Review of Commercial Radio Codes of Practice

Since 1942, there have been statutory requirements on Australian radio broadcasters to assign at least a specified percentage of music broadcast time to Australian music. With the passage of the current Broadcasting Services Act, the statutory requirement was replaced by a self-regulatory regime, Code of Practice 4, administered by Commercial Radio Australia (CRA), the trade association of commercial radio broadcasters.

The current code of practice.

Every five years, the CRA is required to review the Codes of Practice and to invite public submissions. The Music Council submission argued in particular for an increase in the sub-quota for new music (i.e. recordings released in the previous 12 months) since evidence suggests that this has been very positive in building audiences and sales for Australian artists -- without damaging the commercial interests of the broadcasters. The March 2004 submission.

NOTE: The MCA proposals were, on the evidence, ignored. However, it may not be coincidental that the monitoring committee, AMPCOM, met in October 2004 and published the required reports in April 2005. Paradoxically, AMPCOM is convened not by CRA, but by ARIA.