CBAA launches Federal Election advocacy campaign

The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) has launched an advocacy campaign in the lead up to the Federal Election.

The CBAA seeks to translate already-existing support for community broadcasting into better policy for the sector.

There have been two key policy recommendations:

1. “To ensure community broadcasting can operate in an environment of certainty, make all community radio funding recurrent, indexed and ongoing, rather than on allocation.”
2. ” To meet a growing need for development and operations grant funding, expand funding for the Government’s Community Broadcasting Program by an extra $5.1 million annually to allow a larger development and operations grants pool (through the General Sustainability and Development Fund (GSD)) to meet the growing needs of community radio stations.”
   

“Recurrent funding for all sector funding and an increase in funding available for development and operations grants will position community radio to be able to continue its valuable contributions to the diversity of media services and local content made available to Australian communities,” said CBAA CEO Jon Bisset.

 “National listenership figures show that Australians are more supportive of community radio than ever, and, in these times, are turning to community radio for local information and news shared by local voices, as well as Australian and specialist music and content.”

 “Community radio is unique in its platform for a diverse range of viewpoints that enrich the social and cultural fabric of Australian society, for its promotion of the identities of local communities, and for its provision of opportunities for participation in free-to-air public broadcasting.”

 “A commitment to these recommendations is a commitment to a diverse local media that reflects Australia in 2019.”

Funding for a digital rollout is not currently included in the forward estimates from 2021/22.