Centre contributions to Policy
Connecting research and policy is crucial for informed decision-making, shaping legislation, and driving meaningful reforms. Our research seeks to stimulate public debate and to foster progress in policy and law, in our key research areas of media evolution and transition, journalism best practice, knowledge integrity, regulatory adaptation, and sustainable business models.
Our policy submissions span critical issues such as digital platform oversight, accountability and regulation, sustaining public interest journalism, media freedom, addressing the multi-faceted risks posed by online mis- and disinformation and knowledge integrity, online safety and more. You can explore and access our submissions here:
Online Safety
The Centre made a submission to the Government’s review of the Online Safety Act. Our comments include support for the introduction of an overall duty of care and a recommendation for the creation of a digital platforms ombuds scheme.
In 2020, the Centre responded to the Government’s proposals for a new Online Safety Act to improve Australia's online safety regulatory framework. Access our submission here:
News Media Assistance Program (News MAP)
The News Media Assistance Program (News MAP) is a program of work that aims to establish a robust evidence base and clear principles to guide policies that can sustain public interest journalism and safeguard media diversity in Australia. The News MAP consists of 2 parts: 1) a principles-based policy framework to guide future government interventions for news and journalism; and 2) an evidence base that will inform when and where interventions are warranted, as well as their design, implementation and evaluation.
Public consultation for News MAP opened on 12 December 2023.
In our submission to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communication and the Arts, we delved into the definitions and scope for public interest journalism, policy objectives around access, quality and media diversity and considerations for future policy, such as media state subsidies, business models and more. Read it here:
Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill
In January 2023, the Minister for Communications announced plans to empower the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) with new laws to address online misinformation and disinformation risk to the safety and wellbeing of Australians, as well as to our democracy, society and economy. On 19 August 2023, we made a submission on the proposed legislation that aims to hold digital platform services to account and create greater transparency around their efforts to respond to misinformation and disinformation in Australia.
On 11 October 2024, CMT Co-Director Monica Attard and Research Fellow Michael Davis appeared before the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, considering the government’s new Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill. They discussed some weaknesses in the scope of the bill, which we have covered previously in this newsletter, and in more detail in our subsequent submission to the Committe for the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 [Provisions]. Read our submissions below:
Want to learn more? We dive into the issues in these Centre articles:
Accountability in deficit by Dr Michael Davis, CMT Research Fellow
- The global fight against misinformation by Professor Ruth Janal, Bayreuth University
- Freedom and accountability by Dr Michael Davis, CMT Research Fellow
Safe and Responsible AI in Australia
The Government invited public consultation on how to mitigate any potential risks of AI and support safe and responsible AI practices in its discussion paper: Safe and Responsible AI in Australia, released in June 2023. Read our Centre's submission for our thinking on how to approach the roll-out of AI in Journalism and its potential impact on the public sphere:
For more, we dig into the issues in our newsletter article, 'AI - who is responsible?'
Privacy Law reform
In 2019, the Australian government announced a review of the Privacy Act to ensure that it remains fit for purpose in the digital age. This review aimed to address concerns about the adequacy of the existing privacy framework, the enforcement powers of the OAIC, and the need for individuals to have more control over their personal information. The review led to proposed reforms to strengthen privacy protections. This includes enhanced consent mechanisms, increased penalties for privacy breaches, and potential new measures to regulate the collection and use of personal information. The Centre has been actively involved in the public debate and discourse around these issues and in the consultation processes to bring about legislative change. Read our submissions here:
In our newsletter, Dr Sacha Molitorisz looks at proposed reforms issuing from the review of the privacy act in the newsletter article 'A very private Saga' and Professor Derek Wilding examines the journalism exemption under the Privacy Act in 'New journalism, new rules'.
Media Diversity
On 11 November 2020, the Senate referred an inquiry into the state of media diversity, independence and reliability in Australia to the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee to look at the state of media diversity, independence and reliability in Australia and the impact that this has on public interest journalism and democracy. Read our submissions below, also referenced in the Government's subsequent 'Media Diversity in Australia' report released on December 2021:
For more insights, see our research commissioned by ACMA on news in Australia: diversity and localism. And have a read of 'The citizen's view of media diversity', written by CMT researcher, Tim Koskie and his subsequently published research article 'Downright dangerous': Citizens reactions to media diversity issues in public submissions, published by Sage https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X2312129
ACCC Digital Platform Services Inquiry 2020-25
On 10 February 2020 the Australian Government directed the ACCC to conduct an inquiry into markets for the supply of digital platform services. Our submissions can be read below. In the early submission we comment on aspects of competition law, the regulatory tools that might be used to implement reform and resolving disputes. Our more recent submission addresses dispute resolution and draws on our research report: Digital Platform Complaint Handling: Options for an External Dispute Resolution Scheme.
Read more on the topic in our newletter article 'Platform complaints: enter ACMA?' by Professor Derek Wilding, CMT Co-Director.
Digital Platforms Inquiry
On December 2017, the Australian government directed the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission)to conduct an inquiry into the Digital Platforms due to concerns about their impact on competition, media, and consumer interests. In particular, the inquiry looked at the impact of digital platforms on the supply of news and journalistic content and the implications of this for media content creators, advertisers and consumers. The Centre was commissioned to provide a comprehensive and well-researched report into the impact of digital platforms on news media in Australia. The report: The Impact of Digital Platforms on News and Journalistic Content is on the ACCC’s website as Commissioned Research for the Digital Platforms Inquiry as one of the investigative inputs that informed the ACCC’s preliminary report, for which the Centre too made a submission and then built upon in the further response to the ACCC DPI final report:
CMT Submission to ACCC, February 2019 – Digital Platforms Inquiry Preliminary Report
CMT Submission to Treasury, September 2019 – Digital Platforms Inquiry Final Report
For further reading, see:
Wilding, D., Fray, P., Molitorisz, S., & McKewon, E. (2018). The Impact of Digital Platforms on News and Journalistic Content: Digital Platforms Inquiry. University of Technology Sydney, NSW: Centre for Media Transition. Retrieved from https://www.accc.gov.au/
Flew, T., & Wilding, D. (2021). The Turn to Regulation in Digital Communication: The ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry and Australian Media Policy. Media, Culture and Society, 43(1), 48-65. doi:10.1177/0163443720926044
UNESCO Consultation - Safeguarding freedom of expression and access to information: guidelines for a multistakeholder approach in the context of regulating digital platforms.
UNESCO conducted multi-stakeholder consultations with the aim of co-creating guidelines to safeguard freedom of expression, access to information, and other human rights in the context of the development and implementation of digital platform regulatory processes. Read the Centre's submission by clicking the link below:
Dr Sacha Molitorisz looks at complexities of balancing free speech with other rights and touches on our submission in the article, 'The myth of free absolutism'.
Disinformation Code Review
The development of the Disinformation code by DIGI came about in response to government policy outlined in Regulating in the Digital Age: Government Response and Implementation Roadmap for the Digital Platforms Inquiry that asked the major digital platforms to develop a voluntary code of conduct outlining what they will do to address concerns regarding disinformation to address online disinformation and news quality concerns. ACMA was tasked with overseeing the development and operation of this code launched in February 2021 and reporting on platforms’ measures and the broader impacts of disinformation in Australia. In June 2022, DIGI launched a review of the code. You can read our submission here:
For more information, have a read of the Discussion Paper on an Australian Voluntary Code of Practice for Disinformation, prepared for DIGI by the UTS Centre for Media Transition. And Professor Derek Wilding look at subsequent developments and issues in his paper: Regulating News and Disinformation on Digital Platforms: Self-Regulation or prevarication? published by the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, as well as in the CMT newsletter article, Codes exposed.
Review of Community Radio Broadcasting Codes of Practice
The Centre submitted a submission to the review of Community Radio Broadcasting Codes of practice that set out the guiding principles and policies for programming on community broadcasting stations. They also outline the operational standards for stations that hold a community broadcasting licence. The Centre's submission discusses recommendations for Code 5 (News and Journalistic Content) and Code 4.3 (Privacy). Read it here:
And relating to the disclosure standard of the code, Professor Derek Wilding discusses the perils of undisclosed commercial deals on radio in the newsletter article Rapid radio disclosures.
Mandatory News Media Bargaining Code
The introduction and passage of the News Media Bargaining Code marked a significant step in addressing the issues raised by the ACCC Digital Platforms Inquiry. The code aimed to create a more balanced relationship between digital platforms and news publishers, ensuring that news organizations are fairly compensated for the use of their content on these platforms. The Centre was actively involved in promoting public debate on the issues and participating in the policy developments towards legislative change. See our submissions here:
If you're keen to learn more, check out some of the Centre's published research on the issues:
→ The Australian News Media Bargaining Code: lessons for the UK, EU and beyond published in the Journal of Media Law by Karen Lee and Sacha Molitorisz
→ How Australia’s competition regulator is supporting news, but not quality. In P. M. Napoli, & R. G. Lawrence (Eds.), News Quality in the Digital Age. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.routledge.com/
→ Or listen in to our podcast episode devoted to the subject - News Saviour or Platform Shakedown? Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code, Three Years On.
Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill
With the aim of keeping Australians safe from online harm, including from the harmful impacts of anonymous defamatory online comments, the Australian Government released an exposure draft of the Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill 2021. Following consultation, the Bill was introduced into Parliament on 10 February 2022. In our submission, we drew on the Centre's research on defamation law reform, digital platforms impact on news and journalistic content, digital platform complaint handling and on the future of news media standards councils.
Keen to find out more ? Here is some of our research that informed our submission:
Holly Raiche, Derek Wilding, Karen Lee & Anita Stuhmcke, Digital Platform Complaint Handling: Options for an External Dispute Resolution Scheme (UTS Centre for Media Transition, 2022).
Wilding, D. 2021 ‘Regulating News and Disinformation on Digital Platforms: Self-Regulation or Prevarication?’ Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy 9(2) 11-46
Wilding, D., Fray, P., Molitorisz, S. & McKewon, E. 2018, The Impact of Digital Platforms on News and Journalistic Content, University of Technology Sydney, NSW.
Murthy, D. 2018, Trends in Digital Defamation: Defendents, Plaintiffs, Platforms (UTS Centre for Media Transition, 2018).
Regional Newspapers Inquiry
In November 2021, the House Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts launched a inquiry to assess the state of Australia’s regional newspapers, with a focus on advertising revenues after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of News Corp and Australian Community Media's decisions to exit some regional markets. The committee subsequently made 12 recommendations to the Australian Government aimed to help sustain regional journalism.
Our submission examined the entry of new operators, notably small businesses, into regional and other markets as well as the impact of the News Media Bargaining Code on regional and remote newspapers.
One of the Committee's recommendations was that the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 be amended to enable the Australian Communications and Media Authority to consider the factors outlined in the News in Australia: diversity and localism research paper in determining whether an unacceptable media diversity situation exists. The UTS Centre authored this paper as part of research commissioned for ACMA on attitudes of news consumers to news, and it can be accessed here:
Wilding, D., Giotis, C. & T. Koskie, 2020, News in Australia: diversity and localism – Review of literature and research, University of Technology Sydney, NSW.
CMT researcher Gary Dickson discusses the Committee's report and recommendations on regional newspapers in for our newsletter, in the article titled 'Saving regional news (again).'
Current Affairs Disclosure Standard
On 15 December 2021, ACMA opened a consultation to remake the Broadcasting Services (Commercial Radio Current Affairs Disclosure) Standard 2012 which was due to sunset in April 2022. The standard helped ensure commercial radio broadcasting licensees provide fair and accurate coverage in current affairs programs by requiring the disclosure of commercial agreements and other arrangements that could affect the content of current affairs programs. It was remade in March 2022. Read our submission here:
Consumer Safeguards Review
The Consumer Safeguards Review aimed to assess necessary consumer protections for a changing communications environment, with a focus on the post-2020 environment. Our submission presented our recent research findings on public engagement in industry rule-making in a converged communications environment, to address Proposal 2 in the Consultation paper - that the telecommunications consumer protection rulemaking process should be reformed to improve its effectiveness.
You can read more on research report that informed this submission below:
Lee, K. & Wilding, D. 2019, Responsive Engagement: Involving Consumers and Citizens in Communications Industry Rule-making, Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, Sydney.
Defamation Law Reform
Defamation law aims to protect people’s reputation or standing in society while still allowing open discussions on matters important to the public. In 2018, to keep up with technological developments, the Council of Attorneys-General formed a Defamation Working Party, headed by NSW, to review defamation law. This marks the first significant update since the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General approved standard defamation rules in 2005. Each state and territory used these rules to create consistent defamation laws. The Centre has made four submissions throughout the Review.
For more, have a listen to our podcast episode of DoubleTake - Professor Derek Wilding spoke with media lawyer Michael Bradley to explore dimensions of free speech vs defamation. You can also check out our newsletter articles 'Defamation and daylight saving' looking at the increasingly fractured state of our supposedly national defamation laws or 'Google v Defteros: Defamation Liability of Search Engines', an explainer by David Lindsay on the case of Google v Defteros that considers liability for hyperlinks in search results. We previously published research on digital trends in digital defamation, which you can read here.
Impartiality and Commercial Influence in Broadcast News
In January 2020, AMCA launched its consultation on impartiality and commercial influence in broadcast news, to test whether the current regulatory framework continues to deliver appropriate community safeguards. The discussion paper was informed in part by ACMA-commissioned quantitative and qualitative research, including sources identified in the review of literature and research conducted by the Centre for Media Transition.
Our research commissioned by ACMA can be accessed here:
Centre for Media Transition 2020, News in Australia—Impartiality and commercial influence: Review of literature and research University of Technology Sydney, NSW
Freedom of the Press
On 4 July 2019, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security commenced an inquiry into the impact of the exercise of law enforcement and intelligence powers on the freedom of the press. The inquiry is to report on the impact of the exercise of law enforcement and intelligence powers on the freedom of the press. The Centre made a submission to the Inquiry and appeared to answer questions at the public hearing held on August 2019.
Consultation on a new Digital Hub
A recommendation arising from the 2018 Regional Telecommunications Review was to develop an online ‘hub’ aimed at helping regional, rural and remote Australians to navigate digital technologies. The purpose of the hub was to improve digital literacy in regional, rural and remote Australia by providing independent and factual information to help support people to build up skills to solve telecommunications issues.
The Centre made a public submission on 21 February 2020 informed by CMT’s research ‘Responsive Engagement: Involving consumers and citizens in Communications Industry Rule-making'.
Review of National Security Legislation
In December 2017, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security commenced a inquiry to review the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Bill 2017. The Centre made a submission in 2018 discussing specifically the impact of the proposed new laws concerning secrecy on journalism and media freedom within Australia.
New Democracy - Symposium on Trusted, Long-Term Decision-Making
The Australian Symposium for Trusted Long-term Decision-making was held in late 2017. The remit of the Symposium was finding common ground when addressing the question: What changes can we agree upon to deliver effective long-term decision-making which earns public trust? The participants produced a recommendations report listing eight key recommendations that addressed trusted, long-term decision-making, and democracy in Australia more broadly. See our contribution here:
Future of Public Interest Journalism
In May 2017, the Senate established the Public Interest Journalism Committee to inquire into the future of public interest journalism. The Centre made a submission to the Inquiry and participated at the public hearing held on May 2017. You can read our submission here:
