Australian policy and legislation

Dr Katie Ellis, senior research fellow in the Department of Internet Studies at Curtin University, is calling for a new policy on audio description to be introduced in Australia to bring it in line with captioning.

Suzanne Hudson, a blind television viewer, has launched a case against the ABC in the Federal Circuit Court, claiming that it has unlawfully discriminated against her by not providing a regular audio description service for the blind and vision impaired.

The government sector has been found to deliver the worst digital experiences of a range of Australian industries in a new report by consulting firm Ernst & Young, the EY State of the Nation Report 2014.

The Federal Government today released a consultation paper which proposes a number of changes to the regulations governing free-to-air television. The consultation process provides an opportunity for consumers to comment on current captioning regulations, and the fact that multi-channels such as Gem, 7Two, Eleven, ABC2 and SBS2 remain exempt from the captioning requirements that apply to primary channels.