Classification e-news | Record number of submissions received!

Issue 5 | 20 July 2011   View original format

Thanks for your submissions

Submissions in response to the National Classification Scheme Review Issues Paper closed on 15 July 2011. The ALRC received more than 2000 submissions – a record for any ALRC Inquiry to date!

The Classification Review team is now working through the content of the submissions.  We aim to acknowledge contributions where possible, but this has been a high volume of submissions for the ALRC to deal with. We are posting the public submissions to our website as quickly as we can, but please bear with us.

In some instances, submitters have asked that their submissions be confidential, in full or in part. Typically, this arises in cases where an organisation is providing information that may be commercial-in-confidence, and the ALRC respects the need for this, while also maintaining our public interest remit to make information widely available to the community. In some cases, individuals asked that their submissions also be made confidential, perhaps in order to maintain personal privacy. We also respect that wish.  (Confidential and anonymous submissions are not published on the website.)

View submissions published so far >>

Next steps

The round of submissions that closed last Friday represents only the first stage of the public consultation process, and there will be other opportunities to engage with the Review.  The Classification Review team are now working through the submissions, using the information they provide to develop the Discussion Paper. This will be released in mid-September, when the ALRC will again call for public feedback on more detailed proposals for reform. Meanwhile, we are continuing to conduct face-to-face consultations with various stakeholder groups – a list of these will be published in the Discussion Paper.

The Lead Commissioner, Professor Terry Flew, has also been giving presentations on the Classification Review, and will present at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane on 28 July 2011, at The Big Picture: Socio-Cultural Research and Australia’s Policy Challenges. Professor Flew published an opinion piece in the Koori Mail, to encourage input from Indigenous communities, and has conducted interviews with journalists from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Sydney Morning Herald, and AusGamers.

Convergence Review

The process of convergence is blurring distinctions between types of media platforms and content, and we are considering the best ways to develop a policy framework that is responsive to the challenges of media convergence.  In light of this, the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is undertaking a Convergence Review, through an independent panel chaired by Glen Boreham. They have released an Emerging Issues paper, based on public consultations, which outlines ten principles for media and communications policy in the context of media convergence. Their analysis is feeding in to the ALRC’s thinking on these issues.

View the Convergence Review Emerging Issues paper >>

The Convergence Review Committee are conducting consultations around Australia during August 2011. See the timetable >>