Senator Ludlum asked:

a) Given the recent ACMA decision to discontinue the Broadcast Australia trial digital datacasting service in Sydney on 30 April 2010; and given that National Indigenous TV
(NITV) is carried on that service; and given that the Sydney area features the largest single concentration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who have come to rely on NITV's availability, what are the government's intentions to help NITV continue to be available as a free to air service in Sydney after 30 April 2010?

b) Is it true that the frequency on which TVS will operate in the Sydney market is capable of also transmitting NITV as a discrete 24 hour free-to-air digital terrestrial standard
definition TV service?

c) Would the Minister allow NITV to broadcast in Sydney if spectrum were available?

d) Given that NITV was created as a national service and to benefit Indigenous Australians wherever they live, does the Government have a digital terrestrial migration plan for
NITV, and when will it announce one?

Answer:
a) NITV lies within the portfolio responsibilities of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. The future of NITV is a matter for consideration in the context of
the 2010-11 budget.

b) A broadcasting spectrum channel is capable of accommodating more than one digital service. However, TVS is being funded by Government and licensed to only provide one
digital channel prior to the end of 2013.

c) See (a) above.

d) See (a) above.