Allowing the telemarketing industry to self-regulate the Do Not Call Register and identifying more ways to reduce industry red tape are among recommendations for transforming the media and internet regulator.
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While the Australian Communications and Media authority has performed its regulatory role "efficiently and well over the last 10 years", the Department of Communications' review found its governance should be restructured to include five full-time members, including a deputy chair as chief executive, rather than two part-time members and a chair and deputy.
The ACMA has not had a permanent chair since Chris Chapman left in 2016, with Richard Bean acting as chair for the past 15 months.
The review was commissioned in mid-2015 by Malcolm Turnbull when he was communications minister. Current Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said the government supports all 27 recommendations.
Having a five-member full-time authority will "ensure that the ACMA is equipped for the complex task of regulating a dynamic and increasingly integrated communications sector", Senator Fifield said on Monday.
Among the 27 recommendations are that the ACMA examine whether four roles it currently provides can be referred to industry for self-regulation, including the Do Not Call Register and taking action on spam.
The Do Not Call Register is 10 years old and holds about 10 million landline and mobile numbers. It is managed by Salmat under contract to the ACMA, which investigates complaints. The review suggests compliance is high enough that the telemarketing industry could take over management of this register with the ACMA staying on as regulator.
It is recommended that enforcement and investigation of breaches of the Interactive Gambling Act be given to the ACMA. Currently the ACMA can only refer breaches. It has referred more than 120 cases to the Australian Federal Police, which has previously declined to investigate complaints.
Interactive gambling is illegal in Australia, it includes activities such as placing bets while a game is in play and online casino-style games.
The authority may take control of classification from the existing Classification Board. The current scheme is fragmented and split between too many bodies, the review found. The Tax Office may be given responsibility for collecting spectrum and licence fees.
However, the ACMA may lose its cybersecurity programs, which the review recommends be transferred to the Attorney-General's Department, where the Australian Cyber Security Centre is located.
The report also recommends the ACMA publish a report every two years on "initiatives undertaken to identify and reduce regulatory burden on industry and individuals".
Labor's communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland criticised the department for taking so long to release the report, which she said was "of such modest and unremarkable substance".
She said the ACMA needs to be properly funded with capacity to promote principles-based legislation so laws are not outdated too quickly.
"The underlying problem was that this government never really knew why it commenced the ACMA review in the first place, and neither did stakeholders," she said.
