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Media, communications and transport

Media

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These satellite dishes at Broken Hill, New South Wales are part of Australia’s sophisticated web of telecommunications

Australia’s news and entertainment media have a robust tradition of free expression and vigorous analysis of public policy.

Strong competition exists in the newspaper, radio and television industries as well as in online news media. Most Australians live in cities where they enjoy a substantial choice of newspapers, magazines, and radio and television services. People living in remote areas have a more limited choice of news and entertainment.

The Government supports diversity among media outlets and expansion of access to regional Australia. News Limited and the Fairfax Group are the largest newspaper publishers, and Australian Consolidated Press the largest magazine publisher. On a per capita basis, Australia has one of the highest newspaper and magazine circulations in the world.

The Australian Press Council is the self-regulatory body of the print media. The Council is funded by the print media and deals with complaints from the public about editorial material in newspapers and magazines published in Australia. It also plays an important role in protecting the freedom of the press.

There are 53 licensed commercial television services operating in Australia, including three national commercial television networks. Most focus on regional areas and are affiliated with a metropolitan network for non-local programming. Australia’s Indigenous commercial broadcaster, Imparja, broadcasts out of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, and features a mix of major network and Indigenous programming. There are also two public broadcasters—the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).

The ABC comprises the national television service; six radio networks; an Asia Pacific television service; a 24-hour news and parliamentary broadcast radio service; an international network of press offices; and an online service. SBS is a multicultural and multilingual broadcaster. SBS television broadcasts programming in over 60 languages while the national radio service broadcasts 650 hours of programming each week in 68 languages—more than any other radio network in the world.

Satellite and cable pay television and digital television broadcasting are also available in Australia, as is commercial radio, with 272 commercial radio licences in operation. The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) is the broadcasting regulator for radio and television in Australia. Consumer complaints are addressed to this body. ABC and SBS are regulated under separate Acts of Parliament.

Communications

Distance has always been a defining challenge for Australians, and communications and transport improvements have a significant impact on the country. Australia’s telecommunications industry has been rated the most competitive in the region, and Australian businesses have access to sophisticated and cost-competitive telecommunications infrastructure. About 80 licensed carriers deliver telecommunications services—a quantum leap from 1997, when there were only three.

Australia has invested heavily to ensure that all people, including those in remote communities, have equitable access to telephones. About 97 per cent of Australian households have a fixed telephone, while 72 per cent of Australians 16 years and over have access to or use a mobile phone.

Did you know?

Personal computer, Internet, mobile phone, and e-commerce penetration rates in Australia are amongst the highest in the world, with Australia being in the top five nations globally for spending on information communications technology as a percentage of GDP.

Transport

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The Indian Pacific is one of the world’s longest train rides, spanning the entire continent. The train traverses Australia from coast to coast, a distance of 4352 kilometres, with the world’s longest length of straight railway track —478 kilometres through the stark and desolate Nullarbor Plain

Australia has a surface area of more than 7.7 million square kilometres. Most of the nation’s 20 million people live in widely separated cities along 36 000 kilometres of coastline. There are over 800 000 kilometres of road crisscrossing the land, of which 46 per cent is sealed.

Every working day, the Australian Government and state and territory governments spend about $27 million maintaining and reconstructing the Australian transport network. This is among the highest levels of road expenditure per capita in the world.

More than 12 million vehicles (including motor bikes) are registered in Australia, including half a million trucks and more than 60 000 buses. More than 14 million people have a driver’s licence. Transport is the second-largest item of household expenditure in Australia.

The total length of operating rail networks in Australia is almost 40 000 kilometres. Marine transport accounts for almost three-quarters of the value of all imports and exports of cargo in Australia. It also plays a major role in interstate trade.

As a large and geographically isolated island state, a viable and safe aviation industry is extremely important to Australia and the economy. There are 261 licensed airports in Australia and its external territories. Of these, 12 operate internationally, servicing scheduled international airlines.

Over the next 15 years, new technology will allow aircraft to adopt ‘user preferred trajectories’ to replace fixed routes. Currently, airlines fly a fixed route, largely defined by ground-based navigation aids. These routes are not the most efficient way of getting from one place to another but have been necessary because of the limitations in air traffic control technology.

In the future, domestic Australian routes could be replaced with a system where airlines fly directly to their destination with the help of satellite navigation and data links between aircraft and the air traffic management system.

The new Australian sky

Australia is a world leader in aviation technology. Global advances include introducing the black box flight recorder and the Lorenz beam system. In the future, airline flights across Australia will be even safer and have fewer delays, thanks to new air traffic control technology.

Australia has never had air traffic control radar coverage across the whole continent due to cost and the small number of aircraft that fly across the centre of the country. In areas not covered by radar, air traffic controllers use reports from pilots to estimate the position of aircraft. It is a safe system but aircraft have to be separated by a substantial distance, which leads to delays and increases travel time.

Now, 20 ground stations across regional and remote Australia will be established to enable a new air traffic control technology called Automatic Dependent Surveillance (Broadcast) or ADS-B. The project costs more than $10 million and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2005.

The system will cover virtually the entire continent at a fraction of the cost of installing and maintaining conventional radar systems. Aircraft using the system will transmit satellite navigation data to the ground stations along with other information, including identity of the aircraft, altitude and speed, enabling air traffic controllers to know the exact position of any aircraft. It will also reduce air traffic control delays, as controllers will safely space airplanes closer together.

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Last update May 2005