If you wish to complain about an SBS program or
service this is the page which tells you how to do it.
There are three categories of complaints at SBS there
are General Complaints, Code Complaints, and Closed Captioning Complaints. First decide which category
applies to your complaint and then follow the instructions below:
1)General Complaints
General complaints cover all SBS content and services. You can make a general complaint about
any aspect of SBS content, products or services, with the exception of closed
captioning which has a specific complaint email address (see below).
If you want to make a general complaint about any
aspect of SBS programs or about a program SBS is planning to show then this is the place to have your
say.
General complaints can made by:
Phone: Toll free - 1800 500 727 (toll free)
TTY* - Call NRS on 1800 555 677 and ask for 1800 500
727
Complaint information is collected by SBS and informs
the future directions of the corporation.
While SBS attempts to respond to all general complaints,
it is not always possible to do so. Major
concerns in general complaints are referred to relevant SBS division for their
information and written responses are normally provided.
SBS does not respond to abusive or offensive
correspondence.
2)Code Complaints.
Code complaints cover all SBS content on
any platform online, radio, or television. Code complaints can only be
made after content has been broadcast or been uploaded. All Code
complaints must be received within 6 weeks of the original publication or
broadcast.
Code complaints must allege a possible breach of the
SBS Codes of Practice. The SBS Code of Practice can be foundhere.
Code Complaints cover but are not limited to:
allegations of prejudice, racism and discrimination; the Classification of
content including sex, violence and language; and balance and accuracy issues
involving news and current affairs content.
Code complaints are investigated independently by the
SBS Ombudsman and a written response is provided to complainants as detailed in
Code 9 of SBS Codes of Practice.
The finding of the SBS Ombudsman to a Code complaint
can be reviewed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Code complainants must be Australian residents. If a
complainant is not an Australian resident but is identified in the content
which is the subject of complaint, they may also make a Code
complaint.Complaints are required to provide their name and address.
Broadcasters
are required to comply with rules and standards relating to captioning
television programs for the deaf and hearing impaired (closed captions). These
rules and standards are set out in Part 9D of theBroadcasting Services Act 1992,
and the Broadcasting Services (Television Captioning) Standard 2013 (you can
access these documents atwww.comlaw.gov.au).
In
summary, SBS is required to:
• comply
with the Broadcasting Services (Television Captioning) Standard relating to the
quality of captioning services;
for SBS
• caption
all English language programs broadcast between 6am and midnight;
• caption
all English language news and current affairs programs;
for SBS VICELAND and NITV
• caption
programs previously broadcast on SBSwith captions;
• where
a program is premiered with captions on SBS VICELAND or NITV, provide captions
when the program is broadcast on the other multi-channel service
What are
closed captions?
Closed
captions are a text representation, in English, of a program’s soundtrack.
Closed captions are usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They are
different to open captions or subtitles in that the viewer can choose to access
them or not, that is, they can be turned on or off depending on the viewer’s
preference. Open captions or subtitles cannot be turned on or off.
Closed
captions can be accessed on most digital TV receivers by using the button
marked ‘STTL’ or ‘CC’ (refer to the instructions provided with your television
receiver).
Problems
with closed captions
Closed
captions can be affected by factors outside of SBS’s control such as your
television equipment, and weather conditions around your local transmission
tower. If the captions are not presenting normally you may wish to check with
someone you know who lives nearby to determine whether the problem is specific
to your receiver.
If you
are having technical problems, SBS may be able to assist you – refer to the
contact details under ‘Technical issues concerning transmission, telephone and
online SBS services’ above. For the reasons indicated above, it is important
that you provide SBS with information about your location at the time of your
call (suburb and state is usually sufficient).
Complaints
about closed captions
If you
wish to make a complaint that SBS has breached its captioning obligations (for
example, SBS did not provide a captioning service as required, or you consider
the captions are of poor quality) you must put your complaint in writing and
send it to:
Post: SBS
Captioning Complaints, Locked Bag 028, Crows Nest, NSW
• identify
the program broadcast including, if possible, broadcast date and time and the
channel on which it was broadcast;
• state
the nature of your complaint (for example, no captions).
Complaints
must be received within six weeks of broadcast. SBS will respond to your
complaint within 30 days.
If SBS
has not responded within 30 days you are entitled to make a complaint to the
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) about the matter. If you
consider SBS’s response to be inadequate, you may also make a complaint to the
ACMA. Contact details for the ACMA can be found atwww.acma.gov.au.