To be a migrant is a dislocating and often lonely experience, no matter what the circumstances of arrival in Australia.  Expat Brits, South Africans and Kiwis, get their ‘fix’ of home on websites such as Poms In Oz, (www.pomsinoz.com), Rainbow Nation (http://www.rainbownation.com/au ) and Stuff.co.nz (www.stuff.co.nz) But for many non-English speaking migrants, community radio quickly becomes their link to their original culture as they settle in to Australia.

Community radio provides a “home on the airwaves” for arrivals.   Here, they keep up with news from their country of origin, follow the fortunes of their hometown footy team, access local community news and, most importantly, listen to ethnic music.  Community radio is a vital part of the assimilation process for non-English speaking migrants, providing a vital link between their own culture, and Australian culture and helping to maintain community connections and networks. Far from separating non-English speakers from “mainstream” Australia, a recent study by Griffith University found that community radio greatly helps in the process for non-English speaking migrants.+

Communications on community radio can be specifically targeted by both language and location.   Since the early 1990s, Radio 2MIA in the regional centre of Griffith, New South Wales has added Tongan, Fijian and Samoan to its programming, as the community of agricultural guest workers from the Pacific Islands has continued to grow.

The programming on Wollongong’s 2VOX reflects this community’s steeltown roots with programming in the languages of the post-war arrivals – Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian and Bosnian.  For older migrants, community radio fulfils an important need for cultural maintenance,

The Somali community of Australia is too small and geographically dispersed to afford their own newspaper.   Furthermore, the Somali culture is oral and literacy levels in this community are low.  Community radio permits access to the Somali language, music and news on a suburb-specific basis in both Melbourne and Sydney.

Large multi-lingual stations such as 2000FM in Sydney, 4EB in Brisbane, 3ZZZ in Melbourne, 5EBI in Adelaide and 6EBA in Perth provide airtime access to an incredibly diverse range of non-English speaking communities.

Daniel Laforest of community media representation company Spots & Space says:  Community radio is extremely adaptable, in part because it is a not-for-profit sector – the stations are able to adapt quickly to the needs of emerging communities. There is without a doubt an advantage to advertising on community radio to new arrivals, they tend to establish their buying habits early on and there are good opportunities to ‘own’ the market before the media consumption habits broaden.

Melbourne’s 3ZZZ runs “Starting Out”, a media-training project for refugees.  Trainees Lilian Abbew and Yaa-dufie “Emilia” Otteng are collaborating to build the foundation for a rich multilingual program for Ghanaians in Melbourne.

Community radio in Australia is a powerful grassroots medium. For advertisers, non-English language community radio is a practical and cost-effective communications channel.  For the listeners, community radio is a friendly voice and a vital part of life in Australia.

+ Griffith University: Dr Sudan Forde, Associate Professor Michael Meadows and Dr Jacqui Ewart