The Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) is responsible for a broad range of functions which are spread across multiple pieces of legislation including the Telecommunications Act 1997, Broadcasting Services Act 1992 and Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005.
As part of our review of the ACMA, we have created this resource to map the current main functions of the ACMA, categorised around the following roles:
Compliance—monitoring the communications industry, including handling complaints, maintaining registers, providing opinions and conducting inspections, investigations and inquiries.
Rule enforcement—administering the application of industry codes and standards, applying sanctions and civil penalties as needed and issuing formal warnings to licensees and others who breach industry legislation.
Authorisations—issuing licenses and maintaining applicable standards for licensees.
Rule-making—determining licensing standards and registering codes applicable to licensees.
Resource management and allocation—creating and managing plans for numbering and allocating resources such as radiofrequency spectrum and numbering.
Cooperation and coordination—managing the international harmonisation of standards, consulting with relevant stakeholders and coordinating with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Monitoring, advice and education—providing information to consumers and conducting education programs, research and reports for the Minister on communications regulatory matters.
This resource is not exhaustive but intended to outline the ACMA's key functions. More information on the ACMA's functions is outlined in the relevant legislation identified in this resource which is available from the Federal Register of Legislation.
