Legislation on captioning

This section details the regulation of captioning in Australia. The legislative overview provides an outline of how various instruments work together to create Australia’s haphazard regulation of captioning. It is important to remember that there is no single access code and each media form is regulated differently.

General access regulation

Legislation is fundamental to the provision of captioning across all media as the market has not provided sufficient incentive to provide access features. Captioning is regulated in three main ways:
• Disability Discrimination Act and associated exemptions
• International Human Rights Law
• Broadcasting Services Act and codes developed under such.

There are also a number of government policies that recommend access for different types of media but do not require compliance.

Disability Discrimination Act

The Disability Discrimination Act is a general prohibition against discrimination on the grounds of disability. It is unlawful for a person to discriminate in regards to the provisions of goods, services of facilities (s24) which encompasses all distributed media.

So why isn’t there universal access?

1. The DDA is a complaints-based mechanism; the system requires individual consumers to lodge complaints with the Australian Human Rights Commission.
2. The act contains an unjustifiable hardship exception. Industry regularly uses this to argue that providing access is too expensive considering (what they perceive to be) the small market for the services.
3. Temporary exemptions to the DDA. The Australian Human Rights Commission are able to grant temporary exemptions to the provisions of the DDA where industry makes an offer to reduce the discrimination in some way.
   

International Human Rights 

Increasing globalisation, especially in the area of electronic media means the international law is particularly important. In July 2008 Australia ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Treaty does not establish new rights but it will require Australia to report to the United Nations regularly on compliance with these obligations and to actively strive to promote the position of people with disabilities. Article 9 of the treaty affirms the right to access including to electronic media, while Article 21 establishes a right to freedom of expression and access to information which includes making the internet accessible to people with disabilities.

Broadcasting Services Act 

The Broadcasting Services Act is the only Australian legislation specifically on captioning but it only applies to free-to air television. 

Related articles

• Captions on your television
• Cinema captioning
  

Information provided by Media Access Australia





Reproduced with permission.
Date reviewed: 27.11.2008