It was good news for the community broadcasting sector with the handing down of the 2022 Australian Federal Government budget.
The $4m drop in non-recurring funds anticipated at the end of this financial year has been rectified, effectively maintaining sector funding levels in the forward estimates.
This was the pre-election commitment of the now Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland who announced that the ALP would provide $12m to maintain community broadcasting funding and give the sector the funding certainty it needs beyond the next year.
Pleasingly, the budget goes further than the election commitment.
The Government has announced that the $4m per year is ONGOING, securing the sector’s minimum base level of funding at just over $20m per annum.
On top of that good news, the Government has also announced a special indexation adjustment that will boost our funding by approximately $440k each year for the next four years. This is a part of a broader package of half a billion dollars to essential community services.
For those who appreciate detail and comparisons, here are the forward estimates from last year’s budget to this year’s.
Budget October 2022-23
2021-22 estimated actual 20.149m
2022-23 Budget 20.975m
2023-24 Forward estimate 21.838m
2024-25 Forward estimate 22.345m
2025-26 Forward estimate 22.721m
Previous Budget May 2022 (for comparison)
2022-23 $20.531m
2023-24 $16.796m
2024-25 $17.200m
2025-26 $17.544m