SBS Act
The Special Broadcasting Service Act 1991
SBS was established as an independent statutory authority on 1 January 1978 under the Broadcasting Act 1942. In 1991 the Special Broadcasting Service Act (SBS Act) came into effect and SBS became a corporation.
SBS operates under the SBS Act 1991 and has a Board of Directors appointed by the Federal Government. Responsibility for SBS lies within the portfolio of the Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts.
The SBS Act provides us with editorial independence from government and our Charter (section 6 of the Act) sets out our principal function "to provide multilingual and multicultural broadcasting and digital media services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians, and, in doing so, reflect Australia's multicultural society".