Commercial broadcasters want to allow M-rated content for an additional two hours a day and to remove protections for children during school holidays and weekends, a push which comes as they lobby the government not to ban gambling ads.
The broadcasting regulator has warned the Free TV lobby group their proposal to allow more time for M-rated or mature content would expose children under 15 to alcohol advertising.
The president of Children and Media Australia (CMA), Prof Elizabeth Handsley, said the move to water down protections for children comes at the same time as the prime minister has plans to ban children from social media.
“If we are concerned about all the stuff the kids are doing online, we need to provide a relatively safe space,” Handsley said.
“We need commercial free-to-air TV to be safe and available for kids where they can get appropriate entertainment and information.”
Labor is resisting calls from a Senate inquiry and health experts for a total ban on gambling advertisements after Free TV said the industry could not survive the withdrawal of a major source of revenue.
Under the Labor proposal, gambling ads would be banned online, in children’s programming, during live sports broadcasts and an hour either side, but limited to two an hour in general TV programming.
The proposal to extend M zones is one of the changes to the self-regulatory Free TV code of practice, which has not been updated for a decade. The code would establish a revised set of rules for what can and cannot be shown on commercial television.
The current code requires broadcasters to quarantine M-rated programs to between noon and 3pm on school days and 7.30pm and 6am on weekdays. During school holidays and weekends there are no M-rated programs broadcast until 7.30pm.
The proposal, if registered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), is to extend M programming from three to five hours a day – from 10am to 3pm – and to make no allowances for school holidays and weekends.
“M means it’s not suitable for children,” Handsley said. “It doesn’t matter how much supervision or guidance parents provide, it’s not suitable for them. And therefore there are going to be more times when you can’t be sure of the content being appropriate for families. And then, of course, there’s the question of all the advertising.”
Children and Media Australia’s submission on the draft code argues it will make it unsafe for children because they will encounter M content at weekends and in school holidays as well as from 7.30pm.
“These proposals show a profound lack of concern for children and their lives, and a lack of interest in serving the family audience,” CMA says.
“The current set of proposals continues this trend of making the content of free-to-air stations riskier for children, in spite of licensees’ privileged and protected position in the media landscape, and their consequent public service obligations.
“This at a time of financial hardship for many families and therefore lack of access to paid services.”
The broadcasting regulator, which has the task of approving the code, warned that along with an M rating comes alcohol advertising.
“The ACMA considers that viewers may have concerns about any extension of time when alcohol advertising is permitted on television,” the response to the draft code says.
Free TV chief executive officer Bridget Fair said: “We are currently reviewing submissions on the Code that have come through the public consultation process and will carefully consider community feedback.”
