Report No. 16

Review of Decisions under the Broadcasting and Television Act 1942, 1982

Summary of the report

The report was transmitted to the Government on 11 June 1982, and was tabled in the Parliament on 27 October 1982.

The report contains eight recommendations. In summary, the Council recommended:

that jurisdiction should be conferred upon the Administrative Appeals Tribunal ('AAT') to review most substantive decisions of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal ('ABT'), and to review a decision of the ABT not to hold a public inquiry or to reach a decision without first holding a public inquiry,
that such review should only be available if the leave of the AAT President was first obtained,
that specified decisions of the Minister should be subject to determinative review by the AAT (other specified decisions of the Minister were recommended for recommendatory review by the AAT), and
the repeal of subsections (2) and (3) of section 119 of the Australian Broadcasting and Television Act 1942.

Response to the report

The Broadcasting and Television Amendment Act 1985 implemented only part of the one recommendation contained in this report (see the third dot point, above), providing for AAT review of specified Ministerial decisions. The Act provided for review by the AAT of the following Ministerial decisions: a direction to deliver records for safe-keeping; and, the payment of compensation to the record-keeper. All the other recommendations were rejected by the Government.