CAAMA & Indigenous Broadcasting

Radio Redfern is an excerpt from the film 88.9 Radio Redfern produced in 1988 by the Film Australia National Interest Program. 88.9 Radio Redfern is a portrait of Sydney’s Aboriginal radio station. This video clip is on the From Wireless to Web website, produced in 2005.

The interview with Christina Spurgeon was recorded for the website.

Christina Spurgeon is a lecturer in Media & Communication in the Creative Industries faculty of the Queensland Universtiy of Technology. You can view her full biography at From Wireless to Web

The website is a selective history of broadcast media in Australia. Decade by decade, from radio and newsreels to TV and the internet, this history shows how the Australian broadcast media developed and shaped the way Australians see themselves.

From Wireless to Web is a Film Australia production in association with Roar Film.

Inquiry Questions
How have the rights and freedoms of Aboriginal peoples and other groups in Australia changed during the post-war period?

Outcomes
A student:
5.1 explains social, political and cultural developments and events and evaluates their impact on Australian life
5.3 explains the changing rights and freedoms of Aboriginal peoples and other groups in Australia
5.8 locates, selects and organises relevant historical information from a number of sources, including ICT, to undertake historical inquiry
5.9 uses historical terms and concepts in appropriate contexts
5.10 selects and uses appropriate oral, written and other forms, including ICT, to communicate effectively about the past for different audiences.

Students Learn About:
changing government policies towards Aboriginal peoples over time, including:

• protection
• assimilation
• integration
• self-determination

Students Learn To:
account for continuity and/or change over time in the relevant study

In 1972 the first Indigenous-produced community radio program went to air on 5UV in Adelaide. Two years later ABC Radio started broadcasting in several Indigenous languages to Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders in Far North Queensland.

At the same time in Alice Springs, two Aboriginal people and their non-Aboriginal associate – John Macumba, Freda Glynn and Phillip Batty- helped to establish the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA). Their goal was that Aboriginal voices be heard throughout the world and for Aboriginal people to take ownership and control of their own future through a strong, vibrant media centre. That goal became a reality in 1980 when the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) was established.

The CAAMA website states:
'The Aboriginal people of Central Australia own CAAMA, and its objectives focus on the social, cultural and economic advancement of Aboriginal peoples. It has a clear mandate to promote Aboriginal culture, language, dance and music while generating economic benefits in the form of training, employment and income generation. CAAMA produces media products that engender pride in Aboriginal culture, and informs and educates the wider community about the richness and diversity of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia.’

Today CAAMA’s radio network broadcasts on 8KIN FM.

1. Find out more about Tiga Bayles using the links below. Use this information to write a radio interview in which Tiga explains why it is important for Aboriginal Australians to be involved in radio.
2. According to Christina Spurgeon, why is Aboriginal radio programming important?
3. Write a letter to the Federal Minister for Communications explaining why Aboriginal radio programming should be given government support. Use the links below to help you to find examples of Aboriginal programming which will help you to support your points.

Go to From Wireless to Web for more about the history of broadcast media in Australia.

Go to Tiga Bayles – one of the legends of Aboriginal broadcasting, CBOnline

Go to Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association