TV services in remote Australia set for funding upgrade

The decrepit broadcasting network across remote and regional Australia will receive a funding upgrade in next month’s federal budget.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland: ‘While there are no simple solutions or “one size fits all” approach, a co-ordinated and holistic approach is required.’ Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The decrepit broadcasting network across remote and regional Australia will receive a funding upgrade in next month’s federal budget, with the need to fix the run-down services deemed to be a priority in the lead-up to the referendum on the proposed Indigenous voice to parliament.

A recent study by RMIT found that up to 80 per cent of Indigenous households across all states and territories (excluding Western Australia) have no working free television service due to damaged cabling, broken satellite dishes and defunct set-top boxes, and cannot access free-to-air TV, including the wholly Aboriginal-owned Imparja Television.

In some areas, broadcasting services have been in a state of disrepair for more than a decade, and the limited government funding provided has not adequately addressed the extent of the problem.

The issue is especially stark in remote Indigenous communities.

Local leaders complain that they are being kept “out of the loop” on the national debate over the voice to parliament, for example.

Imparja chief executive Alistair Feehan told The Australian last month that it was a “bitter irony that the very people the voice is designed to assist won’t have a clue what’s going on in Canberra”.

“This is a very basic service other Australians take for granted,” she said.

“While successive past governments have recognised Imparja’s perilous financial position, they have only offered morsels.

“We are now at crisis point. This is crunch time.”

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland recently met with industry stakeholders about the communications crisis, including the challenges and deficiencies in service provision in Indigenous communities.

It is understood significant funding measures to repair the broken broadcasting network will be announced in next month’s federal budget.

“At the recent meeting of the Future of Broadcasting Working Group, I acknowledged the significant structural challenges affecting the provision of broadcasting services in remote and regional Australia,” Ms Rowland told The Australian.

“While there are no simple solutions or ‘one size fits all’ approach, a co-ordinated and holistic approach is required.

“Work is now being progressed, through the working group, to map and prioritise what needs to be done, and to assess the technical solutions that are best suited to the circumstances in particular cities, towns and communities.”