CBAA submissions highlight value of community radio in floods

The CBAA has made submissions to the NSW Government on the vital role played by local community broadcasters during the 2022 flooding and other emergencies.

The NSW Government has had two inquiries open during May: the 2022 NSW Flood Inquiry and the Inquiry into the response to major flooding across New South Wales. The CBAA has made a submission to both inquiries.

Our submissions emphasise the need for Government recognition of the valuable role community broadcasters play during natural disasters, in informing communities and contributing to community connection and resilience. We explain how community radio stations worked hard to keep their communities up to date with emergency warnings and information when internet and phone lines were down. We describe how stations again played and are playing a critical role in the response to the floods through fundraising efforts, acting as catalysts for community dialogue and building resilience, helping combat social isolation and, importantly, connecting people to the critical services they need.

We recommend that Resilience NSW establish more formal relationships with community broadcasters, who want to and have the resources to be official emergency broadcasters and that the NSW Government should collaborate with our sector on a project to examine the future risks and needs of community broadcasters to ensure their critical services remain resilient and on-air during natural disasters, emergencies and in recovery.

Our submissions can be accessed on our Submissions Page.