Do you want quality captions on TV?

Do you watch TV with closed captions turned on? How often have you given up trying to follow a television program because the captions were too confusing? Have you ever wanted to have the power to make captions better for yourself and other people who rely on them?

Become a Caption Campaigner

Well, now is your chance. Deafness Forum, Deaf Australia and ACCAN are looking for a number of dedicated Caption Campaigners to monitor captions on free-to-air television and send in a complaint whenever the captions do not make sense, aren’t synchronised with the picture, are full of mistakes or missing words.

It’s easy

To make the process as easy as possible, we have developed an easy-to-follow instruction guide on when and how to make complaints about poor quality captions. We will provide all our Caption Campaigners with everything they need to let the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) know when poor quality captions are broadcast on free-to-air television.

Why now?

The government recently changed the broadcasting legislation to include caption quality as a licence condition for free-to-air television. As part of the monitoring and enforcement of these changes the ACMA has developed a quality caption document which will be used to determine if captions are ‘readable and comprehensible’. Our Caption Campaigners will provide the ACMA with the examples they need to test drive their quality caption document.

If you are interested in being a Caption Campaigner please contact Wayne Hawkins at ACCAN on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (02) 9288 4000 or TTY (02) 9281 5322.