ACMA imposes new broadcasting rules for Kyle Sandilands and for Jackie O

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has today finally imposed the additional licence conditions for ARN and the Kyle & Jackie O Show following repeated breaches of the decency provision of the Commercial Radio Code of Practice. Lest this seem like closing the barn door when horse has already bolted the new conditions will remain in force for 5 years and will apply additionally to other programs hosted by or featuring Kyle Sandilands and/or Jacqueline Henderson.

Enforcement actions available to the ACMA in the event of breaches by ARN, Kyle or Jackie of these additional licence conditions include court‑enforceable undertakings, remedial directions, civil penalties, or suspension or cancellation of the broadcasting licence.

ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said:

“To date ARN management have been unwilling or unable to control the content that has gone to air. These additional licence conditions mean further breaches will attract strong enforcement action that was not otherwise available to the ACMA.

This requirement is designed to strengthen foundational governance structures and reduce the risk of further non‑compliance. The ball is now firmly in ARN’s court to take control of the content they are responsible for.”

In 2025 the ACMA found 9 breaches of the decency provisions of the Code of Practice by the Kyle and Jackie O Show. The conditions now also require the licensees to commission an independent audit of their governance framework by a qualified compliance expert, provide the report and its recommendations to the ACMA, and implement the recommendations within an agreed timeframe.

Content from the investigated broadcasts included:

• Two episodes of a guessing game where audio clips of male and female staff members urinating were aired, with hosts guessing which audio belonged to which staff member. Both episodes included comments about the genitals of participants, and in the female staff member episode, graphic comments about menstruation and oral sex.
• A game where a contestant provided an offensive description of a sexual position.
• A segment which contained lewd discussions about masturbation and pornography websites.

Prior to these the ACMA had already taken a range of enforcement actions available to it under the broadcasting co-regulatory system for further breaches made between 2019 and 2022. ARN then employed two censors for the program.

Tomorrow, Tuesday March 17, is the deadline for Kyle Sandilands to remedy his breach of ARN’s services agreement after the on-air disagreement with Jackie on Friday February 20. Jackie has not been on air since that date, Kyle since Tuesday March 3.

The additional licence conditions have been published for the ARN licensees, Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation and Double T Radio, as have the ACMA’s Statement of Reasons for the decisions for Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation and Double T Radio.