AUSTRALIA: Aboriginal Radio Holds Its Own

By Kalinga Seneviratne

BRISBANE, Apr 5 (IPS) - When the Brisbane Indigenous Media Association (BIMA) applied for a community radio license 15 years ago they had to compete with a Christian group which argued that there were more Christians than aborigines in Brisbane and thus merited a license first.

But BIMA was able to convince Australian broadcasting authorities that though there were more Christians than aborigines here, the latter had a greater right to get their voice heard because the Christians were well represented in the rest of the media. BIMA was thus given the license and started broadcast on Apr. 5, 1993.

Started as Radio 4AAA-FM, but popularly known as 98.9 FM, it is the first Australian aboriginal-run community radio station in a major city. Today, as it celebrates its 15th anniversary, 98.9 FM is more a mainstream radio here rather than a fringe community station.

"We happen to be black and we happen to be community radio, but we see ourselves as stakeholders in the mainstream radio industry in Brisbane. We have some 120,000 mainstream ‘white fellow’ listeners a week," Tiga Bayles, general manager and founder of the aboriginal radio station, said in an interview with IPS.

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