Caroline Hammat
Celebration planning began last week for Millicent’s community radio station when the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) announced the station’s successful application for a five-year community broadcast licence.
5the FM have been operating on a temporary licence for the past 10 months after losing their long-term licence in December 2022.
It has been a long journey for the station as a new board was installed November 2022 following a vote of no confidence in the former management and board.
On gaining entry to the station it was discovered debts of around $100,000 and the immediate threat of having their utilities disconnected.
5the FM chair David Walshaw acknowledged the Millicent Lions Club for their assistance.
“When we took this station over and saw the state of the bank accounts and the number of bills that were due to be paid, I went down and gave them a small presentation,” he said.
“Without hesitation they gave us $3,000 to keep our electricity on, keep the phone lines on, and stop our water being cut off.
“It really kickstarted us getting on air and we have never looked back, it’s been very successful.”
The station has since cleared all outstanding debts and through fundraising, sponsorship, membership, donations and grant applications have upgraded the studios and equipment.
Mr Walshaw said news of the five-year licence now allowed the station to put long term plans into action.
“We’ve got some critical infrastructure upgrades we want to do to the station such as air conditioning in studio one” he said.
“We want to have warmth in there for winter because it does get quite cold and we need some air conditioning upgrades in the admin office because our office staff need to be comfortable as well.”
Other long term plans include sourcing a van and equipment to allow for outside broadcasts (OB) and talking to the local high school about being a part of the media studies curriculum.
“We had an OB van here but it rotted out in the weather and the technology has moved on, quite a significant amount of technology in that van is now obsolete” Mr Walshaw said.
“We want to be geared up for next year’s football season and livestream from the grounds in our local catchment area.
“So a big focus for us is our OB work and to do that we need some grants to buy some equipment.
“While we have been successful with local community based grants the industry specific grants required us to have a long term licence.
“Now we will be able to apply for those with the five-year licence.”
Since the new board was installed the membership has grown from one to over 200 and a volunteer base of 22 are keeping local content on air for 24 hours a day which was recognised as an achievement by ACMA.
“Usually when the live shows finish for the day we would go to satellite which is mixed content and a bit hit and miss for us” Mr Walshaw said.
“So one of our presenters, Paul Mac, has put programs together.
“When the last presenter leaves here at night they switch onto Paul’s program and it is just like someone is here.”
The station continues to introduce new initiatives with the Filipino program proving popular with the local community and station software showing it being streamed in the Philippines.
Friday Fun Day has turned into a social gathering of presenters and station volunteers who are on hand each week between 10am and 12pm.
Anyone interested in volunteering at the station or becoming a member are welcome to visit on Fridays for a chat and a station tour.
“We are very thankful that the ACMA gave us a temporary broadcast licence to continue on air, and of course we are very happy to have been able to satisfy their requirements for a long term licence as well.”
ACMA released a statement saying Millicent Community Access Radio (MILCAR), who use the 107.7 FM frequency were the sole applicant for the five-year licence.
The application was recognised for its commitment to build a sustainable on-air service with strong governance structures.
“Over the last ten months MILCAR has demonstrated that it is committed to the Millicent community and is providing local programming on the 5THE FM service,” ACMA member Creina Chapman said.
“MILCAR currently has a healthy membership base and is looking to increase volunteer participation in the station.
“We look forward to MILCAR delivering on the ambitions set out in its application for more local content and community participation in the 5THE FM service.”
Current members, sponsors and intending members are all invited to the station on Saturday from noon to celebrate the success with champagne and a sausage sizzle.
Membership forms will be available on the day with an annual membership costing $10 for individuals.
