Revisiting the debate about public service media exceptionalism

The development of public service broadcasters (PSBs) in the 20th century was framed around debates about its difference compared to commercial broadcasting. These debates navigated between two poles. One concerned the relationship between non‐commercial sources of funding and the role played by statutory Charters as guarantors of the independence of PSBs. The other concerned the relationship between PSBs being both a complementary and a comprehensive service, although there are tensions inherent in this duality. In the 21st century, as reconfigured public service media organisations (PSMs) operate across multiple platforms in a convergent media environment, how are these debates changing, if at all? Is the case for PSM “exceptionalism” changed with Web‐based services, catch‐up TV, podcasting, ancillary product sales, and commissioning of programs from external sources in order to operate in highly diversified cross‐media environments? Do the traditional assumptions about non‐commercialism still hold as the basis for different forms of PSM governance and accountability? This paper will consider the question of PSM exceptionalism in the context of three reviews into Australian media that took place over 2011‐2012: the Convergence Review undertaken through the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy; the National Classification Scheme Review undertaken by the Australian Law Reform Commission; and the Independent Media Inquiry that considered the future of news and journalism.

Secure and safe water supplies in remote Australian and rural Sri Lankan regions : common issues and emerging responses

Most urban dwelling Australians take secure and safe water supplies for granted. That is, they have an adequate quantity of water at a quality that can be used by people without harm from human and animal wastes, salinity and hardness or pollutants from agriculture and manufacturing industries. Australia wide urban and peri-urban dwellers use safe water for all domestic as well as industrial purposes. However, this is not the situation remote regions in Australia where availability and poor quality water can be a development constraint. Nor is it the case in Sri Lanka where people in rural regions are struggling to obtain a secure supply of water, irrespective of it being safe because of the impact of faecal and other contaminants. The purposes of this paper are to overview: the population and environmental health challenges arising from the lack of safe water in rural and remote communities; response pathways to address water quality issues; and the status of and need for integrated catchment management (ICM) in selected remote regions of Australia and vulnerable and lagging rural regions in Sri Lanka. Conclusions are drawn that focus on the opportunity for inter-regional collaborations between Australia and Sri Lanka for the delivery of safe water through ICM.