ACMA Restricted Access Systems Discussion Paper Submission

We recently had the opportunity to respond to the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) discussion paper on its review of the Restricted Access System Declaration 2007(Discussion Paper).  Our complete submission can be found here.

In general, ACMA’s review of the 2007 Declaration provides us with a useful opportunity to consider the effectiveness of the current regulation and identify any amendments that could be made in the short term ahead of any further significant reforms that may be introduced as a result of the ALRC review of Australia’s National Classification System in 2012.  Restricting access to online adult content was one of the many issues explored by the ALRC.

Our recommendation was that the 2007 Declaration be amended so that the restricted access system requirements are less prescriptive and instead, that they be consistent with the Australian Law Reform Commission’s recommendations and simply require content services to take ‘reasonable steps’ to restrict access to prohibited content.