Our reference: 2009/16563
Dear Indigenous Broadcasting stakeholder
Release of the Summary Report on the Findings of the Review of the National Indigenous Television, November 2009
The Australian Government, through the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, is providing $48.5m over four years to 30 June 2010 to support National Indigenous Television (NITV), Australia’s first national Indigenous television service.
NITV is funded: to strengthen Indigenous television and make a positive contribution to cultural maintenance; to make a positive contribution to Indigenous notions of identity; and to facilitate Indigenous culture being represented in a positive and engaging way to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
NITV is currently available on the Foxtel, Austar and Optus cable pay television platforms and the Parliament House Television monitoring system. It has further expanded its audience base on the pay television platform via transmission on TransAct (Canberra) and on the Neighbourhood Cable Network (Ballarat, Geelong and Mildura). In addition, NITV successfully negotiated its free-to-air terrestrial transmission in the Sydney metropolitan market on digital channel 40 as part of the Broadcast Australia datacasting trial.
Following a selection process the Department engaged Hugh Watson Consulting Pty Ltd to undertake a terminating program review of NITV, as current Australian Government funding lapses on 30 June 2010. The review commenced on 20 July 2009 and was completed on 16 October 2009. The review looked at NITV as an organisation, its business practices and its governance arrangements and undertook stakeholder consultations with key organisations, NITV staff, management and the Board, and communities.
The review found that NITV has progressed from a fledgling start-up to a medium-sized organisation delivering a nationally distributed Indigenous television service broadcasting an average of 22 hours programming per day. This is considered to be a major achievement as NITV, in media terms, is a relatively new organisation.
Overall, the review found that NITV has in place operational procedures and administrative practices which are generally effective and that financial management and reporting meets most benchmarks. The review report noted, however, that there is room for improvement in some key areas. In relation to the governance of NITV, the review concluded that processes are reasonably well established with necessary policies and procedures in place, but again, there is scope for improvement in some areas.
The Government is currently considering the issue of NITV’s continued operation beyond June 2010.
The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, the Hon Peter Garrett AM MP,has decided that it would be valuable to release a Summary Report on the Findings of the Review of the National Indigenous Television, November 2009to the sector for information.
The Department would like to thank you for your participation in the consultations and for your contribution to the review findings.
Yours sincerely
Dr Paul Salmond
Assistant Secretary
Literature and Indigenous Culture Branch
Culture Division
17November 2009
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