ACMA consider 2Day sanctions

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has today published the report of its investigation into the prank call broadcast in 2012 on 2Day FM Sydney.

The ACMA has found the following:

• 2Day breached clause 6.1 of the Commercial Radio Australia Codes of Practice and Guidelines 2011 which prohibits the broadcast of statements by identifiable persons without their consent.

• 2Day breached clause 9.1 of the Code, which prohibits participants in live-hosted entertainment programs from being treated in a highly demeaning or highly exploitative manner; and

• 2Day breached the condition of its licence which prohibits the use of a broadcasting service in the commission of an offence.

The final breach was based on ACMA’s opinion that the licensee had recorded and subsequently broadcast a private conversation without the consent of the parties to that conversation, which are offences under sections 7 and 11 of the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW)).

The report goes on to state that 2Day did not breach:

• clauses 1.3, 2.1(d) and 2.3(d) of the Code, which contain certain decency and privacy obligations; or

• the additional licence condition imposed on 2Day’s commercial radio broadcasting licence by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on 8 October 2012 (which followed a finding by the ACMA that Today FM had breached clause 1.3(a) of the Code concerning generally accepted standards of decency in a broadcast of the Kyle & Jackie O Breakfast Show that included comments about a female journalist).

ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman said:

“This is a case where the licensee has breached an important community safeguard. The community rightly expects that broadcasters will not record and broadcast these sorts of private conversations when consent has not been given.’

The ACMA will now move formally consider what sanctions they will look to apply to 2Day.