Serbian, French, Indonesian, Persian, Maltese, Russian, Dutch, Japanese, Tamil, Dinka, Sinhalese, Samoan, and Portuguese as a minimum. Conversion to digital also needs to take into account access issues for disadvantaged Australians such as some of our refugees who are on comparatively lower incomes than other Australians. While some communities such as the Australian-Indian and Australian-Chinese communities have higher take up rates of new broadcasting technologies (in this case broadband) than the overall Australian community, other communities such as older migrant groups and new and emerging refugee communities are likely to have lower take up rates of new technology. Programs need to be in place to ensure equity of access to new technologies for these groups. Analogue should not be switched off before all Australians can access digital technologies at affordable prices. 3. Informing and Entertaining Australians FECCA fully supports the retention of the key public broadcasting role of informing and entertaining all Australians. The public broadcasters should play a strong role in promoting Australia s cultural identity, including the distinctive multicultural aspects of Australia s identity. SBS has indicated that with increased funding they will do more children s LOTE programming which FECCA fully supports. Children s LOTE programming would contribute to second language acquisition and enhance Australia s productive and cultural diversity. 4

The SBS charter should maintain a general provision to inform educate (and entertain) Australians in their preferred languages. SBS and the ABC also have a critical role to play in reaching out to Indigenous communities (noting that FECCA does not speak on behalf of Indigenous Australians). 4. Education Skills and Productivity The public broadcasters have a niche role to play in developing the education, skills and productivity of migrants and refugees during the settlement process. SBS in particular has a role to play here with LOTE programming that assists in the acculturation and settlement process. SBS has also indicated it is willing to broadcast English language training programs as part of a new multichannel if its funding is increased. English language is becoming increasingly important to more effective settlement and employment outcomes. FECCA fully supports this goal of SBS and would support strengthening the charter with regard to the settlement and education role of our public broadcasters and particularly SBS. In a globalised economy intercultural and LOTE skills will become increasingly important for Australia s on-going economic (and social and cultural) success. SBS multilingual programming therefore deserves continued strong support. Both ABC and SBS are considering digital education channels. FECCA supports plans by public broadcasters to develop educational programming that would potentially benefit migrants in providing English language teaching and skills training. FECCA stresses that strategies must be adopted to ensure that equitable access is provided for some disadvantaged groups of Australians who traditionally miss out on the benefits of digital technology. Australia s immigration program is at record levels to help meet Australia s workforce and ageing challenges. As such our levels of cultural diversity are continuing to increase. This makes the role of public broadcasting in assisting migrant communities through English language and training programs more important than ever. The national broadcasters have a strong role to play in education, skills and productivity and FECCA believes that role should extend more fully to include the important settlement needs of migrants and refugees. 5. Social Inclusion and Cultural Identity The role of SBS and the ABC in regards to social inclusion and cultural identity is hugely important. As mentioned earlier SBS is vital in assisting new arrivals and more established migrant communities with Australian news, information and other content in their preferred languages. This assists greatly with the settlement, acculturation and the social inclusion of new migrants and refugees. It adds to their 5

sense of belonging and inclusion in the Australian community and lessens feelings of isolation. In terms of social inclusion it is far preferable for Australians whose main language is other than English to have SBS radio and television as part of their media intake rather than an exclusive diet of foreign television subscription services which will have no Australian content and provide no particular insights into the migrant s new home. In that regard SBS should be supported even more to assist with the settlement of the large number of migrants from non-english speaking backgrounds entering Australia under our current large immigration program. The ABC can also play a greater role in social inclusion and cultural identity by continuing to improve on its representation of the Australian community so as to better reflect the multicultural reality of Australia s population. People from CALD backgrounds are known to feel depressed, withdrawn and disengaged from society if positive representations of people from similar backgrounds are totally absent in the media. The demand for SBS radio services from migrant communities is particularly acute and is an emotive and heartfelt issue in the multicultural sector due to the importance of SBS radio to the daily lives of so many migrants. SBS LOTE radio broadcasting is vital in the settlement of newly arrived migrant communities. FECCA agrees with the paper s contention that digital offers a chance for SBS to extend its radio coverage to many more language groups in Australia including new and emerging languages that may be at present missing out. An ongoing and difficult challenge for SBS is to serve new language groups in the community without reducing existing programming for more established groups who are ageing and also have significant needs that can only be addressed adequately through SBS radio. FECCA would therefore like to see any enhanced digital platform to allow for a continuing rich focus on the European languages spoken by Australia s older postwar migrants, who heavily utilise SBS radio services. Digital may provide the ultimate solution to these issues through more spectrum but it does require increased government funding for SBS to successfully convert to digital. It also requires barriers to access issues for some communities to be properly considered and addressed by SBS and government. SBS television also could have an important role to play in the critical area of flexible English language tuition to new migrants although they need more funding to perform this role through a new digital multichannel. It is very difficult for some migrants to attend English language training while they are working in paid employment to support their families or acting as full time carers for children or family. Flexible English language training on SBS television (perhaps in partnership with a large Adult Migrant Education Program provider like AMES) would be an important practical step in building social inclusion through our public broadcasters but again requires increased government funding support to SBS. English language 6

skills are increasingly vital to social and employment participation and SBS could play a much stronger role here. In developing policy in this area consideration needs to be given to digital and broadband take up rates of different communities. As mentioned earlier while some communities such as Australia-Chinese and Australian-Indian communities may have high take up rates of new technologies, older migrants communities and new and emerging refugee communities may have much lower take up rates. Finally with regards to captioning services it should be noted that in addition to hearing impaired people clearly visible captioning services are also appreciated by some migrants from non-english speaking backgrounds (who are not hearing impaired) who find it easier to understand English language programming with English language captions. This is because some migrants understanding of written English is better than their understanding of spoken English. Captions can assist such people in improving their overall English language skills. FECCA therefore supports extension and where possible extension of existing English language captioning services both for hearing impaired people and for some migrants and refugees. 6. Presenting Australia to the World FECCA supports an Australia with public broadcasters that are cosmopolitan, culturally competent and reach out to the world and in particular to our neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region. FECCA supports enhancing the international role of our national broadcasters to fulfill this important mission. 7. Efficient Delivery of services While FECCA supports transmission type synergies between the public broadcasting services which lead to cost savings which can be redirected towards programming, FECCA is of the firm belief that SBS and ABC should always remain as completely separate and distinct entities. The independence of SBS and its distinctly multicultural flavour must be maintained and strengthened. The multicultural sector and Australia s migrant and refugee communities strongly support an independent and well resourced SBS focused on its multicultural and multilingual charter objectives. Access to SBS and the ABC should remain free under a traditional public broadcasting model so that the services remain accessible to all Australians. Many migrant and refugee communities have low incomes and moves towards pay for content arrangements would disproportionately affect these groups. Advertising has arguably to some extent diminished SBS television services by leading to a drift from its multicultural flavour towards more mainstream programming during peak viewing times due to the inevitable chase for advertising revenue through increased ratings. This shows that experimentation with commercial models with public broadcasters ultimately leads to a drift from their 7

public charters. This ultimately undermines the public broadcasting model with its significant advantages of independence, its additional focus on information and education (as well as entertainment) and its focus on diversity. SBS has not received a significant funding boost in several years. SBS should receive a significant increase in triennial funding as recently requested so it is not reliant on advertising revenue for survival and can grow and develop. Other funding options such as contracting for public interest content also have the capacity to undermine the editorial independence and integrity of our public broadcasters. FECCA believes that moves towards commercialisation ultimately undermines the excellent system of taxpayer funded public broadcasting that exists in Australia for the benefit of all Australians. 8