{"id":"F2024L01188","name":"Broadcasting Services (Regional Commercial Radio – Local Presence) Licence Condition 2024","slug":"broadcasting-services-regional-commercial-radio-local-presence-licence-condition-2024","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":105373,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2024L01188-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Broadcasting Services (Regional Commercial Radio – Local Presence) Licence Condition 2024","content":"![Commonwealth of Australia coat of arms](image.001.png)\n\nBroadcasting Services (Regional Commercial Radio – Local Presence) Licence Condition 2024\n\nThe Australian Communications and Media Authority makes this condition under subsection 43(1) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.\n\nDated: 19 September 2024\n\nCreina Chapman  \n\\[signed\\[\\]  \nMember\n\n  \nAutumn Field  \n\\[signed\\]  \nMember/General Manager\n\nAustralian Communications and Media Authority\n\n  \n\nPART 1 PRELIMINARY\n\n1 Name of Instrument\n\nThis instrument is the Broadcasting Services (Regional Commercial Radio – Local Presence) Licence Condition 2024.\n\n2 Commencement\n\nThis instrument commences at the start of the day after the day it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.\n\nNote: The Federal Register of Legislation may be accessed free of charge at www.legislation.gov.au\n\n3 Authority\n\nThis instrument is made under subsection 43(1) of the Act.\n\n4 Repeal of the Broadcasting Services (Regional Commercial Radio – Local Presence) Licence Condition 2014\n\nThe Broadcasting Services (Regional Commercial Radio – Local Presence) Licence Condition 2014 (F2014L01264) is repealed.\n\n5 Purpose and Application\n\n(1) For subsection 43(1) of the Act:\n\n1.  the purpose of this instrument is, pursuant to subsection 43B(1A) of the Act, to impose additional conditions on a relevant regional commercial radio broadcasting licence; and\n2.  those conditions create obligations on the person who holds the licence.\n\n(2) This instrument does not apply to a regional commercial radio broadcasting licence that is:\n\n1.  a remote area service radio licence;\n2.  a regional racing service radio licence; or\n3.  a licence allocated under subsection 40(1) of the Act.\n\nPART 2 TERMS USED IN THIS INSTRUMENT\n\n6 Definitions\n\nIn this instrument:\n\nAct means the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.\n\nbroadcast hours means the actual hours broadcast in the licence area in relation to the licence.\n\nformer licensee means a person who holds a relevant regional commercial radio broadcasting licence immediately prior to a trigger event occurring for that licence.\n\nlicensee means a person who holds a relevant regional commercial radio broadcasting licence after a trigger event has occurred for that licence.\n\nrelevant period means the period beginning on the date a trigger event for the licence occurs and ending 24 months later.\n\nrelevant regional commercial radio broadcasting licence means a regional commercial radio broadcasting licence other than a remote area service radio licence, a regional racing service radio licence or a licence allocated under subsection 40(1) of the Act.\n\nstaff includes individuals engaged as independent contractors.\n\nstaffing levels means any one of the following:\n\n1.  the number of full-time equivalent staff employed; or\n2.  the number of total staff hours worked; or\n3.  the expenditure on staff.\n\nstudios and other production facilities means any on-air studios or production booths that are used to compile commercial radio programs, but does not include equipment used for such purposes.\n\nNote: The following terms used in this instrument are defined in the Act and have the same meaning as in that Act: the ACMA, regional commercial radio broadcasting licence, licence, licence area, regional racing service radio licence \\[see section 8AF\\], remote area service radio licence, trigger event \\[see Division 5C of Part 5\\].\n\n7 Definition of existing level of local presence\n\n(1) In this instrument, existing level of local presence means:\n\n1.  the staffing levels determined by subsection (2); and\n2.  the use of the studios and other production facilities determined by subsection (3).\n\n(2) For paragraph (1)(a), staffing levels are determined by calculating the average monthly staffing levels in the licence area of the former licensee in relation to the licence over the three-month period ending on the Saturday before the day on which the trigger event occurred.\n\n(3) For paragraph (1)(b), the use of studios and other production facilities is determined by calculating the number of average monthly broadcast hours produced by the former licensee using studios and other production facilities in the licence area. The number of average monthly broadcast hours produced is to be calculated over the three-month period ending on the Saturday before the day on which the trigger event occurred.\n\nPART 3 LICENCE CONDITIONS\n\n8 Licensee must maintain existing level of local presence after trigger event\n\nA licensee must maintain at least the existing level of local presence in the licence area in relation to the licence throughout the relevant period.\n\n9 Reporting to the ACMA\n\nReporting after a trigger event\n\n    A licensee must, within 3 months after the day on which a trigger event for the licence occurs, give the ACMA a report in writing on the existing level of local presence in relation to the licence.\n\nReporting at end of relevant period\n\n    A licensee must, within 3 months after the end of a relevant period, give the ACMA a report about the licensee’s compliance with section 8 during that relevant period.\n\nPART 4 MEASURING COMPLIANCE\n\n10 Measuring compliance with section 8\n\n(1) For staffing levels, the existing level of local presence is maintained if, at the conclusion of each relevant period, there has been no material reduction in the average monthly staffing levels in the licence area in relation to the licence for that relevant period or part thereof, compared with the staffing levels determined by subsection 7(2) in respect of one of (a), (b) or (c) of the definition of staffing levels in section 6.\n\nNote: For the avoidance of doubt, the comparison made for the purposes of this subsection must compare only one of (a), (b), or (c) of the definition of staffing levels in section 6 with the corresponding measure determined by subsection 7(2). For example, the number of average monthly staff hours worked over the relevant period must be compared with the number of average monthly staff hours worked in the licence area of the former licensee in relation to the licence over the three-month period ending on the Saturday before the day on which the trigger event occurred.\n\n1.  For studios and other production facilities, the existing level of local presence is maintained if, at the conclusion of each relevant period, there has been no material reduction in the number of average monthly broadcast hours produced during that relevant period or part thereof, using studios and other production facilities in the licence area, when compared with the number of average monthly broadcast hours produced using studios and other production facilities determined by subsection 7(3).\n\nNote: For subsection (2), the studios and other production facilities used do not necessarily have to be the studios and production facilities of the former licensee, but they must be located in the licence area. Licensees should note that if they share studios or other production facilities with other persons holding a regional commercial radio broadcasting licence, this fact may be relevant in determining whether a person is in a position to exercise control of 2 or more licences \\[see clause 2(5)(a) of Schedule 1 to the Act\\].","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument repeals the 2014 licence condition (s4) and replaces it with a framework that specifies a three‑month pre‑trigger baseline, three alternative staffing metrics, a 24‑month maintenance window, and explicit reporting deadlines (ss7–10). It therefore changes the regulatory mechanics and measurement rules that determine which activities count as maintaining 'local presence' and how compliance is assessed."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple defined measurement options for 'staffing levels' (full‑time equivalent, total staff hours, or staff expenditure) allow licensee selection of the comparator metric (s6 definition; s10(1) note).","Baseline is a specific three‑month pre‑trigger average, requiring historical data capture and precise date calculations (s7(2)–(3)).","Obligation is to avoid a 'material reduction' but that term is not quantitatively defined in the instrument, leaving room for interpretive disputes and ACMA assessment (s10(1)–(2)).","Temporal scope is a fixed 24‑month 'relevant period' after the trigger event, tying short‑term operational choices to a statutory window (s6 definition; s7(1)).","Studios and production hours must be local to the licence area but need not be the former licensee’s facilities, affecting options for shared services and possible control questions under the Act (s6 definition; s10(2) note).","Reporting deadlines are tight (reports within 3 months after trigger and after the relevant period), creating administrative compliance requirements (s9).","Several exclusions narrow application (remote area services, racing services, licences allocated under s40(1)), so scope determination requires legal classification of licences (s5(2))."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument requires most regional commercial radio licensees to maintain their pre‑sale or pre‑transfer local presence — measured by staffing, studio use and local production hours — for 24 months after a defined “trigger event”, and to report to the ACMA on baseline levels and compliance. It applies to regional commercial radio licences except remote area, racing service and certain allocated licences; affected licensees bear the cost and operational burden of preserving staff levels, local studios and production output and must use a three‑month pre‑trigger baseline (see ss5,7–10)."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument replaces the 2014 version with the same core purpose: maintaining local presence after ownership changes. The scope remains tightly focused on regional commercial radio licence conditions following trigger events, with identical exemptions and the same 24-month relevant period."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple defined terms (12+ definitions including nested concepts like 'staffing levels' having 3 sub-options)","Cross-references to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 for key concepts like 'trigger event' and licence types","Averaging calculations required over specific 3-month baseline periods and 24-month compliance periods","Conditional logic: exemptions for 3 specific licence types (remote area, racing, and subsection 40(1) licences)","Dual reporting obligations with specific 3-month deadlines","Comparative measurement requirements (comparing post-trigger metrics against pre-trigger baseline)","Note regarding shared studios creating potential control issues under Schedule 1 of the Act"],"plain_english_summary":"New owners of regional commercial radio licences must keep local staffing levels and locally produced programming at roughly the same level for two years after a change of ownership, and must report to the ACMA soon after takeover and again at the end of that period. The rule protects regional communities from post-sale cuts that replace local content with centralized or generic programming."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/broadcasting-services-regional-commercial-radio-local-presence-licence-condition-2024","history":"/api/acts/broadcasting-services-regional-commercial-radio-local-presence-licence-condition-2024/history","analysis":"/api/acts/broadcasting-services-regional-commercial-radio-local-presence-licence-condition-2024/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/broadcasting-services-regional-commercial-radio-local-presence-licence-condition-2024/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/broadcasting-services-regional-commercial-radio-local-presence-licence-condition-2024/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/broadcasting-services-regional-commercial-radio-local-presence-licence-condition-2024/documents"}}