The Australian Press Council (APC) is disappointed at the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance’s (MEAA) decision to give notice to withdraw from the APC. However, it welcomes its commitment to remain as a member for the next four years.

While the APC does not agree with all of the observations in the MEAA press release, it does recognise the need for the self-regulatory regime to evolve to take account of convergence across all media platforms.

The APC’s publisher members agree to comply with its binding Standards of Practice. These are periodically updated and Advisory Guidelines issued following community consultation, the most recent of which is the Advisory Guideline for reporting on people with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.

Material is evaluated against the Standards of Practice by the APC’s Adjudication Panels, which are independent of publishers, and which make an Adjudication decision which the publisher member is compelled to publish.

For more information, please contact Dorothy Kennedy, the Australian Press Council’s media advisor, at dorothy.kennedy@presscouncil.org.au or call the Press Council on (02) 9261 1930.