ABSTRACT
Recognition of the importance of radio came about in Australia with the introduction of the Wireless and Telegraphy Act 1905. This brought about federal control of the medium of communication by wireless, mainly for navigational purposes. Perhaps the most notable pioneer of radio in Australia was Ernest Fisk. Back in Australia, on March 1922 the country's first 'live' broadcast took place, transmitted from the stage of Her Majesty's Theatre in Sydney. The oldest still-functioning commercial station in Australia is 2UE Sydney. Part of the history of radio in Australia was the establishment of the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the School of the Air in outback areas during the late 1920s and early 1930s. In 1974 the first three public broadcasting stations in Australia were opened. The three dominant sectors of Australian radio—commercial, public and community—all have different approaches to run their stations, the way they interact with their listeners and the way they make their programs.
