FRENCH CJ, HAYNE, KIEFEL, BELL AND KEANE JJ. The Australian Communications and Media Authority ("the Authority") is established by the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 (Cth) ("the ACMA Act"). The Authority is charged with regulating broadcasting services in accordance with the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth) ("the BSA"). Providers of commercial radio broadcasting services in Australia must hold a licence under the BSA. Clause 8(1)(g) of Sched 2 to the BSA imposes a condition ("the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition") that a commercial radio broadcasting licensee will not use the broadcasting service in the commission of an offence against another Commonwealth Act or a law of a State or Territory ("a relevant offence").
The issue in the appeal is whether the Authority is precluded from finding that a licensee has breached the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition and from taking any enforcement action arising out of the breach until a court exercising criminal jurisdiction finds the commission of the relevant offence proven. If there is no such preclusion, a second issue is whether the provisions of the BSA empowering the Authority to determine that a licensee has used the broadcasting service in the commission of a relevant offence, and to take consequential enforcement action, are an invalid attempt to confer the judicial power of the Commonwealth on the Authority.
The legislative scheme
The Authority is charged with responsibility for monitoring the broadcasting industry in order to achieve the objects of the BSA in a way that is consistent with the regulatory policy set out in s 4 of the BSA. Relevantly, s 4(2) of the BSA provides:
"The Parliament also intends that broadcasting services ... be regulated in a manner that, in the opinion of the [Authority]:
(a) enables public interest considerations to be addressed in a way that does not impose unnecessary financial and administrative burdens on providers of broadcasting services ..."
The objects of the BSA include providing a regulatory environment that facilitates the development of a broadcasting industry in Australia that is efficient, competitive and responsive to audience needs. Other objects are the promotion of high quality and innovative programming, and the encouragement of broadcasting services providers to be responsive to the need for fair and accurate coverage of matters of public interest and to respect community standards in the provision of program material.
In the balance of these reasons, references to legislative provisions unless otherwise stated are references to the BSA.
Licences
Commercial broadcasting services are broadcasting services that are made available to the general public for free and which generally are funded by advertising revenue. Commercial radio broadcasting licences are subject to the conditions set out in cl 8 of Sched 2 to the BSA and to such other conditions as may be imposed by the Authority. Fourteen conditions are set out in cl 8(1). They include:
"(a) the licensee will not, in contravention of the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992, broadcast a tobacco advertisement within the meaning of that Act;
(b) the licensee will comply with program standards applicable to the licence under Part 9 of this Act;
…
(g) the licensee will not use the broadcasting service or services in the commission of an offence against another Act or a law of a State or Territory".
The Authority's functions include the allocation, renewal, suspension and cancellation of licences and taking enforcement action under the BSA; assisting broadcasting services providers to develop codes of practice that accord with community standards; monitoring compliance with those codes of practice; developing program standards; monitoring compliance with those standards; and monitoring and investigating complaints concerning broadcasting services.
If the Authority is satisfied that allowing a company to provide, or to continue to provide, commercial broadcasting services would lead to a significant risk of the commission of an offence against the BSA or regulations made under the BSA ("the regulations"), the breach of a civil penalty provision or breach of the conditions of the company's commercial broadcasting licence, it may decide that a company is not a suitable licensee (or that it is not a suitable applicant for a licence).
The Authority is to exercise the powers conferred on it under the BSA in a manner that in its opinion will deal effectively with breaches of the rules established by that Act. In these respects, the Authority may act on its own motion, or in response to a direction made by the Minister or a complaint made by a member of the public. Any person may complain to the Authority if the person believes that the provider of a broadcasting service has committed an offence against the BSA or the regulations, or breached a civil penalty provision or the condition of a licence. In such a case, the Authority was required to investigate the complaint and notify the complainant of the results of its investigation.
Investigations
The Authority may conduct investigations for the purposes of its broadcasting functions and related powers. It may summon a person to appear before it and examine the person on oath or affirmation. It may require the person to answer questions. The examination must take place in private. The Authority may, but is not required to, save in the case of an investigation conducted at the direction of the Minister, prepare a report on an investigation. Again, save in the case of an investigation directed by the Minister, the Authority may choose whether or not to publish its report on an investigation.
Enforcement of licence conditions
Breach of a condition of a commercial radio broadcasting licence is subject to a range of enforcement mechanisms. The breach may be prosecuted as a criminal offence under s 139(3), or made the subject of a civil penalty order under s 140A(3) or administrative action. Administrative action may take the form of a remedial direction issued under s 141(1) or the suspension or cancellation of the licence under s 143(1). Failure to comply with a requirement of a remedial notice issued under s 141 is itself an offence and subject to a civil penalty order. The selection of the appropriate enforcement mechanism, if any, to apply to breach of a condition of a commercial broadcasting licence is largely at the discretion of the Authority. Only the Authority may apply for a civil penalty order. The Authority is required to use its powers in dealing with breaches of the BSA or the regulations in a manner that in its opinion is commensurate with the seriousness of the breach. The Authority's decision to suspend or cancel a licence is subject to merits review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal ("the AAT").
The factual background
Today FM (Sydney) Pty Ltd ("Today FM") holds a commercial radio broadcasting licence. On 4 December 2012, Today FM recorded a telephone call between two presenters of its "Summer 30" program and two members of the staff of the King Edward VII Hospital in London, at which the Duchess of Cambridge was an in-patient. The presenters represented that they were Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles and they inquired about the Duchess. One of the staff, apparently accepting the callers as genuine, provided some information about the Duchess' condition. The recording was broadcast during the "Summer 30" program some hours later and re-broadcast the following day.
The Authority initiated an investigation into the broadcast. It invited Today FM to make submissions directed to whether, among other things, it had breached the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition by the commission of the offence in s 11(1) of the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW) ("the SDA"). Today FM acknowledged that, before the segment was broadcast, it had not obtained the consent of either of the hospital staff to the recording, but it did not accept that it had committed any offence.
The Authority prepared a preliminary investigation report, which contained the following "preliminary finding":
"The [Authority] is of the view that the licensee, in broadcasting the recording of the private conversation (which was made in contravention of subsection 7(1) of the SDA), has contravened subsection 11(1) of the SDA. Furthermore, because the licensee has used its broadcasting service in the commission of an offence under subsection 11 of the SDA, the licensee has breached a condition of its licence as set out in paragraph 8(1)(g) of Schedule 2 to the BSA."
On 4 June 2013, the Authority provided Today FM with a copy of the preliminary investigation report.
The proceedings before the primary judge
On 18 June 2013, Today FM commenced proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia (Edmonds J) seeking declaratory relief arising out of the Authority's investigation and the preliminary investigation report. Today FM contended that the Authority was not authorised to find that it had breached the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition unless and until a competent court adjudicated that it had committed the SDA offence. In the alternative, Today FM contended that, if the ACMA Act and the BSA authorised the Authority to find that it had breached the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition, the empowering provisions are an invalid purported conferral of judicial power on the Authority. Orders were sought to permanently restrain the Authority from making any determination that Today FM has committed any criminal offence and from the preparation of any report purporting to determine, or express any opinion, that Today FM used its broadcasting service in the commission of an offence under the SDA.
Edmonds J dismissed Today FM's application. His Honour reasoned that, in determining that a licensee has breached the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition, the Authority is not making a judgment of the licensee's criminal guilt; rather, the product of its investigation is no more or less than its conclusion as an administrative body of an issue relevant to the determination of the breach of the licence condition.
Today FM's constitutional challenge identified ss 10 and 12 of the ACMA Act, ss 5, 170 and 178 of the BSA and cl 8(1)(g) as impermissibly conferring judicial power on the Authority. Edmonds J rejected this characterisation, taking into account that the Authority's broad regulatory functions are to be discharged in accordance with the objects of the BSA; that it may act on its own motion in conducting an investigation; that the investigation is non-adversarial and has as its purpose uncovering facts and circumstances that may support action under the BSA; and that the determination did not involve the resolution of a legal controversy between it and Today FM.
The appeal to the Full Court
Today FM appealed to the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia (Allsop CJ, Robertson and Griffiths JJ). Before the hearing of the appeal, the Authority notified Today FM that it had finalised its investigation and had determined that Today FM had breached the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition. The Authority advised that it would "consider the compliance issues raised by the investigation, as well as any other appropriate remedial measures, in due course". The final investigation report contained the same findings with respect to breach of the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition as in the preliminary investigation report.
The Full Court rejected the primary judge's construction of cl 8(1)(g), holding that, absent clear language, the legislature is not to be taken to have intended to confer upon the Authority the power to make an administrative determination or finding of the commission of a criminal offence.
In light of its conclusion, it was unnecessary for the Full Court to address Today FM's constitutional challenge. The appeal was allowed, the orders made by Edmonds J were set aside and, in their place, the Full Court set aside the Authority's determination.
Special leave to appeal
On 15 August 2014, French CJ and Keane J granted the Authority special leave to appeal. The appeal is brought on three grounds. The first ground asserts that the Full Court erred in construing cl 8(1)(g) as requiring, for the purposes of enforcement action under s 141 or s 143, that the Authority may only find that a relevant offence has been committed upon a conviction by a criminal court (or a finding by a criminal court that the offence is proved). The second ground asserts that the Full Court erred in construing cl 8(1)(g) as requiring the Authority to defer administrative enforcement action until after (if at all) the conclusion of the criminal process and in holding the Authority bound by the outcome of that process. The third ground asserts that the Full Court erred in construing the expression "commission of an offence" in cl 8(1)(g) as extending to the commission of offences by persons other than the commercial radio broadcasting licensee.
By notice of contention, Today FM seeks to have the Full Court's decision affirmed on the strength of its constitutional challenge.
For the reasons to be given, the Authority's appeal should be allowed on its first and second grounds and Today FM's constitutional challenge rejected.
The Full Court's statement of general principle
The Attorneys-General of the Commonwealth and for the States of South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland intervene in support of the Authority respecting the resolution of the constitutional issue. Their submissions overlap with the parties' submissions on the construction issue. The overlap is explained by the Full Court's embrace of an interpretative approach sourced in constitutional principle.
The starting point in the Full Court's analysis was the statement in the joint reasons in Chu Kheng Lim v Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs of the exclusively judicial character of the adjudgment and punishment of criminal guilt under Commonwealth law. The Full Court took from Lim a wider general principle:
"As a matter of general principle it is not normally to be expected that an administrative body such as the [Authority] will determine whether or not particular conduct constitutes the commission of a relevant offence. It may be open to the legislature, subject to relevant constitutional constraints, to make clear that such a body is empowered to undertake that or a similar task. But under our legal system the determination of whether or not a person has committed a criminal offence can generally only be determined by a court exercising criminal jurisdiction."
This "general principle" informed the Full Court's construction of the provision. The Full Court said:
"The text of cl 8(1)(g) does not state that the [Authority] is to form an opinion on whether or not a relevant offence has been committed, let alone an opinion which is based on the balance of probabilities and not the normal criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt. We see no warrant for reading those words into the text". (emphasis added)
It will be recalled that cl 8(1)(g) conditions the licence on the licensee not using the broadcasting service in "the commission of an offence". The Full Court considered that the ordinary meaning of this phrase connotes that "a court exercising criminal jurisdiction has found that an offence has been committed". The Full Court said the phrase has this connotation because, conformably with the statement in the joint reasons in Lim, "that matter is one for determination only by a criminal court".
The Full Court considered that the weight of contextual matters favoured a narrower construction of cl 8(1)(g) than the construction adopted by the primary judge. The Full Court referred to s 178(2), which provides that, if the Authority's report on an investigation relates to conduct that could constitute an offence under the BSA or another law of the Commonwealth, the Authority may give a copy of the report to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Full Court said that s 178(2) evinces the "plain object" of involving the Director of Public Prosecutions in deciding whether to commence a prosecution, as distinct from "simply leav[ing] the matter in the hands of the [Authority]". The Full Court also referred to s 179(3), which provides that the Authority is not required to publish a report (or part of a report) if the publication would be likely to prejudice the fair trial of a person. The Full Court said that s 179(3) demonstrates an "overarching concern to preserve the due administration of the criminal justice system" and is against a conclusion that the Authority "would make any findings itself on criminal liability".
In the Full Court's view, it is unlikely that the legislature intended to empower the Authority to make findings that a licensee has committed an offence against any State or Territory law. The Full Court considered the unlikelihood of that intention to be "all the more stark" when it is appreciated that the Authority might make an administrative finding that a person other than the licensee has committed an offence. The Full Court also considered it incongruous that the Authority might determine that a licensee has breached cl 8(1)(g), and cancel the broadcasting service licence, in circumstances in which the licensee may be subsequently acquitted of the relevant offence.
These matters were said to underline the unlikelihood, in the absence of clear language, that the legislature intended to confer power on the Authority to make an administrative determination or finding that a licensee has committed a criminal offence. The Full Court considered that its approach accorded with the statements made by this Court in Balog v Independent Commission Against Corruption.
The "general principle"
The Authority submits, correctly, that the "general principle" stated by the Full Court and set out at [26] above is expressed too widely and does not follow from the constitutional constraint stated in the joint reasons in Lim on the adjudgment and punishment of criminal guilt under Commonwealth law. Not uncommonly, courts exercising civil jurisdiction are required to determine facts which establish that a person has committed a crime. Satisfaction in such a case is upon the balance of probability. In Helton v Allen, Mr Helton's acquittal of the murder of the testatrix was no bar, on the trial of the civil suit arising out of the will, to the finding that he had unlawfully killed her.
More generally, and contrary to the "normal expectation" stated by the Full Court, it is not offensive to principle that an administrative body is empowered to determine whether a person has engaged in conduct that constitutes a criminal offence as a step in the decision to take disciplinary or other action. The decisions of this Court in Attorney-General (Cth) v Alinta Ltd and Albarran v Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board accept so much. There is no reason to suppose that a Commonwealth public housing authority might lack the capacity to terminate a lease on the ground of the tenant's use of the premises for an unlawful purpose notwithstanding that the tenant has not been convicted of an offence arising out of that unlawful use.
It was an error to construe cl 8(1)(g) in light of the posited principle that "it is not normally to be expected that an administrative body such as the [Authority] will determine whether or not particular conduct constitutes the commission of a relevant offence".
The construction of cl 8(1)(g) and allied provisions of the BSA
It will be recalled that cl 8(1)(g) states:
"[T]he licensee will not use the broadcasting service or services in the commission of an offence against another Act or a law of a State or Territory".
The prohibition is upon the use of the broadcasting service in the commission of a relevant offence.
Today FM argues that the phrase "the commission of an offence" is ambiguous. As enacted, Today FM submits, the BSA evinced "a very clear distinction" between the words "guilty of [an] offence" and the words "committing [an] offence", the former being used to identify the objective facts constituting a wrong and the latter being used to convey the conclusion (that the offence has been committed) in the opinion of some third party. The submission is strained. The words "guilty of an offence" in the BSA as enacted (and now) are used in offence-creating provisions. As a matter of ordinary English, the phrase "the commission of an offence" is to be distinguished from the phrase "conviction for an offence". The former refers to the fact of the commission of the offence and the latter to the finding of the criminal court. There is no warrant for holding that the words "the commission of an offence" in cl 8(1)(g) convey that the licensee (or other person) has been convicted of an offence (or that a court exercising criminal jurisdiction has found the offence proven).
Today FM supports the Full Court's adoption of a narrow construction of the Authority's power to investigate and report on the breach of the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition having regard to the gravity of a finding of criminal conduct and resulting reputational damage. It submits that it is not to the point to observe that administrative enforcement mechanisms under ss 141 and 143 are not expressed to depend upon conviction. These provisions are engaged by the breach of any of the licence conditions. The condition in cl 8(1)(g) is said to stand apart.
The submission does not address cl 8(1)(a), to which there should be some reference. Clause 8(1)(a) conditions the licence on non-contravention of the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992 (Cth) ("the TAP Act") by the broadcast of a tobacco advertisement. Broadcasting a tobacco advertisement in contravention of the TAP Act is an offence. It follows that conduct in breach of cl 8(1)(a) will also be in breach of cl 8(1)(g). The anomaly may be explained by the legislative history. As enacted, cl 8(1)(a) stated a prohibition on the broadcasting of an advertisement or sponsorship announcement for cigarettes or other tobacco products. The TAP Act amended the BSA by the insertion of cl 8(1)(a) in its present form without apparent advertence to cl 8(1)(g).
Today FM's submission must apply to cl 8(1)(a) as well as cl 8(1)(g). Acceptance of the submission carries with it that the Authority is precluded from taking administrative enforcement action against a commercial radio broadcasting licensee that advertises tobacco products unless and until the licensee is convicted of the offence under the TAP Act.
Today FM's submissions call in aid statements in Balog v Independent Commission Against Corruption. In that case, it was held that New South Wales' Independent Commission Against Corruption ("the ICAC") is not authorised under its statute to include in its report of an investigation a finding that a person was or may have been guilty of a criminal offence or corrupt conduct. Although this construction was arrived at upon application of ordinary principles of interpretation, the Court endorsed recourse to the principle of legality as appropriate in light of the risk of reputational damage and prejudice to any criminal proceedings that might follow publication of a finding of corrupt conduct.
As the Full Court acknowledged, there are significant differences between the functions of the ICAC under its statute and those of the Authority under the ACMA Act and the BSA. The ICAC is primarily an investigative body whose investigations are intended to facilitate action by others in combating corrupt conduct. By contrast, the Authority is charged with the regulation of broadcasting services including by the enforcement of licence conditions. As earlier noted, the mechanism for enforcement of those conditions, including the conditions stated in cl 8(1)(a) and (g), may, depending upon the Authority's opinion of the seriousness of the breach, be by administrative action, application for a civil penalty order or prosecution for the criminal offence. The risk of damage to reputation that may arise in consequence of an adverse finding in the Authority's report of an investigation is addressed under the BSA by ss 179(3) and 180.
As Today FM acknowledges, the meaning of cl 8(1)(g) cannot vary depending on the means selected for its enforcement. In seeking to support the Full Court's construction of the provision, Today FM is driven to the submission that in the case of a prosecution for the offence created by s 139(3), particularised as a breach of the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition, the prosecution must prove the earlier conviction of a person for the relevant offence. So, too, on this analysis would it be necessary to prove the conviction of a person for the relevant offence before the court trying an application under s 140A(3) arising out of the breach of the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition may make a civil penalty order.
Whether a licensee has used the broadcasting service in the commission of a relevant offence is a question of fact. It is a determination that may be made by the Authority as a preliminary step to the taking of administrative enforcement action, or by the court in civil penalty proceedings or in a prosecution for the offence under s 139(3) of the BSA. In each case the question is the same: did the licensee use the broadcasting service in the commission of a relevant offence? It is only in the last-mentioned instance that the determination is made on the criminal standard.
To construe cl 8(1)(g) as conditioning the power of the Authority to determine that the licensee has used the broadcasting service in the commission of an offence, and to take administrative enforcement action, upon a finding by a court exercising criminal jurisdiction that the offence is proven, would significantly confine the Authority's enforcement powers. There is nothing in the text of cl 8(1)(g) to support that confinement. Nor do the objects of the BSA or the contextual matters identified by the Full Court support that confinement.
Section 178(2) allows the Authority to give a copy of its report to the Director of Public Prosecutions in a case in which it becomes aware of conduct that could constitute an offence against Commonwealth law. The provision allows the Authority to give a copy of its report in the case of a use of a broadcasting service in the commission of an offence against Commonwealth law, but the provision's purpose is not confined to the report of an investigation into a breach of the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition. In the course of an investigation, the Authority may become aware of conduct that could constitute an offence against Commonwealth law that does not involve the use of the broadcasting service. Additionally, breach of the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition may involve an offence against State or Territory law, in which case no question of supplying the Director of Public Prosecutions with a copy of the report will arise. The point to be made is that there is no reason to take from s 178(2) a legislative purpose to involve the Director of Public Prosecutions in deciding whether to prosecute for a relevant offence so as not to leave the matter in the hands of the Authority and permit it to form an administrative opinion that a relevant offence has been committed.
Section 179(3) does not provide contextual support for the narrow construction of cl 8(1)(g) and the allied provisions of the BSA adopted by the Full Court. The evident purpose of s 179(3)(b) - to protect the fair trial of a person from prejudice that may flow from the publication of the Authority's report or part of its report - is not confined to investigations into suspected breaches of the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition. Section 179(3) says nothing about the Authority's power to determine that administrative enforcement is appropriate to the seriousness of the breach of any licence condition, including the conditions stated in cl (8)(1)(a) and (g).
The Full Court was right to hold that the express terms of cl 8(1)(g) do not confine the condition to the commission of offences by the licensee. However, this recognition does not support the Full Court's construction of the statutory scheme. It is the Authority's function to monitor and regulate broadcasting services throughout Australia. There is no incongruity in empowering the Authority to take administrative enforcement action against a licensee who uses the broadcasting service in the commission of an offence, whether the offence is against Commonwealth, State or Territory law. Nor is it incongruous that the Authority may suspend or cancel a licence based upon its determination that the broadcasting service has been used in the commission of an offence notwithstanding the licensee's (or a third person's) subsequent acquittal of the offence. The court trying the criminal offence is required to determine guilt upon admissible evidence beyond reasonable doubt.
In determining that a licensee has breached the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition, as a preliminary to taking enforcement action, the Authority is not adjudging and punishing criminal guilt. It is not constrained by the criminal standard of proof and it may take into account material that would not be admitted in the trial of a person charged with the relevant offence. It may find that the broadcasting service has been used in the commission of an offence notwithstanding that there has been no finding by a court exercising criminal jurisdiction that the offence has been proven. Where a person is prosecuted for the relevant offence, the Authority is not bound by the outcome of the criminal proceeding and may come to a contrary view based upon the material and submissions before it.
It follows that the provisions of the BSA which empower the Authority to investigate the breach of a licence condition, report on the investigation and take administrative enforcement action do not require, in the case of the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition, that any such action be deferred until after (if at all) a court exercising criminal jurisdiction has found that the relevant offence is proven.
The judicial power of the Commonwealth
By its Notice of Contention, Today FM asserts that if, upon its proper construction, cl 8(1)(g) authorises the Authority to find that the licensee has breached the condition and to take enforcement action under ss 141 and 143 prior to a competent court finding that the relevant offence has been committed, the provisions of the BSA that purport to authorise that conduct are invalid to that extent because they are inconsistent with the separation of executive and judicial power under the Constitution.
Today FM's constitutional argument in its written submissions was consistent with the way its challenge was advanced before the primary judge. The submissions invoked Kitto J's statement of the attributes of judicial power in R v Trade Practices Tribunal; Ex parte Tasmanian Breweries Pty Ltd:
"[A] judicial power involves, as a general rule, a decision settling for the future, as between defined persons or classes of persons, a question as to the existence of a right or obligation, so that an exercise of the power creates a new charter by reference to which that question is in future to be decided as between those persons or classes of persons."
A number of features of the statutory scheme were relied upon for the conclusion that "the Authority is purporting to exercise judicial power". It was asserted that the Authority has purported to: resolve "a controversy" relating to "pre-existing and fundamental rights", being Today FM's "legal rights and interests in licence 3032"; exercise a discretion by applying legal criteria to facts as found by it; and have the capacity to make consequential decisions with immediate effect depriving Today FM of its "property rights" in the licence. Finally, it was said that the subject-matter on which the Authority has made findings of fact is "quintessentially a subject-matter of the exercise of the judicial power" - the function of adjudicating and punishing criminal guilt.
To date, the Authority has carried out an investigation and prepared a report on the investigation. It has not determined whether it will publish the report or what, if any, enforcement action it will take in light of its findings. The point at which the Authority is said to exercise judicial power was not identified in Today FM's written submissions.
On the hearing of the appeal in this Court, Today FM's constitutional argument was refined. Today FM acknowledges that it is open to an administrative body to form an opinion as to the legal rights of an individual as a step in that body's ultimate determination. It accepts that the formation of such an opinion does not involve the exercise of judicial power. It does not contend that the Authority's finding in its report is a final determination giving rise to any issue estoppel or merger. Rather than characterising that finding and any consequential enforcement action as possessing all or any of the attributes of judicial power within Kitto J's classic statement, Today FM now relies upon the exception his Honour allowed in the concluding passage of his analysis:
"It is right, I think, to conclude from the cases on the subject that a power which does not involve such a process and lead to such an end needs to possess some special compelling feature if its inclusion in the category of judicial power is to be justified." (emphasis added)
The "special compelling feature" on which Today FM relies is the power under s 143 to suspend or cancel a commercial broadcasting licence when that power is enlivened by a claimed breach of the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition. The predicate of the power in this event is the finding of the commission of the relevant offence. That finding is the essential step to the imposition of what is said to be in substance a penalty. To gainsay the finding in proceedings in the AAT, the licensee is required to discharge an onus of demonstrating that it, or a third person, did not commit the relevant offence. In this limited sense, Today FM submits that the Authority's finding has a "quasi-finality" to it. Although no determination to suspend or cancel Today FM's licence has been made, the challenge to the validity of the Authority's finding is put on the footing that the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition is part of the "integrated structure" of Pt 10 of the BSA, governing the enforcement of licence conditions.
It adds nothing to the constitutional challenge to describe the Authority's finding of breach of the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition, where it is the foundation for suspension or cancellation of a commercial broadcasting licence, as possessing a quality of "quasi-finality". Nor do the submissions that characterise a commercial broadcasting licence as a "pre-existing and fundamental right" and its suspension or cancellation as akin to the imposition of a penalty. Commercial broadcasting licences are issued subject to conditions, the breach of any one of which may result in suspension or cancellation.
The characterisation of the Authority's enforcement power under s 143 does not depend upon whether the Authority is acting on the breach of the condition that the licensee will comply with program standards under cl 8(1)(b) or the condition that the licensee not use the broadcasting service in the commission of a relevant offence under cl 8(1)(g). The finding that Today FM's broadcasting service was used in the commission of an offence does not resolve a controversy respecting pre-existing rights or obligations. It is a step in the determination of breach of the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition and is the foundation for the Authority to institute civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia or to take administrative enforcement measures, including imposing further conditions on Today FM's licence, accepting an enforceable undertaking, issuing a remedial direction, or suspending or cancelling Today FM's licence.
It is well settled that functions may be judicial or administrative depending upon the manner of their exercise. Edmonds J rightly concluded that none of the features of the power conferred on the Authority to investigate and report on breach of the cl 8(1)(g) licence condition and to take consequential administrative enforcement action support the conclusion that it is engaged in the exercise of judicial power.
Orders
For these reasons, the following orders should be made: