The Hon Paul Fletcher MP
Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure,
Cities and the Arts
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Minister
Standing obligation to disclose interests
In accordance with the
Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005,
the
Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and the
Public
Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014,
members of the Authority
have an obligation to disclose any interest they may have which may conflict with
the proper performance of their role as members of the ACMA.
The ACMA has processes in place for managing conflicts, either real or perceived,
and declarations are made by Authority members annually and at each Authority
meeting.
Recently, associate member Ms Anita Jacoby has been appointed to the role of
Chair of the ABC’s Advisory Council commencing in January 2022. That
appointment presents a real or perceived conflict with respect to some aspects of
Ms Jacoby’s ACMA role. To manage this, arrangements have already been put in
place to exclude Ms Jacoby from strategic discussions, information-sharing and
decision-making by the Authority on the following matters:
• Content investigations under the
Broadcasting Services Act 1992 relating to
ABC programming;
• Content code development and approval, including current strategic work on
codes across broadcasting platforms;
• Licence Area Planning for radio under the
Broadcasting Services Act 1992
which involves or could affect ABC services;
and
• Any other matters arising under the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act
1983.
I consider that these arrangements will effectively manage any perceived or actual
conflicts while allowing the ACMA to continue to benefit from Ms Jacoby’s
considerable skills and experience.
Otherwise, the declarations made by Authority members address any material
personal interest, either direct, indirect, pecuniary or non-pecuniary, to which they
may be subject, and I am satisfied that there are no conflicts of interest affecting
Authority members other than as referred to above.
Yours sincerely
Nerida O’Loughlin PSM
November 2021
Cc: Mr Simon Atkinson, Secretary, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional
Development and Communications