Industry engagement brings benefits

The year has started with a flurry of activity for ARCIA, including our committee planning sessions in early February, this year spread over two days rather than just one. Two days meant we had more time to delve a little deeper into what our plans should be for the coming year, and this resulted in a list with over 20 action points for us to work on.

It was particularly pleasing to see that the 20-odd committee members and supporters who attended had all been involved in subcommittee discussions ahead of the event. This meant we had an agenda that was based on identified items, and so the discussions were always pertinent and productive. Over the coming months you will see actions coming up in the training and membership areas, as well as much activity from our spectrum committee. It was also great to be able to welcome around a dozen of our partner representatives and have them join our discussions as well.

In addition to our planning days in February, we have also responded to an ACMA discussion paper on its five-year spectrum outlook (FYSO). This document will be the main vehicle for the ACMA to identify the items they will be prioritising in their works over the coming years, as well as a report back to stakeholders on progress on existing work plans. Our ARCIA representatives have been involved in multiple meetings and working groups regarding the new Radiocommunications Act, and the FYSO changes are one of the results of those efforts.

Already this year we have had more meetings and workshops with the Department of Communications and the Arts regarding the Spectrum Review and associated changes. The latest round of discussions covered things such as third-party authorisations and private band management, both of which will continue to involve our industry. ARCIA receives much recognition from this involvement and we are accepted as being able to take part in reasonable discussions on many disparate segments of the spectrum — our opinions are well-respected and we are seen to present sensible and practical suggestions regarding our own spectrum segments.

As part of our planning day our website committee took the opportunity to split the full committee up into small teams and work through the contents of our existing website and prepare the details for our new one. The new site has been a long, slow progress but things are starting to happen, as many of the actions we want to open up in the future depend upon having additional information on our website. In conjunction with this, our website committee has developed a communications and marketing plan that will see our social media presence highlighting more of our achievements, as well as being the notification point for our events. If you don’t already follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn, then now is the time to get on board.

Looking to the next couple of months, we will have representatives at Comms Connect New Zealand and the RFUANZ dinner in Auckland on 2–3 May, then in June we will attend the Wimmera Careers event at Horsham, followed by the Sydney dinner and Comms Connect Sydney later in June — watch the websites for details. You might also receive requests to assist us in several areas… so if you are asked, please help — ARCIA is very keen to continue to work for the best interests of our industry, but we do need your help as well.

Hamish Duff, President

Australian Radio Communications Industry Association