The Kyle & Jackie O Show breaches decency and complaint handling rules

For the second time this year ARN‘s the Kyle and Jackie O Show has been found to be in breach of the Commercial Radio Code of Practice by The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), this time on multiple occasions and an additional breach of the complaint handling rules.

The March breach findings referred to comments made in the early days of their launch into Melbourne and that the station did not respond to a listener complaint within 30 days of receipt. This time the ACMA investigations were into content that went to air between August and December 2024.

The ACMA found three breaches of decency rules by the Melbourne licensee, KIIS 101.1, for content broadcast on the program, as well as four breaches of the decency rules by the Sydney licensee, KIIS 106.5, and the breach of the complaint handling rules.

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.

In total, the ACMA have found 12 breaches for the show with ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said the findings indicate systemic issues with the program:

“The Kyle & Jackie O Show has repeatedly and deliberately aired content that is vulgar, sexually explicit and deeply offensive.

Even after previous breaches and the employment of additional censors required by the ACMA, the program continues to broadcast content that is unacceptable to the community.

ARN as the licensee of these stations appears unwilling or unable to rein in these presenters. As a result, the ACMA is currently considering enforcement actions so that ARN takes full responsibility for the content broadcast on their stations.”

What those enforcement actions are remain to be seen but this is Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O‘s most serious warning yet around the content in their show. It is worth noting that none was from any program aired in 2025 after they promised to behave.

Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radio Today.