Elements of Crown licence agreements

Licence agreements have some common elements, in two main categories. These are:

• elements that might be made identical across all types of licence — for example:
  • the overall structure and format of the agreement;
  • implementation ('use or lose') conditions;
  • compliance monitoring mechanisms;
  • compliance enforcement mechanisms; and
     
• elements that may vary between different types of licence — for example:
  • Government's policy objectives;
  • governance conditions (who may own and operate a licence);
  • licence agreement duration (date of expiry and conditions of renewal);
  • revenue conditions (funding of the broadcasting operation); and
  • content requirements or restrictions.