MORE PAY TV CAPTIONING WELCOMED

15 June 2004
82/04

Millions of Australian viewers will have the opportunity to benefit from plans to increase the level of captioning on pay television.

I welcome the recent agreement between the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and pay TV providers through the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) to increase the number of programs provided with captions by five per cent each year.

This will not only improve the quality of television viewing for Australians who are hearing impaired, it will also help older viewers and those for whom English is not their first language.

The Howard Government is committed to ensure that the deaf and hearing impaired community can enjoy the benefits of broadcasting services.

We have legislated to require free-to-air broadcasters to caption programming to ensuring that captioning services are made available on both analogue and digital services.

And Australian captioning standards are generally high by international standards.

The agreement between HREOC and pay TV providers demonstrates a commendable commitment by industry to raise that standard even higher.


Media Contact: Carina Tan-Van Baren (02) 6277 7480 or 0439 425 373