Community Broadcasting Sector Roundtable update

The Community Broadcasting Sector Roundtable met via zoom earlier this month for a very positive session.

The Roundtable discussed a range of important matters:

• The CBAA outlined how it is refocusing its strategy, distilling its Mission to be “Creating strong and successful community broadcasters”.
• The NEMBC highlighted how the multicultural broadcasting sector is successfully working with NSW and Victoria state governments to get rapid COVID-19 information out to a wide range of diverse communities.
• The sector will be focusing on funding as its advocacy priority in the lead up to the next Federal election. In the May Budget the sector secured $20m pa of funding and the focus will be securing an extra $5m pa of funding for sector resilience, given the crucial role that the sector plays in emergency broadcasting to diverse communities and in supporting the Arts (given the pressure the Arts are under because of COVID-19).
• The sector will continue to work with the government and ACMA to develop regulatory approaches and legislation more in line with contemporary community broadcasting.
• The group welcomed the Government’s decision to give certainty to the community TV stations in Adelaide and Melbourne by renewing their licences for the next three years in June.
• The roundtable examined ways to better use data across the sector and at individual stations.

The Roundtable consists of representatives from:

• The Australian Community Television Alliance (ACTA)
• Christian Media & Arts Australia (CMAA)
• The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA)
• First Nations Media Australia (FNMA)
• The National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters’ Council (NEMBC)
• RPH Australia (RPHA), and
• The Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF)

The roundtable will meet again in April 2022.