Summary

14.1 The ALRC recommends the establishment of a single Regulator with primary responsibility for regulating the new National Classification Scheme. The Regulator would be responsible for most regulatory activities related to the classification of media content—both offline and online. The Classification Board would be retained as an independent statutory body responsible for making some classification decisions and reviewing classification decisions, on application.

14.2 The Regulator would be responsible for a range of functions similar to some of those currently performed by the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department (AGD); the Director of the Classification Board; the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE); and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

14.3 The term ‘the Regulator’ is used to signify the agency that performs the set of regulatory functions identified in this report as the responsibility of the Regulator. The Regulator could form one part of the ACMA with its broader responsibilities for the regulation of broadcasting, the internet, radio-communications and telecommunications. The ALRC also suggests that the functions of the Regulator should become responsibilities of a new convergent regulator for the digital economy, as recommended by the Convergence Review,^[1] if such a body is established.