Government media legislation and policy

Australian government departments and agencies are required to ensure that their media are accessible. This requirement is detailed in the Commonwealth Disability Strategy 1994 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA). The forthcoming National Disability Strategy will set out future accessibility requirements for government departments and agencies.

As the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) states in its Advisory Notes, "Commonwealth Government departments and agencies, and other organisations where they are involved in administration of Commonwealth laws and programs, do not have the benefit of an explicit unjustifiable hardship defence under the DDA. These organisations are required to provide equal access free from unreasonable barriers.

All Australian Federal, State and Territory Governments have policies that require their departments and agencies to provide at least one of a number accessibility services including:

• Captioning all television commercials and public information videos;
• Providing information in a suitable accessible format, or providing an alternative format on request; and
  
• Applying the W3C WCAG 1.0 standard to websites, and WCAG 2.0 standards by 2015.

Federal

The Federal Government operates its accessibility policy under the DDA. 

The compulsory captioning of television commercials is administered by the Government Communications Unit, which provides advice to the Ministerial Committee on Government Communications. The only area which is exempt from captioning is Defence Force Recruitment. All videos and DVDs are captioned by individual agencies fulfilling their obligations under the DDA.

Under the Government Online Strategy, all Commonwealth government department and agency websites must conform to the W3C WCAG 1.0 standard, in line with recommendatinos from the AHRC. Following the release of the W3C WCAG 2.0 standard in 2008, the Federal Government announced in February 2010 that all its websites would be compliant with WCAG 2.0 by 2015.

The accessible development of websites is supported by a number of government resources including the AHRC Guide to World Wide Web Accessibility , the Australian Government Information Management Office  Better Practice Checklist, the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Better Information and Communication Practices, and the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Good Practice Guide for Culturally Responsive Government Services [PDF, 146KB].

ACT

All television commercials must be closed captioned. All videos must be open captioned.

Web accessibility is required for ACT Government websites under the Website Development Management Standard [DOC, 509KB], updated in February 2008.

NSW

The NSW Government Memorandum, Captioning of Government Advertising and Public Information Videos, released in 1998, requires that all television commercials must be closed captioned and that all videos be open captioned. 

The NSW Website Style Directive Explanatory Notes [PDF 5.75MB], updated in February 2009 and part of the NSW Government Website Style Directive and Internet Guidelines, makes it compulsory for all NSW government websites to conform to the W3C WCAG 1.0 standard. The Notes also state that:

"When WCAG 2.0 is released, the website best-practice guidelines will be updated to reflect changed standards and recommendations." 

NT

The Northern Territory Government Policy on Captions for the Hearing Impaired [PDF 55KB] states that commercials must be closed captioned. Under the policy, all videos, emergency TV advertisements and notices must also be captioned. The policy gives the Ministerial Communications Committee the power to grant exempts to these requirements based on a limited set of criteria.

QLD

The Queensland Government captioning policy [PDF 49KB], updated in 2007, makes it compulsory for all Queensland Government departments, including regional offices, to caption television commercials, television programs, DVDs, CD-ROMs, and sponsorship media material/s that will be viewed by the public, including previously produced materials. This includes general information DVDs playing in a customer service area, public function or trade show, and DVDs the public can request, hire or purchase.

The Queensland Government Consistent User Experience Standard, updated in 2008, makes it compulsory for all Queensland government websites to be conform to the W3C WCAG 1.0 standard.

SA

The Government of South Australia Advertising Policies and Guidelines requires that closed captions be included in government television commercials, and that open captions be included in videos produced for public information. 

The SA policy specifically excludes the following from captioning requirements:

• TV advertising of a commercial marketing nature or produced by agencies involved in competitive commercial environments;
• Material that already conveys the required information in text or other visual form and cannot be improved by the inclusion of formal captioning; and
• Material relating to public emergency or disaster that is produced within a timeframe which precludes the opportunity for captioning.

TAS

The Tasmanian Government's captioning policy, released in February 2007, requires that that all TV programs, television commercials, videos, DVDs and CD-ROMs produced by and for all Tasmanian Government departments and intended for public viewing must be captioned.

The Tasmanian Government Website Standards [PDF 156KB], updated in April 2008, requires Government websites to meet W3C WCAG 2.0 standards. This exceeds the standard currently recommended by the AHRC.

VIC

The External Communications Access Policy sets out the Victorian Government's approach to accessibility. It covers a variety of accessibility issues in alternative formats for publications and web accessibility. It applies to departments, not government agencies, in Victoria. 

The current Victorian Government Closed Caption Policy [90 KB], updated in 2002, sets out the captioning requirements for the Victorian Government.

The current Accessibility Website Management Framework [PDF 160 KB], part of the Whole of Victorian Government ICT Standard and updated in 2009, requires government websites to conform to W3C WCAG 1.0.

WA

The Western Australian accessibility policy [PDF 156KB], updated in March 2009, requires the WA government and its agencies to:

• provide closed captions on all Government TV advertising including commercials, sponsorships, community service announcements and billboards;
• provide documents in relevant alternative formats on request;
• provide open captions on all Government videos and DVDs when they are: being shown in a Government office, at an exhibition or trade show, or as part of a public display, given, lent, sold, hired or used for training.