Chapter 8: Regional Services
8.1 Importance of Regional Services

One of the key priority areas for the ABC is the provision of regional services. The Committee has previously identified regional services as being a need not adequately covered by commercial broadcasters.

The Committee undertook a number of public hearings throughout regional Victoria. Evidence from rural Victorians highlighted the importance of ABC services in areas such as the regular reporting of emergency service and weather reports and coverage of regional and local events.

The ABC's Regional Services Department was created two years ago largely in response to the 1996 Mansfield Report which recommended:-

"That a revised ABC Charter emphasises the importance of providing services to regional Australia and the need for ABC services generally to reflect Australia's regional and cultural diversity."¹⁰⁰

This section of the Report deals with the following key issues which arose from the Committee's series of regional hearings:-

• lack of regional radio service throughout Victoria particularly in major regional centres such as Ballarat and Geelong;
• the need for greater coverage of local news and information; and
• problems experienced by regional audiences with transmission services.

Before reporting on these issues, it is necessary to review how the ABC defines `regional services'.

100 Mansfield, Bob, op cit, p.9