Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Jock Given
Key terms/names
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), Australian Competition
and Consumer Commission (ACCC), creative industries, data economy, digital
dividend, Fourth Industrial Revolution, G20, information and communications
technology (ICT), intellectual property, Internet of Everything, market capitalisation,
National Broadband Network (NBN), radiofrequency spectrum
Communication matters to people and organisations and Australian governments
do a lot to enable and manage it. Through much of the 20th century, they controlled
state-owned enterprises and statutory agencies that provided all the postal and
domestic telecommunications services. Government-funded broadcasters also
provided some radio and TV services under Australia’s ‘dual system’ of public
and private enterprises. Commercial operators dominated other media sectors –
movies screened in cinemas, and printed newspapers, magazines and books –
although governments were active there too, supporting public libraries to provide
equitable access to printed media and eventually supporting Australians to create
texts and audiovisual works. The private sector also played a big role in pioneering
international telecommunications services, until these were nationalised after the
Second World War, and in manufacturing equipment for networks and telephone,
radio and television receivers for consumers. Parliaments passed a growing body
of laws to regulate the activities of all these public and private communications
enterprises.
Given, Jock (2019). Communications. In Peter J. Chen, Nicholas Barry, John R. Butcher, David Clune,
Ian Cook, Adele Garnier, Yvonne Haigh, Sara C. Motta and Marija Taflaga, eds. Australian politics and
policy: senior edition. Sydney: Sydney University Press. DOI: 10.30722/sup.9781743326671
522