Commonwealth Numbered Acts

BROADCASTING (OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL) ACT 1987 No. 68 of 1987 - SECT 19

19. After section 91 of the Principal Act the following sections are inserted:
Meaning of control of licence

"91AAA. (1) For the purposes of sections 91, 92C and 92FAD, a person shall be
deemed to be in a position to exercise control of a licence if:

   (a)  that person is the holder of the licence;

   (b)  that person is in a position to exercise control of the company that
        holds the licence; or

   (c)  that person is in a position to exercise control of:

        (i)    the operations of the licensee in providing the service
               pursuant to the licence; or

        (ii)   the selection or provision of the programs to be broadcast
               pursuant to the licence.

"(2) Paragraph (1) (c) does not apply to a person in relation to a licence:

   (a)  in the case of an advertiser or other person sponsoring a program or
        programs under an agreement made in the ordinary course of business -
        by reason only of his or her rights in respect of that program or
        those programs or of the fact that he or she has, under a contract
        relating to his or her sponsorship of that program or those programs,
        rights that are reasonably necessary to ensure to him or her the full
        commercial benefit of that sponsorship; or

   (b)  in the case of a person carrying on the business of supplying
        television programs - by reason only of his or her rights under a
        contract for the supply by him or her of programs to be televised
        pursuant to the licence, being rights created in good faith in the
        ordinary course of that business for the purpose only of protecting
        his or her commercial interests as a supplier of programs. Meaning of
        control of newspaper

"91AAB. For the purposes of sections 91 and 92FAD, a person shall be deemed to
be in a position to exercise control of a newspaper if the person is:

   (a)  where the publisher is a company - in a position to exercise control
        of the company;

   (b)  in any case - the publisher of the newspaper; or

   (c)  in any case - in a position to exercise control, either directly or
        indirectly, of:

        (i)    the operations of the publisher in publishing the newspaper; or

        (ii)   the selection or provision of the material to be published in
               the newspaper. Meaning of control of company

"91AAC. (1) For the purposes of this Division, other than subsections 92D (2),
(5) and (6), a person who:

   (a)  is in a position to exercise control of more than 15% of the maximum
        number of votes that could be cast on a poll at, or arising out of, a
        general meeting of a company, whether he or she is in such a position
        as regards all questions that could be submitted to such a poll or as
        regards one or more only of such questions;

   (b)  has shareholding interests in a company, being shareholding interests
        in respect of shares of a kind carrying voting rights on all questions
        at general meetings of the company, exceeding in amount 15% of the
        total of the amounts paid on all shares in the company of a kind
        carrying such voting rights; or

   (c)  has shareholding interests in a company exceeding in amount 15% of the
        total of the amounts paid on all shares in the company; shall be
        deemed (but not to the exclusion of any other person) to be in a
        position to exercise control of that company, of any votes, in respect
        of another company, of which that company is in a position to exercise
        control and of all acts and operations of that company.

"(2) For the purposes of this section, where a person is deemed, by any
application or applications of this section, to be in a position to exercise
control of a company that has a shareholding interest in another company, that
person shall be deemed (but not to the exclusion of any other person) to have
that shareholding interest.

"(3) For the purposes of this section:

   (a)  in ascertaining the votes, in respect of a company, of which a person
        is in a position to exercise control, there shall be included any
        votes in respect of that company of which that person is deemed, by
        any application or applications of this section, to be in a position
        to exercise control; and

   (b)  in ascertaining the shareholding interests of a company in another
        company, there shall be included any shareholding interest that the
        first-mentioned company is deemed, by any application or applications
        of this section, to have in that other company.". Minister may notify
        population figures

"91AAD. (1) The Minister may, by notice in writing published in the Gazette:

   (a)  specify a number as the declared population of Australia for the
        purposes of this Division; or

   (b)  specify a number as the population of the service area of a licence
        for the purposes of this Division.

"(2) Where the Minister specifies the service area population of a licence,
the Minister shall include in the notice a specification of the percentage of
the declared population of Australia constituted by the service area
population of the licence.

"(3) Where an area (in this subsection referred to as the 'overlap area')
within the service area of a licence is also within the service area of
another licence, the notice specifying the service area population of the
first licence shall specify the percentage of the service area population of
the first licence that is attributable to the overlap area.

"(4) Where an area (in this subsection referred to as the 'overlap area')
within the service area of a licence is also within the service area of 2 or
more other licences, a notice specifying the service area population of the
first licence shall specify the percentage of the service area population of
the first licence that is attributable to the overlap area.

"(5) Where:

   (a)  a person has a prescribed interest in 2 or more licences; and

   (b)  the service areas of those licences overlap; then, for the purposes of
        determining whether the person is contravening section 92, any
        population in an area of overlap shall only be counted once in
        determining the aggregate of the service area populations of the
        licences.

"(6) In exercising powers under subsection (1), the Minister shall:

   (a)  as soon as practicable after the commencement of this section, publish
        notices under that subsection in relation to the population of
        Australia and the population of the service area of each licence;

   (b)  ensure that when a census count is taken of the Australian population
        new notices under that subsection are published in relation to the
        Australian population and the population of the service areas of each
        licence as soon as practicable after the Australian Statistician
        publishes the results of that census count;

   (c)  ensure that when a licence is granted a notice in relation to the
        population of the service area of the licence is published as soon as
        practicable after the grant;

   (d)  ensure that when the service area of a licence is varied a new notice
        in relation to the population of the service area of the licence is
        published as soon as practicable after the variation; and

   (e)  ensure that notices under subsection (1) are published having regard
        to the most recently available official census count results.

"(7) Paragraph (6) (c) does not apply to:

   (a)  the grant of a licence by way of renewal;

   (b)  the grant of a licence in substitution for another licence under
        section 99 of the Broadcasting and Television Amendment Act 1985 where
        the Minister is not required to give a notice of the kind referred to
        in paragraph 99 (3) (c) of that Act in relation to the grant; or

   (c)  the grant of a licence in substitution for another licence under
        section 99A of that Act.

"(8) In this section, 'most recently available official census count results',
in relation to a notice, means the results, as published by the Australian
Statistician, of the most recent census count of the Australian population:

   (a)  that has been taken; and

   (b)  whose results have been published by the Australian Statistician.
        Newspapers associated with commercial television licence service areas

"91AAE. (1) The Tribunal shall establish and maintain a register to be known
as the Associated Newspaper Register.

"(2) Where the Tribunal is satisfied that not less than 50% of the circulation
of a newspaper is within the service area of a licence, the Tribunal shall
enter the name of the newspaper in the Associated Newspaper Register as a
newspaper that is associated with the service area of that licence.

"(3) A person may:

   (a)  on payment of a prescribed fee (if any), inspect the Associated
        Newspaper Register; and

   (b)  on payment of a prescribed fee (if any), is entitled to be given a
        copy of, or an extract from, any entry in the Associated Newspaper
        Register.

"(4) The Tribunal shall review the Associated Newspaper Register on a
quarterly basis and shall make any alterations to the Register that the
Tribunal considers necessary as a result of any such review.

"(5) The Tribunal may supply copies of or extracts from the Associated
Newspaper Register certified by the Chairman and a copy or extract so
certified is admissible in evidence in all courts and proceedings without
further proof or production of the original.".