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Safeguarding community voice in Australian media

By CBAA Comms posted 18 days ago

  
Safeguarding community voice in Australian media

Election 2025: Policy recommendations for community broadcasting 

Community broadcasters have issued the following policy blueprint for all political parties and candidates contesting the 2025 Federal Election.

Australia’s media landscape is becoming more influenced by global, online and unregulated forms of media content. Australian media ownership is becoming more concentrated and centralised, with most outlets headquartered and staffed in Australia’s east coast capital cities. In this context, Australian Government support is vital to strengthen over 500 independent, locally-embedded, democratic, community-controlled radio and television services across Australia.

For Australia’s remote and regional areas, and communities that speak languages other than English, having locally-produced news, information and entertainment that brings together local communities is especially important. Australian communities value their community radio and television broadcasting services. Over 18,000 Australians volunteer for community stations, over 5 million Australians tune in each week and over 2/3 of station income is raised through community sources: in 2023, community broadcasters raised $84.7m from community sources including listener fundraising, memberships and subscriptions, donations and grants from community groups and local business and other sponsors.

Australia has a proud, bi-partisan history of providing Government support for community broadcasting activities. These services provide for community voice in the media and give all Australians choice about the media they listen to beyond the ABC, SBS and commercial services. Government funding for community broadcasting contributes 7% of revenue for community broadcasters.

2025 Election priorities for community broadcasting are as follows: 

  1. Secure and reliable funding 

All Federal Government programs of support for community broadcasting are secured with ongoing and indexed funding that provides security and certainty for all community broadcasting organisations. 

  1. Investing in our Independence 

All Federal Government funding for community broadcasting is delivered through independent, sector-governed and transparent grant allocation processes managed at arms-length from Government. 

  1. New support to tackle misinformation, emergencies and support Australian music 

New, additional funding is considered to enable community broadcasters to play a bigger role addressing key areas of concern for communities including: 

  • playing an enhanced role in providing hyperlocal emergency broadcasting services by developing sector capability, technology and facilities;
  • addressing misinformation and disinformation by assisting community broadcasters to diversify their services to be available online, on-demand and through social media platforms; and
  • supporting diverse local Australian music and arts industry development through project funding for stations that are integral to the success of their local arts scene. 

 

  1. More efficient regulation  

Legislative and regulatory reforms to enhance community broadcasting sustainability should be delivered in the first year of a new parliament, responding to the Department’s 2025 Community Broadcasting Sustainability Review. Proposed reforms should: 

  • increase flexibility for community broadcasting income development and maintain community broadcasters’ independence and focus on serving the community; 
  • expand diverse community broadcasting services for contemporary Australian communities;
  • cut red tape and reduce the regulatory burden for community broadcasters related to both licencing processes and broadcasting operations;
  • deliver a legislated radio prominence framework that ensures Australian licenced radio broadcasting services remain freely and easily accessible for all Australians on modern audio devices, including internet-connected vehicles and smart speakers; and
  • ensure the future of community television by bringing its broadcast video on demand service within the legislated television prominence framework through Ministerial determination. 

 

Community broadcasting funding  

In the current term, the Government has taken significant steps to secure funding for community broadcasting: 

  1. Funding programs have been reviewed and options tabled to increase the sector’s impact. 

  1. The base funding amount for the Community Broadcasting Program (CBP) has been: 

    1. indexed to keep up with costs moving forward.

    2. base funding amounts are confirmed as ongoing. 

  1. Top-up funding of $5 million per year for three years (FY26-FY28) has been provided for the CBP (this funding is not indexed and not committed as ongoing funding). 

  1. Top up funding of $4 million per year for three years (FY26-FY28) has been provided for the Indigenous Broadcasting and Media Program (IBMP). 

 

The Australian public would significantly benefit from the following additional support for community broadcasting: 

  1.  $116.7 million over four years to support and build the sustainability and capacity of news organisations to deliver public interest journalism and local news under the News Media Assistance Program (NewsMAP); and 

  1. A new competitive grant program of up to $10 million for eligible multicultural media organisations. (Subject to program guidelines). 

 

The CBAA looks forward to continuing to work productively with the Government in the coming term to ensure that the sector’s future is secured and community broadcasters can continue to deliver significant benefits to Australia in line with and Roadmap 2033. 

Questions 

For more information about community broadcasting and our future see below or contact CBAA Chief Executive Officer Jon Bisset at [email protected]u or (02) 9310 2999.  

 

About Community Broadcasting  

Community broadcasters deliver over 500 AM/FM/DAB+ services and two dedicated TV services that reach over 5.19 million people across Australia each week – almost one-quarter (24.8%) of Australians. Driven by over 18,000 volunteers and almost 1,000 employees working for the wellbeing of their communities, community broadcasting plays an increasingly important role in connecting Australian communities that are underserved by media, enriches and strengthens Australia’s social and cultural fabric and amplifies the voices of Australian communities.  

Regional and remote Australia 

  • Over 70% of licensees are based in regional and remote areas.  

  • 62% of regional listeners say their main reason to tune in is for local information and news. 

First Nations Australians 

  • 34 organisations provide 143 services, the great majority in regional and remote areas. 

  • Over one third (35%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listen to community radio during a typical week. 

  • Australians from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background are 44% more likely than the general population to listen to community radio. 

Multicultural Australia 

  • 1.50 million Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) people listen to community radio. 

  • Over one quarter of people (29%) who regularly speak a language other than English in their household listen to community radio each week. 

  • Community radio broadcasts in-language to over 110 different languages. 

Australian Music 

  • On average, community radio stations broadcast 38% Australian music each week. 

  • 31% of our listeners say hearing Australian music is the main reason they tune in. 

Disaster Resilience and Crises 

  • When power, internet and mobile reception go down, community radio stations play a critical role to distribute emergency response information especially in regional and remote communities.  

  • Before, during and after emergencies, local staff and volunteers work tirelessly to support and connect communities.  

  • Hyper-local networks and knowledge make community broadcasting stations essential in preparing for, responding to and recovering from disasters. 

  • Community broadcasting services reach culturally and linguistically diverse communities and people with a print disability with critical information in times of crises. 

People with disability 

  • The Radio Reading Network provides 19 AM/FM radio services nationally with 668,000 listeners each month. 

  • We are now working to increase representation of disability in media, improve how disability is portrayed and improve community attitudes towards people with disability in line with Australia’s Disability Strategy. 

Faith-based communities 

  • Including 36 Christian radio stations and 1 Muslim station. 95% of listeners to Christian community radio say their station has a positive impact in their lives and helps them grow spiritually (88%) and relationally (74%). 

About the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) 

Founded in 1974, the CBAA is the national peak body for community broadcasting licensees. As a cultural organisation established for the promotion of community broadcasting, both radio and television, we are proud to have over 90 % of all community radio and television licensees as members. 

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