Formal planning for the introduction of digital radio into Australia began in the early-1990s when the Government brought together the first of many committees who have explored the issues associated with the new platform.

Several digital radio trials have also taken place, including one in Melbourne that involved community broadcasters 3MBS, 3ZZZ, 3RPH, and Triple R. These stations tested the possibilities of digital radio by providing full-time Greek languages, a system to provide artist information, and several concert feeds were also broadcast.

Following these trials, and many more committees, during the 2004 Federal Election the Government committed to working with industry and stakeholders to develop a policy for digital radio. In October 2005, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts announced a framework to guide the introduction of digital radio into Australia.

The legislation to give effect the framework, the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Digital Radio) Bill 2007, was passed in May 2007. This provides a clear outline for the introduction of digital radio.

Community broadcasters will initially have access to limited digital capacity in capital city markets and a level of funding to support initial infrastructure costs.

In the immediate term the community broadcasting sector welcomes the digital radio framework and the related legislation as an opportunity to add digital value to its analogue presence. Community broadcasters are excited by the chance to be innovative in how they manage use of digital capacity and in the services they can provide.

There are, however, a number of challenges for community broadcasters. The Minister’s digital radio framework outlines a staged rollout of digital radio services, beginning in the six state capitals from 2009. As a result, the initial involvement of community broadcasters is limited to forty ‘wide-coverage’ stations.

The CBAA continues to argue for the full involvement of all community broadcasters, including sub-metros and stations in rural and regional areas. However, the Government hasn’t committed to a full rollout of digital radio throughout Australia and its policy is that digital radio will supplement existing analogue radio services for a considerable period and may never be a complete replacement.

A second challenge for community broadcasters is the way in which the allocation of digital capacity is managed. All wide-coverage community broadcasters in state capital cities receive a combined allocation of digital spectrum and work together to figure out how it’s used. New encoding technologies may enable more efficient use of the spectrum so that better use can be made of the available capacity.

The nature of the digital radio technology being introduced into Australia requires the establishment of new content, management, and technical structures. For further information, see Digital Basics and Digital Radio Policy.