Community broadcasters have been recognised for their role supporting communities in the pandemic by the Australian Governments Covid-19 Response Inquiry Report. The CBAA made submissions to the Commonwealth Government COVID-19 Response Inquiry Taskforce about the sector’s role during the pandemic and future changes that could strengthen community resilience to health crises.
The report highlights media organisations as important in reaching specific audiences. It calls out community broadcasters and local news organisations as vital – ‘community broadcasters served as vital information source for people in regional and remote Australia; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; culturally and linguistically diverse, youth communities and older Australians’.
During the beginning of the pandemic 16 March and 7 May 2020, over 30,000 plays of government health messages were broadcast by community broadcasters, reaching a potential audience of approximately 1,578,000 listeners weekly.
The recognition heralds community broadcasters as a critical platform for ensuring all Australians have equal access rights to government information, messaging and resources during emergencies.