Australian Broadcasting Corporation
submission to
Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
Indigenous Broadcasting and Media Sector Review
September 2010
Introduction
ABC welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Department of Water, Environment and Heritage’s (DEWHA) review of the Indigenous media and broadcasting sector.
The ABC has a long history of producing Indigenous programming and, through its many platforms, ensuring that Indigenous stories are told and Indigenous issues are raised. It has been at the forefront in recruiting and training Indigenous talent and working with smaller Indigenous broadcasting bodies to create and distribute their own content.
The Corporation’s Charter requires that it broadcast ―programs that contribute to a sense of national identity and inform and entertain, and reflect the cultural diversity of, the
Australian community.‖1 The ABC understands this obligation to include presenting content by, for and about Indigenous Australians, including programming that reflects issues and developments affecting Indigenous Australians to the wider community. Accordingly, the Corporation produces, commissions and acquires quality material for broadcast on ABC Radio and Television and for publication on ABC Online. The obligation is explicitly acknowledged in the ABC’s Editorial Policies.2
The Corporation employs Indigenous staff in a variety of content-making roles and
contributes to the development of Indigenous radio, television and online production skills.
The ABC Reconciliation Action Plan 2009–12, endorsed by the ABC Board in October 2009, contains specific commitments and targets to increase employment opportunities for Indigenous Australians, including content-makers, and to increase the levels of content on ABC platforms that reflect Indigenous culture and heritage.
The ABC understands that, while the review is intended to address the level and nature of Commonwealth support for the Indigenous media sector as a whole, a priority question is Indigenous television production and broadcasting, as National Indigenous Television (NITV) is currently only guaranteed funding until the end of June 2011. Accordingly, the ABC will present options for sustaining and enhancing Indigenous television.
1 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983, s.6(1)(a)(i).
The ABC is keen to increase the levels of high-quality Indigenous television content that it delivers to national audiences. It has made structural changes to its Indigenous production area and increased funding to allow the commissioning of more Indigenous screen content.
Across all its platforms, the ABC is keen to expand the range of content it offers to nurture, develop and communicate Indigenous culture. In an era of competing needs and fiscal challenges, the Corporation’s ability to further expand Indigenous programming will be necessarily influenced by its ability to access funding.
The ABC and Indigenous Media
Radio
ABC Radio’s ongoing program schedules have for some years included two Indigenous programs targeted to general audiences.
Awaye! on ABC Radio National is Australia’s only national Indigenous arts and culture program. Produced and presented by Indigenous broadcasters, it showcases Aboriginal culture across the country through a mix of music, arts, spirituality, politics, dance, literature and theatre.
Speaking Out on ABC Local Radio is a national weekly program presented and produced by Indigenous broadcasters that explores culture, lifestyle and political issues affecting
Aboriginal persons and Torres Strait Islanders across Australia. The program celebrated 20 years on air in August 2010.
In addition, all ABC radio networks routinely cover a wide range of Indigenous issues, music and events within mainstream programming and accompanying online content.
The introduction of digital radio in July 2009 allowed the ABC to establish ABC Digital Extra, a temporary special channel that is used to cover special and significant events. On Anzac Day 2010, the ABC included the first recording and rebroadcast of the Indigenous Anzac Day service from the Australian War Memorial in Canberra as part of a special 24-hour ABC Anzac Day radio service on ABC Digital Extra.
In July 2010, ABC Digital Extra was used to establish a dedicated ABC NAIDOC digital radio station as part of co-ordinated NAIDOC Week coverage across its radio networks. ABC NAIDOC featured content from Awaye! and Speaking Out, as well as a range of Indigenous Australian musicians, including those recorded for ABC Dig Music and Triple J.
Indigenous content will be an integral component of the Corporation’s regional broadband content initiative ABC Open, which began delivering content in August 2010. During the recruitment of the first 18 ABC Open Producers, ABC Radio actively targeted Indigenous communities. The first pool of ABC Open staff included two Indigenous producers.
As part of the ABC’s role as an emergency services broadcaster, ABC Local Radio in the Northern Territory is working with the NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services to produce emergency messages in nine local Indigenous languages.
Television
The ABC’s Indigenous Television Department (formerly the Indigenous Production Unit) is discretely funded to acquire and commission content primarily made by Indigenous
filmmakers and to a lesser degree non-Indigenous filmmakers on issues of importance to Indigenous people and the broader community. There is also Indigenous content
commissioned from Indigenous and non-Indigenous filmmakers by ABC Television’s Documentary, Drama, Sport, Children’s and Arts and Entertainment departments.
Message Stick, a weekly program that explores Indigenous culture, lifestyle, political issues and arts through half-hour documentary programs and profiles, celebrated its 10th
anniversary in 2009. Message Stick employs Indigenous program makers and also engages freelance Indigenous filmmakers to work inside the ABC; it also commissions and acquires programs from the independent production sector.
In March 2010, ABC Television appointed a new Head of Indigenous Content and increased the Department’s budget to provide an improved focus on Indigenous screen content. The Indigenous Department has longstanding relationships with Screen Australia and State funding bodies and leverages its funding through partnerships with these agencies. The Department also has strong engagement with the independent Indigenous filmmaking sector; it will continue to strengthen this engagement by providing a greater diversity of opportunities for them in the future as its programming slate expands.
In 2009–10, the ABC broadcast 47.5 hours of Indigenous content made by Indigenous filmmakers, including programs such as Message Stick and The New Black. ABC Television was also involved in the development, financing and broadcasting of the feature films Samson and Delilah, Bran Nue Dae (to be screened early 2011) and the upcoming The Place Between. ABC Television also broadcasts the TIWI Island Grand Final live nationally and in 2010 is working with the AFL to provide live national coverage of the annual Indigenous All Stars match.
In 2010–11, the ABC will broadcast approximately 65 hours of first-run content made by Indigenous Australians. In addition, it will commission 20 hours of content, although development times mean that this content will not be available for broadcast until 2011–12.
In 2011–12, ABC Television estimates it will screen approximately 80 hours of first-run content made by Indigenous filmmakers.
Online
The ABC’s Indigenous Portal (abc.net.au/indigenous) provides an important online gateway for ABC Indigenous content.
The Portal hosts Indigenous content from across the ABC’s broadcasting activities and from Indigenous communities. This includes Indigenous news and current affairs, short films, animation, drama, arts, health and music and language programming. The Portal also provides opinion and interactive message boards.
Training
As a major Australian broadcaster and content producer, the ABC employs Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in a range of roles and contributes to the development of Indigenous radio, television and online production skills. As with many areas of media broadcasting and media activity, the Corporation has developed the skills of a number of talented Indigenous content-makers who have subsequently been employed elsewhere in the Australian media industry.
Historically, the ABC was an active contributor to the development of the Indigenous
community radio sector in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1980, ABC Radio provided assistance with the development of the first Aboriginal radio station, the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA), now 8KIN FM. This included the provision of training. Over the following 25 years, the ABC continued to provide assistance and training to Indigenous media associations seeking to establish radio services through its Indigenous Broadcasting Unit (IBU).
In 2005, ABC Radio determined that, as the Indigenous radio industry was well-developed, it was appropriate to reallocate resources from supporting external organisations through a national unit to internal development of its own Indigenous programming and staff. The division continues to provide assistance to Indigenous communities on a local basis, when requested to do so.
The ABC acknowledges that there are differing opinions in the community about its decision to focus resources on internal talent and program development. The Corporation’s current resources do not allow it to operate as formal external training organisation.
The ABC has endeavoured to develop and maintain relationships with educational institutions such as Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (BIITE) in the Northern Territory, where Indigenous students are able to pursue studies in broadcasting and new-media related areas. ABC Radio assisted in the establishment of Batchelor College, as BIITE was originally known, providing radio studio facilities and professional input to course design, as well as a trainer to conduct a features/documentary workshop. A small number of graduates have been employed by the ABC over time.
ABC Television has had a long-term relationship with the Indigenous Branch of Screen Australia which has resulted in a number of documentaries and drama projects designed to provide professional development experiences for emerging Indigenous filmmakers. These projects have been screened during prime-time on the ABC.
Reconciliation Action Plan
As part of the ABC’s commitment to acknowledging Indigenous Australians, their heritage and culture, the Corporation developed and published its first Reconciliation Action Plan for the years 2009–12 in October 2009. The plan outlines a set of actions and targets that will be implemented throughout the ABC over the three-year period of its operation to promote opportunities for current and future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.
The ABC Reconciliation Action Plan 2009–12 commits the ABC to, among other things, increasing employment opportunities for Indigenous Australians and developing content that reflects the culture and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Initiatives aimed at increasing employment opportunities at the ABC include:
seeking to achieve an initial 2% Indigenous staff level;
targeting 20 positions to increase Indigenous staffing levels;
providing at least six internships annually through the National Indigenous Cadetship Program;
providing a structured national work experience/internship program implemented on a State and Territory basis for up to five Indigenous people per year in each State and Territory; and,
providing support and career development for its Indigenous staff by targeting Indigenous staff for Leadership programs, awarding annual Indigenous scholarships, and providing induction and mentoring support for new Indigenous staff members.
Among the content initiatives of the Plan, the ABC will actively seek to reflect a stronger Indigenous presence in its content, targeting and developing Indigenous on-air presenters and actively seeking a greater range of Indigenous talent and guests for programs. It will also seek to include more Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in its content-making processes.
The major divisions of the ABC engaged in content creation—ABC Radio, Television, News and Resources—and each of the Corporation’s state and territory offices have established Indigenous Reference Groups to oversee the implementation of the various initiatives in the Plan.
The ABC is also reviewing the structure and work of its Indigenous advisory body, the Bonner Committee, to boost its influence in this area.
The ABC will publish the first report on progress against the ABC Reconciliation Act Plan at the end of 2010. However, the Corporation is already making progress towards a number of the initiatives. It is confident that the commitments contained within the Plan will contribute to the further development of Indigenous media capabilities and the presentation of
Indigenous perspectives to Australian audiences.
National Indigenous Television Broadcasting
As indicated above, the ABC believes that Indigenous television production and broadcasting is a priority question for this review.
Since July 2006, the Government has funded the operations of the National Indigenous Television (NITV) service, which first broadcast in July 2007.3 The service was initially provided with Commonwealth funding of $48.5 million over four years.4 In April 2010, the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts the Hon Peter Garrett
announced that NITV would receive an additional $15.2 million in funding to ensure continuation of its services for 12 months.5
NITV is built on a vision first articulated in a submission by the NITV Committee to the 2004 Indigenous TV Broadcasting Services Review conducted by the then Department of
Communications, Information technology and the Arts.
The submission called for ―the establishment of a national Indigenous television service to be owned and operated by Indigenous Australians with programming content created by and for Indigenous Australians.‖6 It further proposed that the service be transmitted nationally in order, ―to deliver a primary service to all Indigenous people wherever they live in
Australia.‖ The business case accompanying the submission set out a transmission strategy for the service that would have seen it ultimately distributed nationally by digital satellite and analog and digital terrestrial transmission.
3 Senator the Hon. Helen Coonan. ―An important moment in the history of Indigenous broadcasting‖, Media Release, 13 July 2007. <www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/coonan/media/media_releases/
an_important_moment_in_the_history_of_indigenous_broadcasting>.
4 Senator the Hon. Helen Coonan, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. ―Telstra sale to benefit Indigenous broadcasting‖, Media Release, 1 September 2005. <www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/
coonan/media/media_releases/telstra_sale_to_benefit_indigenous_broadcasting>.
5 The Hon. Peter Garrett MP, Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts; the Hon. Jenny Macklin MP, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Senator the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, ―$15 million investment in the continuation of NITV‖, Media Release, 16 April 2010.
<http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/garrett/2010/pubs/mr20100416.pdf>.
6 NITV Committee submission to DCITA Indigenous TV Broadcasting Services Review 2004.
<www.archive.dcita.gov.au/__data/assets/word_doc/0013/15241/NITV_committee_submission_part_1.doc>.
The NITV Committee proposed that the service should operate on a stand-alone basis and employ an inclusive content commissioning model to draw upon the expertise of the Indigenous media sector.
Realising NITV’s vision for a national service has been complicated by a number of factors;
these include most prominently, the level of available funding and access to free-to-air spectrum on a national basis. The NITV Committee’s submission estimated that, once established, the cost of operating NITV as a continuous national service with a high level of Australian content would amount to $80 million per year. The service would further require
$73.6 million in capital funding over a five-year establishment period, primarily to install transmitter infrastructure.
While the ABC has not examined the business case in detail, it believes that this level of funding would be required at a minimum to deliver a continuous national service of the kind envisaged in the submission.
Television is a powerful, effective and universally-accessible medium for nurturing, developing and communicating Indigenous culture. Television can play a critical role in ensuring that Indigenous Australians make an active and impactful contribution to the broader Australian society and culture. However, television is an expensive medium.
Accordingly, the ABC believes that, if NITV is to provide an Indigenous television service of the kind originally envisaged, the service will require a significant increase in funding.
If the level of Commonwealth support for Indigenous television is to remain at or near current levels, it is appropriate to consider other options for maximising the presentation of Indigenous stories and issues to national audiences.
There are a range of ways in which the ABC could contribute to such a process and these are set out below.
Options to maximise Indigenous stories
Content
ABC–NITV Partnerships
The ABC and NITV have established relationships in relation to television programming.
The Corporation currently provides archival programming to NITV, acquires content produced by NITV for broadcast on ABC3 and has entered into a co-production and co- financing agreement with NITV for a children’s game show on ABC 3. There is scope for greater levels of partnership between the two organisations that would increase the quantity and quality of television content available within each organisation’s Indigenous
programming budgets.
There have been a number of recent engagements in the area of children’s programming between the two organisations. For the launch of ABC3 in December 2009, the ABC acquired from NITV a quiz show called Letterbox that was produced by Carbon Media, an Indigenous production company based in Queensland. The program—a quiz show made by Indigenous filmmakers for Indigenous audiences—has been successful and has remained on air since launch.
Over the past six months, the ABC has worked with Carbon Media and NITV to co-develop a second series of Letterbox. Similarly, the ABC acquired from NITV an observational
documentary series called On the Edge, which will to air on ABC3 in coming months. The Corporation is also discussing with NITV the acquisition of segments from their series Wabinny Time, for ABC3.
These partnerships with NITV draw upon the expertise and skills of each broadcaster in a complementary fashion, as the content offerings of the two services do not directly compete.
NITV has been of great assistance to the ABC in producing and increasing the levels of Indigenous content that the ABC can run on ABC3. The ABC has contributed its skills in high-end children’s content to the process.
The ABC believes these partnerships represent a model for improving and increasing the level of co-operation between NITV and ABC Television and to take advantage of the different capabilities of the two broadcasters.
NITV’s funding limits the amount of high-end content it can source and create. Similarly, while the ABC is in the process of developing high-end content for prime-time slots, it is limited in the amount of funding it can apply to exclusively Indigenous content.
NITV has been responsible for the establishment of a number of Indigenous production companies with new producers. However, it has had limited engagement with established Indigenous filmmakers. The ABC consistently engages with this sector and has the
relationships in place to commission content from them. In addition, the ABC broadcasts across a national terrestrial network with four digital services. Collaboration between NITV and the ABC would thus enable important Indigenous content to be broadcast to a national free-to-air audience.
With additional funding directed to a range of new co-production and co-financing agreements, the ABC believes it is possible to increase the amount of content available on both broadcasters. Such agreements could be founded on the basis of a formal arrangement setting out terms of trade between the ABC and NITV.
Increasing Indigenous Content on ABC Channels
The ABC estimates that if additional funding were made available, it could provide national audiences with a more comprehensive range of Indigenous television content by leveraging its existing range of content to expand its Indigenous Television Department.
Through its existing program development, commissioning and acquisition processes the ABC would promote Indigenous culture and focus on issues of importance to Indigenous communities. Over time, as new content was created and acquired, a critical mass of Indigenous content would be developed which would allow the presentation of discrete blocks of Indigenous programming. Strategically positioned, presented and promoted, these blocks would form the basis of a consolidated and discrete Indigenous offering which would be available to all Australians.
Content Proposition Overview
ABC Television has made a commitment to position Indigenous content at the heart operations and schedules. Through its newly-created Indigenous Department, ABC Television has begun to commission and acquire content from the Indigenous filmmaking sector in the areas of drama and documentary. This work is strengthening the foundation for more diverse Indigenous content across all ABC channels and platforms. The goal is to build television program-making skills within the Indigenous filmmaking sector which will lead to diverse and cutting-edge programming. Experience has shown that the majority of
Indigenous filmmakers are unique in that they generally work across both documentary and drama. This cross-fertilisation increases the level of storytelling, as one genre informs the other. With increased funding this work will expand even further.
The initial priority for the expansion of Indigenous content is the development and
commissioning of prime-time programs for ABC 1 from the independent Indigenous sector.
A focused expansion is also proposed into less expensive but more creative programs for ABC2, in particular, comedy and entertainment programs. ABC3 is also proposing to increase its focus on Indigenous content.
Since setting up its Indigenous Department, the ABC has received a range of content proposals such as children’s drama series, children’s educational series, cooking shows, documentaries, adult drama series, sports shows, documentary series and narrative comedy series. The variety of proposals submitted indicates that there is a strong interest from the Indigenous filmmaking sector to expand into the arts and entertainment, sport, and factual programming areas. Indigenous filmmakers want to create these types of programs for a national audience. However, there is limited funding in this area to meet this need.
If increased funding were available, some examples of the programming ideas are as follows:
Drama—Significant resources have been allocated by Screen Australia and the ABC in recent years to the production of both Indigenous short films and feature films, however, there has been no focus on television drama. As part of its last triennial funding agreement, the ABC received a significant increase in drama funding and some of these new funds have been allocated for the commissioning of primetime Indigenous drama.
Additional funding could increase the volume and diversity of Indigenous drama as well as allow for the commissioning of a range of comedy material. This programming could play at prime-time but could be tested on ABC2. The aim would be to use high profile actors
alongside newer actors, cultivating new Indigenous talent.
Documentary—Documentary production allows filmmakers to provide a window into the lives of Indigenous people for the wider Australian population. With additional funding for documentaries, the ABC could commission more high-end documentaries including
documentary series. It would also engage more with remote and rural media organisations to represent their communities on a national level.
News and Current Affairs—The ABC could tap into the already extensive network of Indigenous radio stations and media organisations to work in tandem with the ABC’s national resources to produce a weekly news show and nightly updates from around the country. This could increase to a more in-depth Program that explores issues, similar to 4 corners. Programming could also extend to short grass roots community news inserts to broadcast across all channels and the Indigenous Portal.
Factual/Entertainment/Arts—To date, the potential of the factual/ arts/ entertainment area has remained untapped. The ABC could commission content that demonstrates the
enormous wealth in Indigenous arts and music. Talk, panel and variety shows from an Indigenous perspective could also be developed.
Children’s—Early childhood learning is a key to longitudinal school attendance. Pre-school programming is one way the ABC could increase early childhood learning and engagement with school curriculum. As the national broadcaster, the Corporation could develop
programming that directly targets pre-schoolers and their carers, perhaps similar to Play School. This would be of high value, particularly in communities where there are no pre- schools to attend or where there is less engagement with pre-schools due to lack of places and cost. This programming could incorporate language and culture from a variety of communities and would be in addition to the programming on ABC3 and ABC for Kids.
Sport—Sport is an enormous part of life in Indigenous communities wherever they are. It is also a potential career path for young men and women outside of their own communities and where there are a huge number of active Indigenous role models.
With additional funding, the ABC could expand its coverage of Indigenous sport. The ABC already covers the TIWI Cup live each year. There are also plans to cover the annual All Stars vs the AFL game and the possibility of an Indigenous sporting show that would provide coverage with humour and a range of high-profile and entertaining guests.
Language—Language is fundamental to maintaining Indigenous cultures. This is being expressed by many communities through programs designed to maintain and revive their languages. The ABC would develop partnerships with these communities and with the national body FATSIL to create television programs based around the use of Indigenous languages and designed to provide teaching tools for languages to schools and the broader educational sector. These programs could be targeted to early childhood, primary and secondary schools, similar to BTN.
User-Generated Content—The ABC’s Indigenous Portal is an online platform for people interested in Indigenous television, news and content.
The ABC has plans to increase user-generated content from Indigenous communities via several new initiatives. This work could be further expanded to give an outlet to
communities already creating content and a means for communities to express themselves and their culture. These community stories would give the Indigenous Portal a truly national presence, as well as present to the wider Australian public the Indigenous peoples’ concerns and lives.
Working with remote communities—The ABC is committed to more diversity of Indigenous programming from remote and rural areas. A key driver in achieving this diversity of programming is to engage and partner with communities via the Remote Indigenous Media Organisations (RIMOs) around Australia in urban, regional and remote locations.
Opportunities exist in specific communities to meet the aspirations of people who want to work in television and online. For the ABC, this offers the opportunity to be truly national in its Indigenous programming. The opportunities and benefits are many and include:
communities being the creative drivers of the work and in control of the way they are portrayed on screen; increased economic activity within these communities; and
employment, training and business development outcomes. There is already a wealth of knowledge in these communities in radio and video production and there is an opportunity to equip people with the skills required to move into television and online production.
A key benefit of working with these communities is the potential to build content and programs around Indigenous languages. The development of language programs should be seen as a priority. Video production already plays a large part in cultural and language maintenance and there is significant potential for a more focused, national and better resourced approach built around a national television service. Partnerships with local
communities and RIMOs have the potential to enhance work that is already being done and to give this work an outlet on the national broadcaster.
The ABC is presently developing an initiative to trial through its Indigenous Portal. This initiative will involve a partnership between ABC Television and the RIMOs to generate content for the portal that reflects Indigenous communities across Australia. This initiative will provide training, expertise and guidance where needed.
The ABC is confident it can negotiate partnerships with communities and RIMOs in a truly collaborative way with benefits for all involved.
Carriage
An Indigenous Channel Block on ABC3
One of the particular issues for Indigenous television broadcasting is the lack of spectrum for national transmission of services. NITV is currently unavailable to the majority of the
Australian population, as it is broadcast via satellite, terrestrial retransmission in parts of remote Australia and pay-TV platforms. Between October 2008 and April 2010, it was available to Sydney households with a digital terrestrial television receiver as part of the datacasting trial on LCN 40.
The ABC currently operates four digital multichannel services. In terms of spectrum, it does not have the capacity to carry an additional channel. Further, it would be difficult for the ABC to accommodate a significant increase in Indigenous programming within its existing channels without significantly reorganising established schedules to the disadvantage of other sections of its audience. However, there is scope to make more use of the capacity available on ABC3, which is a dedicated children’s service and currently broadcasts from 6am to 9pm.
Were the ABC able to generate and commission higher levels of Indigenous content, it would be possible to broadcast that content nationally as a designated Indigenous programming
―block‖ after 9pm on ABC3. It would also be possible for the ABC to develop a block of informational and educationally focussed material specifically targeted for Indigenous audiences during weekday mornings on ABC1.
In addition, to expand the availability of the programs, the ABC would seek to secure the necessary rights to allow such content to be carried as an on-demand video stream on ABC iView.
Dedicated ABC Indigenous Multichannel
The spectrum ―restack‖ that will be required to clear of television services from 126 MHz at the top of the UHF broadcasting bands is being planned on the assumption of six digital
television multiplexes in each licence area. As the ABC argued in its response to the Government’s Digital Dividend Green Paper, the sixth channel—usually referred to as
―Channel A‖—should be used to deliver a national, public television multiplex would provide Australians with a social dividend as well as an economic dividend from digital switchover.
If the Indigenous media sector and the Government were interested in pursuing alternative options for a dedicated Indigenous digital channel, then Channel A spectrum appears to be the most likely place to carry such a service.
Currently, Channel A spectrum has been allocated in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane for the provision of digital community television until the end of 2012. Those services are delivered using low-powered transmitters with significant forward-error correction that effectively eliminates several of the central advantages of digital television—offering some combination of more channels and higher-resolution content than analog broadcasts.
The ABC believes that a more effective use of this spectrum would be if it was used for high- powered transmissions of a digital multiplex capable of carrying four standard-definition digital television services. As it indicated in its Green Paper submission, the Corporation believes it is well-placed to manage that multiplex, providing carriage to community
television services. Through its state of the art new MediaHub complex, the ABC has already demonstrated its ability to run a four-channel multiplex. An ABC-managed Channel A multiplex could, if funded properly, provide a natural home for NITV.
In addition, such a multiplex could carry ABC New 24 in a standard-definition format and potentially support new initiatives such as an educational service delivering resource materials to support the national curriculum and teacher professional development as has been proposed separately by the ABC.
Alternatively, the ABC could leverage its existing Indigenous content output, along with content created out of new funding, and its television broadcasting infrastructure to offer a dedicated and discrete Indigenous television service.
As detailed above, ABC Television could significantly increase its output of Indigenous produced and targeted content with appropriate funding. The ABC would be open to discussing the option of developing a new ABC Television Indigenous service to be carried on Channel A into metropolitan markets and more widely on ABC3 after 9pm, on ABC1 during weekday mornings and via satellite if the Indigenous media sector and Government wished to examine in more detail such an option.
Conclusion
The ABC believes that this review provides a valuable opportunity to develop a long-term
technological change that is creating both opportunities and challenges. The roll-out of high- speed broadband and the growth of mobile information devices are opening up new ways of creating content and reaching audiences. Digital radio, which expands the number of
channels that can be broadcast in available spectrum, has the same potential.
Digital television has introduced free-to-air multichannels that provide Australian audiences with an increasing diversity of content. Indigenous television should have a place in
Australian media. Therefore, it should also have a place in the digital environment.
If it is intended to provide a digital future for Indigenous television, channel space will be required and this channel space must be allocated before the spectrum plans for the digital dividend are completed.
The ABC believes that it is desirable to develop a coherent, overarching strategy on Indigenous media. This will need to address not only the significant issue of carriage, but also the nature and funding of Indigenous content and attendant social-policy objectives, including issues of Indigenous employment and training in the media sector.
The ABC is willing to play a role in the creation and realisation of such a strategy. The Corporation would be pleased to work with the government and the Indigenous media community to help create a sustainable, long-term broadcasting and media solution in the best interests of Indigenous Australians.
