The view from the 2016 Remote Indigenous Media and Communications Survey

It seems a long time ago now in terms of the speed of technology changes but the implications of the digital switchover of television in remote Indigenous communities in late 2013 is still being felt profoundly. Further investigation is required to identify ways in which television can be made available to the more than one-third of people who have reported being without access to television.

The switchover was not just a change of analogue to digital. It also changed how television was delivered in local communities. Television moved from being rebroadcast from terrestrial retransmission facilities to being received via the VAST satellite service via rooftop satellite dishes and set top boxes installed in individual houses. Terrestrial retransmission facilities were shut down.

At the time of the switchover, IRCA expressed concerns about a range of vulnerabilities to which direct-to-home television was prone and the lack of any coordinated maintenance program beyond installation. Accordingly, the 2016 Remote Survey gathered data on the status of the VAST service in remote Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia to assess whether IRCA’s concerns had been realised. 

The results have confirmed IRCA’s initial concerns. Further investigation is required to identify ways in which television can be made available to the more than one-third of people who have reported being without access to television.