Author : Alasdair Grant, David Howarth (ed)
Date : 12/2011

Widely regarded as the leading text in this field and used extensively by lawyers, public officials, industry practitioners and students, this fully revised new edition incorporates all recent legislative reforms, regulatory decisions and policy initiatives.

This fully revised 4th edition covers all key aspects of telecommunications regulation, including the policy context, industry and institutional structures, the part XIB and XIC competition regimes, regulatory economics, network technologies, spectrum management, and consumer and community issues.
This latest edition is edited by experienced insiders Alasdair Grant and David Howarth, and co-authored by respected experts including economists Joshua Gans, Stephen King and Richard Hayes, Ofcom’s Head of Competition Policy David Stewart, telecommunications engineering experts Paul Brooks and Narelle Clarke, policy advocates Holly Raiche and international telecommunications lawyers Emanuela Lecchi, Mark Toner, Jordan Cox and Karen Lee.

Paperback : 649 pages
Publisher : CCH Australia Ltd 2011
Edition : 3rd (1 February 2004)
Language : English
ISBN : 978-1-921948-89-3

Author : Alasdair Grant (ed)
Date : 2/2004

An accessible but comprehensive overview of Australia’s telecommunications regulatory framework. Written by experienced insiders, it describes the laws and policies affecting competitors and consumers, and the regulatory and self-regulatory bodies that administer them.

The third edition of this book provides an accessible but comprehensive overview of Australia's telecommunications regulatory framework. Written by experienced insiders, it describes the laws and policies affecting competitors and consumers, and the regulatory and self-regulatory bodies that administer them.
The book describes:

• the underlying policy context for the staged transformation of the Australian telecommunications environment from a regulated monopoly to one of open competition


• classifications of industry sectors and the features, rights and obligations pertaining to each


• the regulation of competition, mainly pursuant to the telecommunications-specific provisions of the Trade Practices Act (administered by the ACCC)


• the administration of radiofrequency spectrum, used to provide wireless services such as mobile telephony and satellite broadcasting


• consumer issues, including price caps for basic services, consumer protection schemes, the 'universal service' provisions and the ombudsman scheme

This fully revised third edition features a new chapter on interconnection pricing. Written by Australia's leading experts in the field, Professors Stephen King and Joshua Gans, this chapter explains the basic underlying economic concepts of the regulation of competition in network and other utility industries. Featuring an expanded index for ease of referencing, this new edition incorporates all recent legislative reforms and policy initiatives, including those affecting the telecommunications competition regime, and discusses recent key decisions of the ACCC and other agencies.

Paperback : 320 pages
Publisher : University of New South Wales Press
Edition : 3rd (1 February 2004)
Language : English
ISBN-10 : 0868407747
ISBN-13 : 978-0868407746
Dimensions : 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
Shipping weight : 1.1 pounds

Author : Robert Manne
Date : 5/2005

Left Right Left collects the high points from a lifetime of writing, including essays that have won the George Watson, Alfred Deakin and Queensland Premier's prizes.

Manne's political trajectory - from right to left - has been an unusual and intriguing one. In the course of it, he has written definitive accounts of many of the key public controversies of the past thirty years - from the Cold War to the Iraq War, from the stolen generations to the asylum seekers, from Australian party politics to the culture wars. His two Quarterly Essays, "In Denial" and "Sending them Home", are published here complete, as are controversial discussions of political correctness, pornography and euthanasia as well as gentler thoughts on childhood, the university and the Geelong Football Club. There is also an array of passionate and entertaining essays on subjects ranging from Geoffrey Blainey to Paul Keating, Helen Garner to George Orwell, Pauline Hanson to Noel Pearson.

Paperback : 534 pages
Publisher : Black Inc
Language : English
ISBN : 9781863951425

View description

Free to download

Author : Roy Baker

Date : 10/2003

Precis
In most of Australia juries are used in defamation trials to assess whether a publication is defamatory. One commonly used definition of a defamatory publication is that it tends to cause ordinary reasonable people to think less of the plaintiff. By dissecting the concept of the ordinary reasonable person? as representative of the community, this paper explores two crucial issues. The first is the extent to which juries are permitted and encouraged to consider the views of sub-communities within wider society. The second is the accuracy with which jurors are likely to assess community attitudes, given the phenomenon known as the third person effect, which hypothesises that jurors will consistently underestimate the tolerance of others.

The paper explores the impact of minor, apparently insignificant modifications to the way juries are instructed and their broader ramifications for other forms of jury trials, as well as for freedom of expression in Australia.

This paper presents research-in-progress of the National Defamation Research Project, an unprecedented examination of Australian social attitudes in relation to defamation law. Run by the Communications Law Centre at the University of New South Wales, the Project uses quantitative and qualitative social research methodologies, supplemented by interviews with journalists, defamation lawyers and judges.

Author : Kate MacNeill
Date : 11/2002

This report examines the experience of low income households in the telecommunications environment. It presents the results of a survey of bankruptcy files and the outcome of survey work and focus groups, revealing the different ways in which telecommunications services and products are experienced and the level of telecommunications debt. It draws on broader consumer research to identify appropriate analytical frameworks for the treatment of telecommunications services and observes that, depending on the nature of the household, varying telecommunication services are considered by some as luxury goods and by others as a necessity.

Booklet : 30 pages
Publisher : Communications Law Centre, (November 2002)
Language : English
ISBN : 1875538321
Dimensions : 17.5 x 25 cm
Notes: Bibliography: p. 29

Author : Casson, MacNeill, Wilding
Date : 3/2002

This report presents the results of an extensive survey of households across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory examining the different experience of telecommunications according to household composition, location and income among other factors. The report proposes that telecommunications policy be informed by measures which recognise the diversity of household consumption patterns rather than measuring industry performance against the a hypothetical average household.

Bound report : 103 pages
Publisher : Communications Law Centre, (March 2002)
Language : English
ISBN : 1875538313

Author : Communications Law Centre
Date : 1/2001

This report examines legislative developments dealing with unfair terms in consumer contracts in Europe and the United Kingdom and their relevance to telecommunications regulation in Australia. The primary focus of the research was in the area of "standard form" contracts where the consumer has little if any effective opportunity to influence contract provisions. The research sought to identify legislation elsewhere that might enable consumers to challenge particular provisions in contracts which are unfair to the consumer. It considers the provisions in Australian law offering some protection in this area including common law concepts of unconscionability, trade practices and fair trading laws. A survey of complaints received by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman identifies those provisions within contracts commonly giving rise to consumer complaints.

Bound report : 117 pages
Publisher : Communications Law Centre, (January 2001)
Language : English
ISBN : 1 875538 30 5

Author : Bruce Shearer
Date : 11/1994

Why is it that among the cacophony of radio offered to Australians, only the merest, isolated whispers are directed at children?

Australians aged 12 and under make up 19.4 percent of a total population served by 284 commercial, public and community radio stations. In all those hours of talk and music, there is little more than intermittent efforts for children on a few community stations and on ethnic language programs produced by the Special Broadcasting Service despite formal media policy gravely asserting the importance of children. Social change requires large numbers of children to spend an increasing amount of time being ferried in cars as one- or two-parent families juggle paid work and child care. Almost every vehicle has a radio, but no programs for the child passengers. Increasingly modern society laments the amount of time children spend with television and the adverse effects which too much television may have on kids. Radio, by contrast, may encourage listening skills, the imaginative faculty, self-confidence and interactivity, not passivity. This study finds children’s radio thriving in a variety of First and Third World countries.

The range of potential programming is immense. The importance of involvement by children in the radio produced for them is a recurring theme. In developing countries it is used to send important health messages to populations with little infrastructure and low literacy rates. In regions such as these radio is by far the dominant medium. Radio is an unsurpassed medium for spreading language skills. It may become an important element in Australia enmeshing itself further into Asia. The educational potential of radio is understood because in pre-television years it was explored. The potential remains to be rediscovered. Less recognised is the commercial potential of children’s radio. Children exercise considerable purchasing power, in their own right and through their influence on household buying choices. Easy compatibility exists between the vast children’s book market and radio. As the multimedia age dawns, neglect of the aural element of multimedia products, of which radio is a precursor, may cost Australia dearly. The nexus between radio airplay and selling recorded music is a foundation of adult radio, but neglected in relation to children, thousands of whom consume music and, unlike adults, are actively engaged in learning an instrument, or singing, or dance. But children are a special audience whose vulnerability creates special responsibilities. The ethics of children’s radio require sustained attention. This report argues that these combined factors justify a renewed examination of the potential for children’s radio in Australia and it is intended to stimulate and inform that reappraisal.

Bound report: 47 pages
Publisher: Communications Law Centre LTD 1994
Language: English
ISBN:1 875538 09 7

Author : Maura Bollinger
Date : 1/1999

Produced in the early period of a competitive environment in telecommunications services in Australia this publication presents a survey of international communications service providers practices in the area of customer relationships. Focusing particularly on forms of contracts, complaints handling, service reporting, billing, customer service guarantees and formal consumer consultation mechanisms the research presents findings from companies in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. The report provides the details of company practices in these areas, a summary of their key characteristics and suggestions as to how these might be incorporated into the Australian regulatory regime.

Bound report: Pages 69
Publisher: Communications Law Centre LTD 1999
Language: English
ISBN: 1-875538-26-7

Author : Stephen McElhinney(ed)
Date : 4/1999

The Communications Law Centre hosted a seminar on tendering the universal service obligation (USO) with assistance from Clayton Utz on 14 April 1999. The seminar provided a forum for Government, experts, industry and users to discuss the supply and cost of the USO. Mr Dennis Weller, chief economist with independent telecommunications carrier GTE from Irving Texas was invited by the CLC to provide a perspective on auctioning the USO. The seminar was held as part of a two-year project about rural communications issues Mapping Future Directions for Communications in Rural and Regional Australia. This report is an edited summary of presentations and questions and answers at the seminar. Speakers also included: Senator Richard Alston, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts; Professor Rod Maddock, La Trobe University Business School.

Bound report: Pages 41
Publisher: Communications Law Centre LTD 1999
Language: English
ISBN 1 875538 27 5

Author : Tim Dwyer, Derek Wilding, Helen Wilson, Simon Curtis
Date : 4/2006

This examination of four regional locations – Wollongong, Townsville, Launceston and Toowoomba – demonstrates how the government’s proposed media law reform will affect regional Australia. The research includes a review of media ownership and local content in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US and the UK.

The research includes a review of media ownership and local content in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US and the UK, and an analysis of the impact of the government’s recent discussion paper (Meeting the Digital Challenge: Reforming Australia’s media in the digital age, March 2006) on media ownership and digital television. The CLC conducted research in four regional locations in mid-2005 (Wollongong, Townsville, Launceston and Toowoomba). The results of the research are used to assess proposed four-to-a-market test to guard against further consolidation if the cross-media rules are removed. The report shows that regional centre’s have very few sources of local news and in many locations residents are angry at the poor quality and lack of coverage of major events.
The research was funded by the University of New South Wales and was conducted in mid-2005. Further Information about this research please contact the CLC.

Paperback: 179 Pages
Publisher: Communications Law Centre Limited 2006
Language: English
ISBN 1-875538-34-8

Author : Nick Moustakas
Date : 07/2006

Going, Going, Gone: contains a detailed analysis of laws and regulations that apply to online auctions, extensive feedback from people who buy and sell online, and recommendations and suggestions to help the relevant bodies improve consumer safety. A must for anyone interested in this growing but largely unregulated market.

The report considers whether the current law sufficiently protects Australian consumers who shop at online auctions, and whether legislative or other regulatory intervention is required. In determining this, the following key matters have been investigated:

1. Legal and regulatory issues


2. Consumer knowledge/experience


3. Complaints/dispute resolution procedures


4. Future trends and developments

Paperback: 258 Pages
Publisher: Communications Law Centre Limited 2006
Language: English
ISBN: 1-875538-36-4

Author : Dr Chris Atmore, Dr Derek Wilding and Elizabeth Beal
Date : 1/2006

The report examines disputes between telecommunications providers and people with judgment-related disabilities in Victoria. Judgment-related disabilities can include intellectual disabilities, brain injuries, mental illness and dementia. The report suggest changes to law and policy that could help reduce disadvantage, including ways that telecommunications providers could improve their services, modifications that could be made to key codes and legislation, and ideas to heighten consumer awareness of rights and obligations.

Bound Report: 197 Pages
Publisher: Communications Law Centre 2005
Language: English
ISBN 1-875538-33-X

Author : Dr Scott McQuire
Date : 1997

This report explores the impact of digital technology on sound, editing and image generation practices and the changing production models it has inspired. The report examines the economic impact of digitisation, concluding that Australia's expanding digital post-production sector is well placed to work on international, and in particular Asian, films. In compiling this report, McQuire interviewed several of Australia's most experienced filmmakers and post production staff, including editors Jill Bilcock and Nick Beauman, director Chris Noonan, producer David Elfick and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie. The report was written by Scott McQuire for the Communications Law Centre and is the first in the Screen Industry, Culture and Policy Research series published by the Australian Key Centre for Cultural and Media Policy and the Australian Film Commission as part of a three-year collaborative project supported by the Australian Research Council.

Bound Report: 64 Pages
Publisher: Australian Key Centre for Cultural and Media Policy 1997
Language: English
ISBN 0 646 32732 1