Cuts to the ABC in regional and rural Australia and the corporation’s increasing reliance on digital technologies is jeopardising the safety of remote communities and their access to emergency warnings, Deakin University research has found.



The ABC’s increasingly “digital-first” approach to emergency information and the reduction in ABC reporters’ local knowledge is causing great distress among rural populations who rely on broadcast signals because they don’t have the bandwidth or coverage for digital, researchers say.

A reduction of local news and information, centralised newsrooms in metropolitan areas, the closure of several ABC stations and the scaling back of broadcast programming has been disastrous for people outside the cities, according to a new study, Communication life line? ABC emergency broadcasting in rural/regional Australia.

But the ABC has played down the study’s significance, saying it is based on parliamentary submissions and is not an “accurate or up-to-date” summary of the corporation’s role in rural and regional Australia; and that the ABC is not funded as an emergency service.

Based on public submissions to a parliamentary inquiry, the researchers Julie Freeman, Kristy Hess and Lisa Waller found “burgeoning discontent about the corporation’s ability to fulfil its role as a designated emergency broadcaster and provide communication life lines to rural and regional communities”.

There were 67 submissions to the legislation committee in response to a private member’s bill, the ABC rural and regional advocacy bill 2015, which sought to improve rural and regional media coverage.

Under the management of Mark Scott and Michelle Guthrie the ABC has been transferring resources from traditional broadcast radio and television to digital platforms and content, including the dissemination of emergency alerts. But not everyone can access the infrastructure needed for digital content.

While the ABC’s emergency services website carries the latest disaster advice, if it cannot be accessed or the information is delayed it is useless to some communities.

“In some instances, these services are non-existent, putting people’s basic requirements for survival at risk,” the researchers warn.

In 2015, after a $250m cut to the ABC’s budget by the Coalition, the ABC closed its offices in Port Augusta in South Australia, Nowra in New South Wales, Gladstone in Queensland, Morwell in Victoria and Wagin in Western Australia, reducing the local information available to communities.

In February this year the ABC’s shortwave signal was turned off in the Northern Territory, Papua New Guinea and some parts of the Pacific region, ending the broadcast of ABC local radio over the frequency that can be picked up in remote areas, including where AM and FM aren’t available.

Freeman, the lead researcher, said for people trying to access digital emergency warnings the technology still was not good enough.



“The ABC is using online content and platforms in place of older services,” Freeman said. “But by taking away services that were already there like shortwave they are reducing what’s available to rural communities.



“Because the emergency broadcasts are coming out of Sydney and Melbourne the content is not produced by local reporters any more so a couple of the local councils said there’s been a mispronunciation of local place names and it has taken too long to get information out.



“With the closure of regional broadcasting they’re waiting for decision makers in Melbourne to say, ‘OK let’s switch to emergency broadcasting.’



Elements of the bill, introduced by the Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, are set to be debated later in the year but were not included in the media package that passed the Senate last week.

“The reforms include aspects from my private senator’s bill that include the requirement that two ABC board members have an extensive background in rural and regional areas, an ABC rural and regional advisory board be established and be consulted if any changes are made to ABC rural and regional services and service provision to regional and rural Australians be included in the ABC charter,” McKenzie said.

An ABC spokesman said earlier this year an additional $15m had been invested to expand coverage of regional news and information.

“This investment will create up to 80 new content roles in regional Australia, the first 32 of which have already been filled, to provide increased coverage of news issues in rural and regional Australia including during emergency situations,” he said.

“Through the Vast satellite service the ABC reaches 100% of Australian households, a far greater reach than the shortwave service that was outdated, expensive to maintain and had limited users.



“The ABC is proud to serve all communities in times of need, including during natural disasters and emergencies. The ABC aims to provide relevant news and information to communities and, in times of emergencies, this will include news and information about the situation at hand.



“The ABC is not funded explicitly for its work in the emergency arena and it is not an ‘emergency service’ in the same way that the SES or the fire brigade are, but it works closely with relevant emergency agencies to ensure accurate and up-to-date information is provided to those in need.”



The researchers have called for the ABC’s role as a designated emergency broadcaster to be re-evaluated and the charter amended to ensure emergency broadcasting is available in local contexts.

