Each year, we receive hundreds of applications from community media organisations across Australia seeking support for a range of projects through our Content and Development & Operations grants. In 2020/21 we distributed more than $20.5 million in grants to community radio stations, community TV stations and independent producers partnering with community media organisations.
The following stories are a snapshot of the many projects we supported in 2020/21.
Main FM’s Able Radio is a one-hour weekly radio program presented and produced by people with a disability who share their own experiences, interests and opinions to raise awareness of disabilities. This popular program is about day-to-day life living with a disability in the regional Victorian town of Castlemaine (Dja Dja Wurrung country).
A CBF Content grant in 2020/21 meant that volunteers could continue to create inspirational content for their listeners as they navigated the challenges of rolling lockdowns and changing COVID restrictions, This included a special broadcast for International Day of People with Disabilities.
Caroline Rowe (pictured) is tackling the huge $10 billion worth of food waste in Australia one recipe at a time through her community television show Cookingjust4me mytaste, no waste. Over six episodes Caroline meets with small households (often singles or couples) to show them tips and tricks for minimising food waste and saving money.
A CBF Content grant funded the production of the show and paid for a local camera crew, editor, and music composer, as well as purchasing a camera lens to shoot in variable light. Cookingjust4me is broadcast on Channel 44 Adelaide and Channel 31 Melbourne and Geelong.
Each week during footy season, the National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council puts together a national television footy show at the C31 studios in Melbourne (Wurundjeri country). The Multicultural AFL Footy Show is remixed for over 20 radio stations in eight languages, and is also available on the Community Radio Network with live-call game multi-language broadcasts from AFL stadiums.
With CBF Content support, the program hit their 50th episode milestone in 2020/21 and were able to continue production throughout the Melbourne lockdowns. Presenter Harbir Sing Kang (pictured on the left with Vanessa Gatica, George Grosios and Gabriel D’Angelo) won the 2021 Antenna Award for Diversity Presenter of the Year.
Kids are the future at 2BayFM in Byron Bay (Bundjalung country) with Youth in Action (YIA). The program, which features audio segments and live broadcasts covering climate change, is created and produced by young people aged 12 to 20.
Supported by CBF Content grant funding, YIA and the new youth division of BayFM (known as YAC Radio) are providing training and mentoring in radio and podcast production.
At the inaugural Byron Music Festival, an all-youth team presented two full hours of live radio which has now evolved into a biweekly YAC Radio program broadcast on BayFM and is also available as a podcast.
Nestled in the leafy suburb of Upwey in Victoria (Wurundjeri country) is a community radio station that is making sustainability their core mantra. 3MDR received CBF funding as part of the Bright Futures fund to support future sustainability with a goal to reduce their overall energy costs by 25 percent.
As well as providing a comfortable working space for their volunteers, the installation of split system heating and cooling units and roof insulation is making the station more cost efficient, ensuring an environmental and economically sustainable future.
South Australian Community Broadcasters Association (SACBA) supports local community broadcasters in a number of ways to help them build engagement and financial sustainability.
In 2020/21 the association focused on supporting community broadcasters in metro Adelaide and regional South Australia by successfully negotiating a 30 percent reduction in the annual transmission site rental for six major Adelaide stations, and running an off-grid economic trial of sub-500W transmitters for reliable emergency broadcasting and future cost savings for stations.
ICTV in Alice Springs (Arrernte country) provides cultural and community content for remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders communities so people stay connected and informed.
ICTV faced many challenges through the pandemic including the loss of sponsorship and fundraising income, increased expenses related to staff working from home, and the need to respond to requests from community for COVID-19 messaging and distance education.
With CBF Development & Operations grant funding ICTV were able to upgrade their audio/live-mixing equipment for their TV studio to ensure they can respond to these requests, and also employ a Digital Officer.
Edge Radio is a dedicated youth community broadcasting station located on the Sandy Bay campus of the University of Tasmania. After their current transmission site was sold, the station needed to find a new location for their transmitter and funding to pay for the move.
With CBF Development & Operations grant support the Edge Radio team moved to their new site in Acton Park (Nipaluna country) with minimal downtime. This meant they could quickly return to what they do best – keeping their audiences entertained and up-to-date with local news, information and at least 50 percent Australian music (including from local Tasmanian musicians).
About our grants
We run two Content and Development & Operations grant rounds each year, usually in January and July. You can check when our next grant round is open on the key dates page.
Quick Response Grants are also available outside our grant rounds for community media organisations that are experiencing emergencies.
To hear the latest updates about our grants subscribe to our enewsletter, Broadcast, and follow us on Facebook.
Main photo: Bec Petraitis and Kate Dehnert from Media Breakdown, a TV series produced by Stupid Old Studios in partnership with Auspicious Arts. The series was funded through a CBF Content grant.