National Features & Documentary Series: Recent Episodes
Community Broadcasting Association of Australia
From water and drought to coal mines in small towns, a neighbourhood's safe-injecting room to the Country Women's Association's brand of feminism, each year these and more stories are told by Australian communities in their own words through the National Features and Documentary Series.
City to the bush, coast to coast, since 2013 the NFDS has commissioned audio works from all over Australia by budding community radio producers.
Produced for the Community Radio Network at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia with training and mentoring from the Community Media Training Organisation.
From 106.9 Vox FM in Wollongong, Dee Milenkovic shares a tale that is attached to a national scandal, the story of the Ruby Princess when it hit the docks in Port Kembla.
Supervising production from Sharon Davis. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2021 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
When I heard about the “death ship” berthing in my town, I saw fear turn to hatred as people scrambled to keep our community safe from the infested Ruby Princess cruise ship.
Then one day, a lone voice of compassion cut through the sea of anger and panic and showed us that we weren’t helpless against a viral enemy.
My documentary tells the story of how this man’s compassionate action turned the tide in one of Australia’s most sensational public health disasters.
Special Thanks John Kewa, the star of the show Mark Sleigh, Destination Wollongong Justin Huntsdale, ABC Illawarra Nicole Dillon, go-getting local Unnamed local fisherman, vox pop interviewee Peter Ernst, Port Authority boss Sharon Davis, mentor extraordinaire Chris Yates, sfx and tech guru Giordana Caputo, the very patient CMTO big boss Abe Killian, CRN good guy My beautiful boy, who cheered me through every win and hugged me through every freak-out during the making of this documentary The VOX FM Board of Directors, a bunch of absolute legends who continue to support my out-of-the-box ideas
Credits Lights of Wollongong, Black Moon Band Shelter, Arcadians Choir
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From 4ZZZ in Brisbane, Nic Huntington takes us on a journey filled with mystery and conspiracy, as we head to Dijaki Kundu.
Supervising production from Anthony Frangi. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2021 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
It's always daunting walking into any space where you don't know anybody.
Despite being a journalist for a quarter of my life, I still struggle with this, no matter how many emails I've sent.
For hours I awkwardly felt out the energy at Djaki Kundu with a roaring fire, camp chairs, and a bowl of delicious soup in front of me as the stars set.
On hour 6 of an overnight trip, I started to think this whole story might have been a mistake, stumbling through awkward introductions to the constantly expanding roster of characters.
But when I awoke in the morning to a welcoming "I like this fella, he has a trustworthy energy about him" I knew the story was going to turn out.
This story was a story of many visits similar to this, feeling my way through awkward reintroductions before finally understanding when the time was right to record.
I never could get Wit-Boooka to feel comfortable around a Shure SM58, but I can live with that.
Special Thanks Rhianna Patrick Diane Djaki Widjung Wit-Boooka
Credits “Little Things” feat. Paul Kelly - Ziggy Ramos
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From 4EB in Brisbane, Anisa Hobaya shows us how the subject of height discrimination often falls short of including the stories of incredibly tall people.
Supervising production from Celeste Macintosh. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2021 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
We might think it’s an innocent joke but when you really think about it, what are people of extraordinary height going through in their day-to-day life?
After hearing a story from a tall friend about some extreme prejudice she experienced growing up, Anisa Hobaya decided to explore the height stereotypes and challenges tall women face.
Listen to Standing Tall for a jaw-dropping story and insight into the lives of tall women.
Special Thanks Marianne De Pierres and Laura Clemesha for being very generous to share their personal stories. Celeste Macintosh, Giordana, Heli, and the team from the CBAA and CMTO for their continued support and motivation during the entire production. My husband, Zain Mills for his constant support and encouragement to bring this story to life.
Credits What we fear, Christian Andersen Overcome, Megan Wofford Signal to noise, Hampus Neselius Break - Adobe Stock ( Audio source: FineTune Music Adobe Stock Asset ID: #452584418) Remembering - Adobe Stock ( Audio source: FineTune Music Adobe Stock Asset ID: #452594689)
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From Vision Australia Radio in Melbourne, Melaine Robinson takes us for a ride and shows us the important role horses play in animal-assisted therapies.
Supervising production from Katharina Loesche. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2021 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
The undeniable power of animal connections to humans shows us that a little bit of something good and special still exists in our world.
When the animals are horses, often big, flighty creatures, and the humans are some of the most vulnerable, this gets taken to another level.
During this 12-minute journey, you will meet some wonderful characters, equine and human, who will show you what can be achieved when the right space is provided.
Special Thanks RDA Victoria, celebrating 50 years of service in 2021. Abigail Vidler, Troy Vidler, Norma Pearce, Jayleen Considine, Fiona Orr, Moorabbin Volunteer Anne, Karen Smith, Sally Francis, Edwina Boase-Stafford, Bob Bath, Dr. Rwth Stuckey, Andrea Lucas, Sue Harris, and Margaret Millear Vanessa Tan, Educational and Developmental Psychologist Conrad Browne, Vision Australia Radio Zoe Duncan, Support worker
Credits Komiku - Champ de Tournesol (2016) Rafael Krux - Magic in the Garden (2018)
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From One FM in Shepparton, Terri Cowley tells a part of Australian history from a unique perspective, as she recounts the tale of one of Australia's first mid-air collisions.
Supervising production from Agnes Cusack. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2021 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
The episode happened at Sydney’s Bankstown Airport in 1955 but, more than 60 years later, it’s still rippling down through the generations of the Cowley family, coming to rest with Terri, a journalist who felt compelled to tell the story – before it was too late.
Special Thanks Les, Ken and Maureen, Ted and John Cowley for their candid interviews Agnes Cusack Rob Rosenthal
Credits Fire by Karuah: karuahmusic.org Come Josephine in my flying machine, performed by Ada Jones and Bill Murray and chorus, 1910
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From Eastside Radio in Sydney, Poppy Dowsett, and Sharon Haritos show us just how close some of us are to crossing the line of homelessness.
Supervising production from Jacqueline Wright. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2021 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
Housing in Australia is extremely precarious, with affordability increasingly out of reach for many.
We hear plenty of bad news in this arena, but what is being done to address this situation?
Poppy Dowsett and Shannon Haritos of Eastside Radio take us on a very personal journey to speak to some pioneering Australians thinking outside the box when it comes to social and affordable housing initiatives.
Special Thanks John Gregory, Michael Zanardo, Kim Samuel, Dr. Louise Crabtree-Hayes, and John Engeler.
Credits Shannon Haritos, “Too Busy Doing Nothing For You” Courtney Barnett, “Depreston” Madness, “Our House”
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From RTR FM in Perth, Bec Bowman takes a look at a movement that has been growing in popularity for decades - the Health At Every Size movement.
Supervising production from Ian Hill. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2021 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
For years we have been lectured about an obesity crisis.
We have been told that fat people are indeed ‘the biggest losers’ - lazy, greedy, and a drain on our public health system.
But is this true?
Is it possible to be both fat and healthy?
And what happens to our health when we take the focus off weight loss?
Find out along with Bec Bowman as she explores the Health at Every Size movement with experienced healthcare professionals – Dietitian Claire Gasper and Physiotherapist Simone Berzen.
Special Thanks Claire Gasper and Simone Berzen for being so generous with their time, knowledge, and expertise; Tom Reynolds for narration Emily Jane Read and Jorja Keay for their ongoing support and inspiration
Credits 'Workout' by Hearts and Rockets
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From FBi Radio and the CBAA in Sydney, Mitch Fuller takes you through the 2021 Sydney lockdown from his perspective and those of his friends.
Supervising production from Ian Crouch. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2021 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
So, in 2021 I decided to live alone in Sydney. What I didn't realise at the time was what that really meant.
During 100 days of lockdown in 2021, I spent most of my time in my studio apartment.
What started out as novel, began to drag as Winter turned into Spring, but Sydney stayed quiet.
When the solitude felt more like isolation I was kept afloat by conversations with friends over the phone.
I have attempted to condense 100 days of lockdown into 12 minutes of audio featuring Gladys, coffee making, and the varied experiences of my friends.
Special Thanks The crew and the CMTO and CRN. My mentor Ian and my friends that were willing to participate - Bexie, Macca, Jess and Musu.
Credits Original music by Josh Kreusler
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Chelsea Deeley of Eastside Radio and the CMTO reflects on what it's like to work around death and dying every single day.
Supervising production from Sharon Davis. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2021 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
Christmas lunch with the family, 2020. We’re having a delicious roast dinner when all of a sudden - my mother, a palliative care nurse, says “Do you know what I think we should do? Have a funeral planning party!”.
This documentary is inspired by her flagrant embracing of the subject of death, unwrapping the personal experiences and views of 2 people, including my mum, who effectively ‘dance with death' on a daily basis.
What effect does their work have on their view of their field, themselves, and what is their own personal relationship with death?
Special Thanks Sharon Davis - Supervising Producer Janine Lundie - for her early support and guidance around this topic. Renee Adair - thank you for being so open to my random email and so giving with your answers. Thanks also to the wonderful people at the Australian Doula College for their work, and for Liz Di Qual for being such a wonderful help in organizing this interview.
And of course, to Jane Brown. My incredible mother, who I have been lucky to have since the beginning. Thank you for agreeing to this, despite all of your nerves, stress and general “is it done yet?” attitude about it. Your dedication to this work over the years, and your general candidness around it, is inspiring and has made me feel a little less afraid. You’re a one in a million, boston wench.
Credits ‘CEG DRINKING WINE INSTRUMENTAL’ by ITheRealGooglekatClaire
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From SYN Media in Melbourne, Erin Dick takes us into her world via A Love Letter to Wrestling, an ode to the place where she found her people.
Supervising production from Lynda McCaffery. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2021 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
Mindless violence?
Or, a sanctuary for storytelling?
Professional wrestling is more than meets the eye.
When Deathmatch Downunder’s Erin Dick became a born-again professional wrestling fan in her early twenties, she didn’t expect to fall into the embrace of a community of oddballs and outsiders who would help her find her place in the world.
Special Thanks Lynda McCaffery for production support and coming along for the ride Joel Bateman, Jacqui Picone, Charli Evans, and Callen Butcher for sharing a piece of their hearts William He for saving the day with his sound effects The community of friends and mentors who listened to the many edits of this passion project
Credits Encore by Rho Personal Victories by Autodrone Refraction by Podington Bear Soar by Delicasession
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A memoire of a life between generations, Radio Adelaide's Victor Weetra looks at his family life and his personal patterns.
Supervising production from Agnes Cusack. Special thanks to Nikki Marcel. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2020 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
My name is Victor Weetra, I am a Nurrunga man and I live in Adelaide.
For a long time I was lost. Looking for things and places. But all I needed to do was look on the inside.
No confidence, lack of self esteem and just going where the wind would take me.
Going to rehab has grounded me and made my decision making easier.
Now I have control of my life and live every day happier. But most of all being able to share it with my daughter.
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FBI Radio's Bernadette Nguyen speaks to her Vietnamese-Australia mother, as well as young Korean migrant, and a Wiradjuri woman to find out how much of the world multilingual people can take on.
Supervising production from Celeste Macintosh. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2020 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
They say that to speak a language is to take on a world, but for people from different cultural backgrounds living in Western spaces it’s easier said than done. Bernadette Nguyen speaks to her mother, a young Korean migrant, and a Wiradjuri woman, to find out how much of the world multilingual people can take on in My Mother Tongue.
Special Thanks Jayden Lee, Peta-Joy Williams and my mother Phuong Mai Nguyen for being so generous and sharing their stories. Jerome Blazé and Gemma Navarrete for kindly allowing me to use their music. Celeste Macintosh, Giordy, Heli and the team from the CBAA and CMTO for all the support during the entire program.
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From 6HFM in Perth, Fiona Mayers and Killian Keating talk to temporary visa holders with lives in a country they are locked out of during the pandemic.
Supervising production from Lynda McCaffery. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2020 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
Imagine this: you’re living in Australia on a visa but need to travel home. Whilst you’re there, Covid-19 breaks out. Borders close.
Want to return to your life Down Under? Sorry mate!
When Australia’s travel restrictions came into force, thousands of people who normally live here found themselves locked out.
This feature speaks with just a few of the thousands of people who were affected.
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What happens to layer hens when their egg production drops? Bay FM's Dione Green meets the Mother Cluckers.
Supervising production from Lynda McCaffery. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2020 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
Mother Cluckers: do you give a cluck?
What happens to layer hens when their egg production drops?
Here's a hint: it’s not pretty... But there is a solution.
Join Bay FM 99.9’s Dione Green and meet the people rescuing the unsung heroes of the free range egg industry, one cluck at a time.
Featuring Julie O’Shea from Who Gives a Cluck and Oliver Bora from Oliver’s Hens
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From 8CCC in Central Australia, MJ Bakewell asks: what does ‘justice’ even mean if no one speaks your language?
Supervising production from Belinda Lopez. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2020 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
There are over 17 Aboriginal languages spoken in and around Alice Springs – but there’s only been an Aboriginal interpreter service since the year 2000.
MJ Bakewell looks to the past, and one Yankuntyjatjara man’s legacy, to see how far we’ve come to ensure Aboriginal language speakers have the right to understand, and be understood.
Music Trailrunner by Blue Dot Sessions Algorithms by Chad Crouch Passed Tense by Anne van Schothorst Low Coal Camper by Blue Dot Sessions 4th Chair by Blue Dot Sessions.
Sound Effects Power Down by peepholecircus hospital_lobby by tim.kahn cassette-tape by albertomarun.
Special Thanks Linda Rive for indulging me with her recollections and suggestions Rob Rosenthal for his structural guidance and generous feedback Natalie at AIATSIS for helping me dig out the archive tape Avery special thanks to Karina Lester, who opened her home to me.
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3CR's Megan Williams returns to the infamous site of the Menindee fish kills and the drying Murray-Darling basin.
Supervising production from Richard Dinnen. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2020 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
In January 2019, millions of native fish perished in a mass fish kills that made headlines around the globe.
The demise of the Darling-Barka River is one of the greatest man-made disasters in Australia’s history, but little has changed since this disaster rocked the little town of Menindee.
In Murky Waters is an exploration of how river management has gone up the creek in the past 100 years. It zeros in on the shock of the 2019 Menindee fish kill.
Future episodes coming in 2021 can be found at inmurkywaters.com.au
Specials Thanks Giordana Cauto training and assistance Richard Dinen for mentoring and supervision Michael O’dwyer for the original music Anne Marie Taberdo for the original artwork Kate McBride, Tolarno Station Badger Bates, Barkindji man Alan Whyte, water junkie
And everyone that has been interviewed to date!
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Danni Stewart of FBi Radio reflects on the state of Aged Care in Australia with her late grandmother.
Supervising production from Sharon Davis. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2020 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
This started out as a story about how dementia care can be improved. But, throughout production I found there was another question which became more prevalent - why is the aged care system so bad?
As I reflected on my grandma’s experience in residential aged care the Royal Commission hearings revealed deep seeded issues within the sector.
What I found is that the current substandard conditions in Aged Care can be traced back to neoliberal thinking and the Aged Care Act 1997.
Then COVID-19 began to spread through the corridors of Aged Care homes and the problems created by the Act were laid bare.
For the last months of my grandma’s life visiting was heavily restricted.
I was able to say goodbye. Many families weren’t so lucky.
Caring for our aging population, particularly those with dementia is one of the greatest challenges our society faces.
It’s estimated there will be one million Australians living with dementia by 2050 and it’s clear that in order to care for them the Aged Care Act needs to be reformed and the current system needs to be rebuilt.
Special Thanks Sharon Davis - My Supervising Producer Giordana Caputo - CMTO Heli Newton - CMTO Andrew McLellan - CBAA My Mum - For letting me interview her about something so personal and emotional. Claire Cao - For being kind enough to share her experience with me. Lindsay Riley - For emotional support.
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It’s legal to homeschool. 4ZZZ's Max Rowley asks why parents are going it alone and homeschooling outside the law.
Supervising production from Anthony Frangi. Training from the Community Media Training Organisation. Distributed by the Community Radio Network.
Produced for the 2020 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series.
Homeschooling has been on the rise across Australia over the past decade.
It’s legal to homeschool if you register, yet an estimated one in two families are going it alone and homeschooling illegally.
Max Rowley finds out why an increasing number of children are learning from home, and why some homeschooling parents feel torn between protecting their child and obeying the law.
Links For more info: Homeschooling is on the rise in Australia. Who is doing it and why? You can find Eve’s book reviews at Busters Books More work from me at maxwellrowley.com Listen to 4ZZZ 102.1fm or check out 4ZZZ News on facebook or twitter
Special thanks to The families who opened up their homes and shared their stories with me My mentor, Anthony Frangi Giordana and Heli from the CMTO and the CRN’s Andrew and Abe 4ZZZ radio station and manager Grace Pashley
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The Australian Muslim Cameleers opened up the interior of Australia to settlers during the 19th and 20th centuries. Their work was tough and the life that they lived is a largely a forgotten chapter in Australia’s history.
Join Saad Khalid, from 1CMS, as he explores how the ‘Ghans contributed to the development of today’s Australia.
Produced for the 2019 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series. Find out more at nfds.org.au
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Accessing transport can be a struggle for many, particularly if you have a disability. Transport engineer, David Brown, from Northside Radio, explores what is required from planners to overcome common barriers to access.
Produced for the 2019 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series. Find out more at nfds.org.au
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In the north of Australia, enormous amounts of money are being invested in plans to irrigate using water from some of our wildest rivers.
Wangki Radio’s Dylan Storer explores the situation in Australia’s North West and the lessons to be learnt from the failures in the Murray Darling Basin.
Produced for the 2019 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series. Find out more at nfds.org.au
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In the Pilbara, the duties of a Yurala are handed down from father to son through the generations, as they are called on to perform songs and dances to make it rain.
Ngaarda Media’s Marion Cheedy, tells the story of the last known rainmaker of the Yindijbarndi nation, who died of a broken heart following the construction of the Harding River Dam.
Produced for the 2019 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series. Find out more at nfds.org.au
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Bernard Namok Senior designed the Torres Strait Flag, 27 years ago, but despite its continued use, it’s still not clear who owns the copyright to the design.
Join Bernard Namok Junior from TEABBA as he embarks on a journey to resolve the copyright issues surrounding the flag that his father designed.
Produced for the 2019 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series. Find out more at nfds.org.au
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The so-called national homeless crisis continues to impact communities everywhere, from cities to regional Australia.
Bay FM’s Mia Armitage shares stories from the Byron area on the Northern Rivers of New South Wales.
Produced for the 2019 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series. Find out more at nfds.org.au
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Pregnancy often involves prenatal screening and testing, that can be mystifying and confusing.
3CR’s Amy McMurtrie explores the potential impact prenatal tests have for our society through the lens of two parents.
Produced for the 2019 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series. Find out more at nfds.org.au
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The Country Women’s Association is at the heart of rural traditional values, so when a young, urban feminist comes knocking on their door, will there be a place for her in the organisation?
Find out as Alice Ansara gives us a personal insight into a woman’s place in a small country town.
Produced for the 2019 CBAA National Features and Documentary Series. Find out more at nfds.org.au
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Aguer Athian brings us some stories from South Sudanese youth in Australia to give voice to the voiceless in Hear Our Voices.
Produced by Aguer Athian of 3ZZZ, Melbourne. Supervising production by Maddy Macfarlane.
Discover more at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) website
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In Finding Voice, Bangladeshi poet and journalist Humayun Reza speaks about the challenges some writers face in Australia.
Produced by Mick Paddon of Eastside FM. Supervising production by Sharon Davis.
Discover more at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) website.
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Aoife Cooke takes us to what’s formally known as a “medically supervised injecting centre", but is known to some as The Shooting Gallery.
Produced by Aoife Cooke of 3CR, Melbourne. Supervising production by Georgia Moodie. Discover more at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) website.
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In Hidden Carers, Meredith Gilmore sits down with two of the quarter million Australians caring for family members living with mental health difficulties.
Produced by Meredith Gilmore of Coast FM 963. Supervising production by Ian Crouch.
Discover more at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) website.
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With over 30 years experience in organic farming, in Healthy Soils, Healthy Communities, Barry Green hears from a group of Australians concerned about the future of food, and the solution they’re putting on the table.
Produced by Barry Green of Donnybrook Community Radio. Supervising production by Ian Hill.
Discover more at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) website.
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What if you need to overcome additional barriers in order to get up and run? Katharina Loesche meets a couple of joggers in The Runners’ Guide.
Produced by Katharina Loesche of Radio 4EB, Brisbane. Supervising production by Kim Stewart.
Discover more at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) website.
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Nikola Van de Wetering returns to her hometown to dig-up the controversy sitting close to the surface in At The Coalface.
Produced by Nikola Van de Wetering of 4ZZZ, Brisbane. Supervising production by Stephen Stockwell.
Discover more at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) website.
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Mahendra Chitrarasu tells the story of his grandmother’s migration to Australia in To Say I Am Home.
Produced by Mahendra Chitrarasu of Radio Adelaide. Supervising production by Nikki Marcel.
Discover more at: https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/nfds-2018-say-i-am-home
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2017 National Features and Documentary Series Showreel by Community Broadcasting Association of Australia
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Consider a trip to a shopping centre, or a walk in the park. How do you feel thinking about these activities?
They may seem everyday for many of us, but it can be more complicated when living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.
In Disconnected States, Simon Finch gets to know a Geelong community of defence force veterans attempting to return to civilian life. It’s far from straight-forward, but there are programs trying to make a difference.
For more information, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/disconnected-states
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Produced by Isabeau Schubert (Bay FM, Byron Bay)
How does attending a Steiner School shape someone's understanding of the world? Isabeau Schubert should have a good idea, as she is an alumnus.
In Steiner Education: An Alternative Model Isabeau talks with parents, students and teachers to ultimately ask whether Steiner education has a place in contemporary Australia.
For more information, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/alternative-education-steiner-approach-bayfm-byron-bay
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Produced by Damian Perry (Southern FM, Melbourne)
It's important that the general population understands that school isn't just Maths and English.
Damian Perry knows very well that school is also community outreach, innovation and finding that safe space so every student can stretch out to find their place.
3Rs: Reading, 'Riting, Radio deals with students that don't fit into the mainstream. They are awesome and funny and very off-centre. Their lives are ahead of them and hopefully you can see the possibilities they represent in the arguments and verbal jostling and game shows.
But mainly, listen for an exploration of some very talented students doing what they do.
For more information, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/3r-reading-riting-radio
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Produced by Graeme Taylor (Mountain District Radio, Emerald)
Take a journey into the historical situation that led to Britain's colonisation of the lands now known as Australia – and how British instruction has shaped the culture of Australia ever since.
Featuring historical re-enactments and an original score, with Crown Rules Graeme Taylor aims for a better understanding of Australian history.
For more information, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/crown-rules-mountain-district-radio-emerald-vic
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Produced by Kaarina Lindell (Triple R, Melbourne)
The ways we can access and listen to music today have changed remarkably since the pre-digital era.
That was before terms like “MP3” and “streaming” existed – and that really wasn’t so long ago. Such a big change must have had major repercussions for the music industry too.
In How Digital Changed Music, Kaarina Lindell explores how the shift to digital has impacted musicians.
For more information, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/how-digital-changed-music
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Produced by Kaiyu Moura Bayles and Tiga Bayles Jnr (4AAA 98.9fm & BIMA)
If you’re longing to sit and listen to the wisdom of the elders of the land - - if you’re ready to listen to the answers of some hard-hitting questions and be wowed at the same time, then 4 Generations of Black Storytellers is for you.
Join Kaiyu and Tiga Bayles Jnr as they explore significant legacies of the past and future.
For more information, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/4-generations-black-storytellers-4aaa-989-fm-brisbane
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In this feature, Michael Schubert delves into the world of silence. As he found out, silence is more than an absence of sound. It all depends on who you are and what you are doing. The search for silence became a quest.
For further reading on this radio documentary, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/search-silence-bay-fm-byron-bay
In Search of Silence comes to you as part of The National Features and Documentary Series in 2016, encouraging storytelling from new and emerging producers around Australia. For further information, visit nfds.org.au
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In this feature, Nancy Lin is going to take us on a trip down memory lane, as she tells us about her experiences of trying to summon the dead as a teenager. Hello Yes No Goodbye is a ghost story, and one that questions memory, belief, and the privileging of human-centric realities.
For further reading on this radio documentary, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/hello-yes-no-goodbye-3rrr-melbourne
Hello Yes No Goodbye comes to you as part of The National Features and Documentary Series in 2016, encouraging storytelling from new and emerging producers around Australia. For further information, visit nfds.org.au
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In this feature, we'll be discussing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). To some people it’s the future of agricultural production, while to others it’s frankenfood. It's clear that GMO push a few buttons. Sarah Martin investigates why.
For further reading on this radio documentary, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/food-thought-radio-adelaide
Food For Thought comes to you as part of The National Features and Documentary Series in 2016, encouraging storytelling from new and emerging producers around Australia. For further information, visit nfds.org.au
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In this feature, we take a closer look at the ongoing effects of refugee migration. In Australia, many refugees are now opting out of city life, in favour of finding a new home in regional Australia.
Coel Healy takes a look at the regional town of Katanning in Western Australia, and what it’s like to be a refugee family living in such an isolated place.
For further reading on this radio documentary, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/clay-pot-melody-rtrfm-perth
Clay Pot Melody comes to you as part of The National Features and Documentary Series in 2016, encouraging storytelling from new and emerging producers around Australia. For further information, visit nfds.org.au
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In this feature, Thanh Hằng Phạm maps out the nuances of home and love that we experience through distance. Remotely Intimate is a story of long-distance relationships that queer people of colour experience in the diaspora.
For further reading on this radio documentary, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/remotely-intimate-3cr-melbourne
Remotely Intimate comes to you as part of The National Features and Documentary Series in 2016, encouraging storytelling from new and emerging producers around Australia. For further information, visit nfds.org.au
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In this feature, you’ll be hearing a personal exploration of the complex matter of Aboriginal identity, or what is also termed Aboriginality. This feature was produced by Robert Salt.
For further reading on this radio documentary, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/aboriginality-dcfm-dubbo
Aboriginality comes to you as part of The National Features and Documentary Series in 2016, encouraging storytelling from new and emerging producers around Australia. For further information, visit nfds.org.au
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In this feature, we ask, how do we talk about our relationships with our parents, with our kids? How can we open up on something so complex and which change so much over a lifetime? And can relationships be turned into art?
Today you’ll hear how director Tamara Saulwick and composer Kate Neal are attempting to do just that, in a work called Permission to Speak. Producer Leah Blankendaal got to watch this process unfold.
For further reading on this radio documentary, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/permission-speak-3mbs-fine-music-melbourne-radio-adelaide
Permission To Speak comes to you as part of The National Features and Documentary Series in 2016, encouraging storytelling from new and emerging producers around Australia. For further information, visit nfds.org.au
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In this feature, we’ll be going behind the scenes to hear about a Sydney-based radio program, called Making Airwaves, which is created by people living with an intellectual disability. Find out all about it in All About Abilities, produced by Caroline Savransky and Kate Wadey.
For further reading on this radio documentary, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/all-about-abilities-eastside-fm-sydney
All About Abilities comes to you as part of The National Features and Documentary Series in 2016, encouraging storytelling from new and emerging producers around Australia. For further information, visit nfds.org.au
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In this feature, A Way To Tie The Knot, Vanita Sathasivam explores how, in an increasingly fast-paced world, people are finding it harder than ever to maintain long and meaningful relationships. Is there a magic formula to finding love?
For further reading on this radio documentary, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/way-tie-knot-2rrr-sydney
A Way To Tie The Knot comes to you as part of The National Features and Documentary Series in 2016, encouraging storytelling from new and emerging producers around Australia. For further information, visit nfds.org.au
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In this feature, we'll hear about a revolution in the works – revolution through biotechnology. It is said biotechnology will not only shape the 21st century, it may change what it means to be homo sapiens.
Today you’ll meet a group of biohackers in Melbourne, who believe this technology needs to be available to all citizens on the street. BioHacker Oz was produced by Juan Guerra.
For further reading on this radio documentary, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/biohacker-oz-north-west-fm-melbourne
BioHacker Oz comes to you as part of The National Features and Documentary Series in 2016, encouraging storytelling from new and emerging producers around Australia. For further information, visit nfds.org.au
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By Saskia Edwards
When I would ask people about ketamine, for those who knew about it, a few ideas were evoked: an animal sedative, a hallucinogenic party drug or an anaesthetic for children. But when I mentioned ketamine to people rarely did anyone think of it as a treatment for depression. However, right now in clinics across Australia ketamine is being developed as a way of tackling mental illness.
Hundreds of people have tried the treatment, with researchers reporting a more than 60 per cent success rate. The drug is almost side-effect free as well, while regular medications for depression are usually riddled with additional problems. Even more, ketamine has been off patent for some 50 years, so clinicians say it costs a fraction of the price of traditional antidepressants. So why isn’t this highly effective, cheap and almost side-effect free drug being widely used? And why is it almost completely unknown?
I went to a clinic in Brisbane to find out what the drug does, why it’s so successful and what’s holding it back. I discovered incredible stories of recovery from patients who said ketamine transformed their lives. I saw the excitement from psychiatrists who believe in the future of the drug. And I found out about the pitfalls of the treatment.
Ketamine’s ultimate downfall is its history as a party drug. While clinicians insisted the way they administered the drug had no recreational effects, patients reported having feelings like those produced by LSD and ecstasy. It’s what created controversy around the trials of ketamine as an antidepressant in New Zealand, and saw an investigation into its use. However, the psychiatrists trialling the drug are determined to make it available to thousands more people. And perhaps despite its struggles, ketamine will be the future for the treatment of mental illness.
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By Annie McLoughlin
IMAGINE You get a letter. Your house is to be 'compulsorily acquired' for a toll road. The house you were born in. The house you have lived in for 70 years. This is what happened to Keith Fitzgerald, residen of Collingwood, Melbourne in 2013. Keith and hundreds of other Melbournians join together in a campaign of resistance against the East West Link Project. This project plans to cut a swathe through Collingwood, Clifton Hill, Fitzroy on into park lands of Royal Park.
The Picket The protest starts with a six month long picket around the Linking Melbourne Authorities exploratory drilling. Stationed along the main thorough fare of Alexander Parade morning commuters are given a front row seat to the struggle. Hundreds of police protecting drilling sites & the demonstrators who are calling for better Public Transport not a new toll road. Toot for Trains.
The Rally & Legal Action Once the drilling stops campaigners go on outreach tours to other Victorian communities. They build up to a Rally and take legal action. Victorian's are not going to go quietly when it comes to tying up $8 billion of public money without a business plan from a Government elected on a pro-public transport platform.
Timing is Everything Victoria goes to the polls on Nov 29th, 2014. No Tunnel No Way takes you to just before the finish line. The protest has made public transport a major election issue. The trustworthiness of a Government that tries to solve high unemployment with a toll road designed in the 1960s is in question. What will the Labor opposition do? No Tunnel No Way puts you at the moment of community action against arrogant government indifference. Protesters refuse to give up 'their duty to their Melbourne'.
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By Yen Eriksen, Adelaide Rief and Farz Edraki
In the spirit of the second decade of the twenty-first century, we’ve named our documentary using a ubiquitous marker of our times: the hashtag.
CityOfLove was trending on Twitter as the ACT government made moves towards making laws to create marriage equality in 2013. As the conversation around marriage equality grew in the media, we wanted to ask: why marriage?
How did marriage become the focal point for queer rights in the Territory (and wider Australia)? Is marriage even a good thing to be fighting for, anyway? Those questions — and many, many more — became both the hardest and most enjoyable part of making this feature.
In an attempt to find some answers, a big part of our documentary became our own conversations around marriage equality. In many ways, the conversations came out of the informal chats (and occasional arguments) we would inevitably fall into during our meet-ups — helped along by cups of tea.
Our late-night discussions over marriage, the politics behind it, the ways that the law shapes us and our interactions with the world invariably led us to talking about love: finding it, having it, recovering from it. And it's those conversations that ended up bringing us each to some revelatory moments: family recognition as a crucial reason as to why marriage is held dear to some; the effect of the law and social structures on how we value relationships; the obvious need for reform.
We wouldn't have made this feature without the insights and erudite conversation of our guests. Or without the amazing mentoring and support from Kevin Klehr, Martin Walters and Giordana Caputo, who guided us through our hiccups and (many) false starts.
And it certainly wouldn't sound as lush without the music of (mostly) local Canberra artists, Pocket Fox,Fossil Rabbit, Oxen, Reuben Ingall and The General Assembly. Oh and John Paul Young for "Love is in the Air".
We hope the interviews and conversations you hear spark discussions in your own life about marriage and movements for change. How has the the law has shaped you in ways you wouldn’t necessarily expect? Perhaps, like us, you’ll be left with more questions than answers. While the status of marriage equality in Australia still hangs in the balance, let us take you on a trip to where it all started: the #CityOfLove.
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By Carol Dowling
In Western Australia, Aboriginal children make up more than half of all children in out-of-home care or what is known as foster care. Yet Aboriginal children only make up 5 per cent of the population in the state. Aboriginal foster carer Carol Dowling goes on a journey to investigate whether she and her community are witnessing yet another stolen generation.
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By Ellie Freeman
Over 150,000 Koreans have been adopted overseas since the Korean War Armistice in 1954. And I am one of them.
I was born in South Korea. I was adopted to Australia when I was a baby and raised by white Australian parents. I never knew my birth parents. All I knew was that my mother was not married when she became pregnant with me and, in 1980s Korea, could not afford to support me and had to give me up for adoption.
When I met a Korean American adoptee in early 2013 who mentioned that some adoption files are falsified, I wanted suddenly to find out the truth.
With the support of a Korean adoptee support organisation the Global Overseas Adoptees' Link, I returned to Korea for the first time since I was born and searched for my birth parents.
Along the way, I met other Korean adoptees, saw the country where I was born, learned more about adoption and - unexpectedly - found my birth family.
The idea for documenting this experience began when I was in Korea last September, so most of the atmos and scenes from my trip in this documentary are real recordings from that time.
Judging from all the questions I am asked about my birth and where I'm from, I see that there are many myths and misconceptions about international adoptees. Not all of us want to search for birth family. Some of us have no desire to return to our home country. Some of us feel more Australian than Korean, or badly want to get in touch with our Korean roots, or simply don't know. Some of us have tried to search but unfortunately failed. Some of us have had happy reunion experiences, and some not so happy.
International adoptees often battle issues around ethnic identity and isolation due to our unusual family circumstances. But in the modern age of social media, adoptees are establishing ways to organise activism, education, support, and outlets to express ourselves. We are a growing community with many diverse views, experiences and stories.
I am telling my own story of birth family reunion in Korea along with the voices of other Korean Australian adoptees, academics and activists - to give an insight into our reality.
These voices are:
Kerrie Freeman - my adoptive mother HeeRa Heaser - Korean American adoptee, PhD student the University of New South Wales Seon Kee Woodley - Australian Korean adoptee from Melbourne, originally Perth Tiarne Double - Australian Korean adoptee from Tasmania Pia Meehan - Australian Korean adoptee from Perth Hana Crisp - Australian Korean adoptee from Melbourne, originally Hobart Carly Reid - Australian Korean adoptee from Brisbane, originally Perth Tim Vanderburg - Australian Korean adoptee living in South Korea, originally Sydney Andrea Kim - Korean American adoptee, Fullbright Scholarship researcher currently living in Seoul My Korean birth mother Park Young Hee - Korean Australian actress and performer, who acts as the voice of my adoptee social worker
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By Tiarney Miekus
Riot Grrrl: loud, brash, ferocious.
Riot Grrrl is not simply a period of feminist punk in the early 90s, but is a movement whose ongoing thoughts, ideas and challenges have enriched human liberation. Riot Grrrl is a recurring motif for empowering females, placing Grrrls at the centre of music and for showing everyone the saviour of rock and roll: women.
I started ‘This is Not a Test’ with a thought: What did Riot Grrrl mean in the 90s and what could it possibly mean for women in Australia now? As a 22 year old who is still trying to figure out the ties between womanhood, feminism, music, culture and politics in Australia, one of the most telling narratives that has framed these elements has been Riot Grrrl.
‘This is Not a Test’ has since taken me from Riot Grrrl’s first days in Olympia, Washington, to its small manifestation in Brisbane in the 90s, to Pussy Riot in Russia and finally to the here-and-now: Brisbane 2014. If music tells the story of ourselves and our world – our oppressions, desires, anger and humanity – then this documentary uses Riot Grrrl and music as a lens for women in contemporary Australia.
‘This is Not a Test’ not only has a jolting all-woman soundtrack from Bikini Kill to Huggy Bear to Feathers, but a series of interviews that point to the complexities and contradictions of Riot Grrrl, feminism and society. This includes:
Christine Barrett: A former Riot Grrrl in Hussy and current youth culture lecturer at Griffith Everett True: Music journalist and writer Alex Gunk: Lead-woman of Gunk and creator of fem-zine Slubs Bek Moore: Lead-woman of bands Scrabbled and Clag Bianca Valentino: Renowned zine-maker and writer known for Conversations with Bianca.
Like any liberating movement, Riot Grrrl is many things to many people and ultimately it enhanced a culture that still exists today - a culture that stares down gender imbalances in art and politics and liberates women from oppressive institutions.
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By Nikki Marcel
Adelaide tap water tastes disgusting.
It’s renowned for being the worst in Australia and people go to great lengths to get good drinking water from anywhere but the tap. I used to get rain water from my Nans house in the Adelaide hills but she’s moved and I really miss the taste of her old galv tank. It’s a unique flavor that’s quite different from plastic tanks or bottled spring water. I had to find a new source of good drinking water.
I’ve often looked with curiosity at the people lined up to get water from the West End Brewery Charity Fountain on Port Road in Thebarton. I drive past it every day and there’s always a queue of cars in the driveway with people standing around filling all kinds of containers. They pay $2 for 15 litres of filtered groundwater from an industrial strength water dispenser. In 12 years it’s raised $2 million dollars, which the Brewery donates to various local charities.
Not only does the constant amount of people at the Fountain catch my eye but it’s the diversity of people that makes it really interesting. There’s all ages, genders and cultural backgrounds. I wonder how people got water before they came to Australia? Did they have to travel far or queue for it like they are now? I imagined they were shocked to find the water tasting so bad here and bet they didn’t picture themselves needing to queue for good drinking water in Australia – after all this is a ‘first world’ developed country.
So I stop to find out – what’s so good about the water at this modern day village well? I meet Australians originally from Laos, Burma, Italy, America, India, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Serbia, Congo, Philippines, Liberia, Tanzania, France and Greece. They all have interesting stories to tell and all share a deep conviction that the Brewery’s water is the best in town. Through a discovery of different cultural and spiritual attitudes to water I’ve developed a new appreciation of water and finally get it - water is life!
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By Wayne Hall
From Kings Cross to the Largs Pier Hotel
In Sydney 2000 my mate Budgie was telling me a story of a band that he saw in Adelaide in 1980. Budgie recalls a harmonica player that played hard and a band that shook the foundations of the Arkabar Hotel in Adelaide.
The years go past, and I'm trawling through 7 inch single records for a jukebox restoration, when I see one from a band called Mickey Finn. A quick phone call to Budgie confirms that this was the band that he saw New Year's Eve 1980.
Researching on the internet, there was little about this band, and even less on the harp player called Uncle. One lead I did have was that well-known Aussie rocker John Swan (Swannee) had provided back-up vocals on their album. When I was in Adelaide about 2 years ago (2012), Swannee was playing a gig, so I made contact with his agent and arranged to meet with him. Back then I didn't ask him about the Mickey Finn band, we mainly discussed ideas for songwriting. Brief as it was.
But there was a singer I approached earlier that week in an Adelaide bar, and I asked if he knew of the band Mickey Finn, and more importantly, did he know 'Uncle' John Ayers the harp player. He said he thought that maybe Uncle was driving taxis, and had sort of disappeared from the music scene.
I always felt that someone should do a feature on finding this harp player. It's all good hoping that someone someday will do the research, and to just wait for that day. That day might never come. Thanks to the CTMO and CBAA for providing the support and knowledge to undertake this journey, I took up the challenge, and during this time, numerous unplanned events unfolded.
Ron Alphabet, the promoter of bands at The Largs Pier Hotel during the 70s and 80s fell ill, and a set of bands was united to play a concert for him. In that line up, some of the Mickey Finn band would be performing in new separate groups. I got to meet Uncle in a chance meeting at the concert, and also a planned meeting with Mauri Berg, the guitar player from The Mickey Finn Band. It seems Adelaide is a massive breeding ground for the Australian pub rock sound that we know today.
This band has played and has supported household names like Jim Barnes, Swannee, Bon Scott, Barrie McAskill and Dutch Tilders. Jim Barnes recruited Bruce Howe (bass) and John Freeman ( drums) from the Mickey Finn band when he went out solo this time 30 years ago.
From this I have discovered old/new Australian music to follow up on, bands like Headband, Hush, Wendy Saddington, Fraternity, The Levi Smith Clefs, Billy Thorpe and Lobby Loyde, Kevin Borich, Gwyn Ashton, David Blight and the Flyers. Also international acts like The J Geils Band, and blues men Little Walter and James Cotton. These were bands that influenced Uncle in his style of playing.
A few of the members have been nominated to be inducted into the South Australian Hall of Fame later this year (2014). One day I'd like to sit down with Uncle and re-record an old tune, or even cut something new.
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By Maddy Macfarlane
So much in my life overlaps with music. I’d say it’s my number one passion. And my other passions, well, they’re interwoven with music as well somehow. Because…when I hear music, I hear so much more. And when we talk about music, we talk about so much more.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Music is a documentary piece about a unique music group in Melbourne. The group is made up of members from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre - diverse individuals positioned in such diverse circumstances, but all seeking a safe future in Australia.
This documentary focuses on these musicians, and what they achieve together every Wednesday evening at the group's rehearsals. What occurs in rehearsals is more than making music, and what we talk about turns out to be much more, as well.
Music is culture. It is tradition, and identity. It is celebration, and ceremony, and protest. It is therapy, it is family. It is contact, engagement, language and place.
Over a few months, in making this documentary together with the musicians, I’ve come to know the group and the individuals, and learn their songs.
And they’ve come to learn a lot about me and about community radio.
In fact, I’ve learned a lot about Community Radio, too. I’ve realised more significantly the space for expression that community radio provides, and about the politics of voice from individuals who can’t always use their names.
I see how community radio has a great capacity for making radio with others, and not simply about them.
So listen and hear these musicians, their music and their voices.
Hear all the things we come to talk about when we talk about music.
Thank you to the ASRC Music Group for their friendship, creativity and hard work. You can learn more about ASRC and its work here. Thank you to Giordana Caputo at CMTO for the generous and thorough training that saw this piece come to fruition, and to the project mentors.
Thank you to my home station PBS for supporting this piece.
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By Kate Elliott
Nothing says ‘Australia’ like the kangaroo. From the 1960’s TV sensation Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, the green & gold Made in Australia logo and the Qantas flying kangaroo to indigenous dreamtime mythology.
The kangaroo is an icon that crosses generations and cultures.
You possibly even have a few kangaroo embossed dollar coins jangling around in your pocket to pay for your morning coffee.
The kangaroo is everywhere.
And yet, when was the last time you actually saw a real-life bounder; a mob of Australian kangaroos.
What's up Skip? is a radio feature that asks what is it like to be an Australian kangaroo – both loved and labelled a pest in your own homeland.
The program examines our relationship with the kangaroo and questions how our attitudes towards this native animal have shaped government policy, industry practices and media representation.
Have we all, too readily, sung along with the commercial industry's catchy tune of kangaroo meat being 'humane, necessary and sustainable’?
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By Melanie Doheny
I am 46, single female with no kids. I find loud noises and shopping centres extremely stressful. Then you add small children having tantrums and I find the experience completely intolerable.
Why can’t parents just bloody-well deal out some discipline and consider those around them? I just don’t understand why they just can’t control their children and stop giving in to the tantrums and drama. Seriously, just shut up!
Asperger’s, I mean really what is that? A type of green stalky vegetable?
Well that’s what I thought until I began helping at a charity called Bellamour west of the regional town of Toowoomba in South East Queensland.
Bellamour provides equine and farm based therapy for people with autism. During 2013, I was employed by Bellamour to help secure funding for a sensory garden and infrastructure to facilitate the equine therapy programs. This was when I realised that I had absolutely no idea what AUTSIM was. Not only that, I completely underestimated the stress that accompanied parenting a child with autism.
Autism isn’t an intellectual disability and not a mental health issue. It is an extremely complex disorder that affects many aspects of how a person with autism's brain works. I don’t think autism is a disability. The disability lies in how we treat those with autism.
The journey of the last 3 months in making this documentary has been one of great personal growth. I also now understand better why I find loud noises and shopping centres extremely stressful. But that is story for another time!
Meet: Treena Brown, CEO Bellamour and Friend Karen Illife – Volunteer at Bellamour and Mother of two children with Autism Dylan – VO talent James Illife – Son of Karen, and future General Manager of Bellamour Audrey – my trusty 4WD Landcruiser
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By Jess Fairfax
"To those I have loved, I know there were many times that we suffered, suffocated, felt the stabs of unnecessary pain and pinned self-loaded expectations onto each other. We fell apart, and this piece was made in an attempt to understand why.
To the listeners, you will hear fragments of conversations seeped in emotion, stories, ponderings and thought bubbles. You will be privy to moments of pure intimacy and hear honesty and self-reflection in its most vulnerable form. I hope that you find a moment that resonates, that makes its way into your home and heart, that you find a way to live a little lighter in love.
To my friends, you are the most wonderful, deep thinking, full of feeling human beings, whose words and wisdom will carry into the ears and roll like waves into the lives of many.
Let me introduce you to them:
Damian Spears: Sparky by day, verse writer by night. Hip Hop is his passion and his lyrics ooze with deeply thought out observations of the everyday world around him. Louisa Scarmozzino: Primary school teacher, cheerleader and lover. Ebony Moncrief: Born in the Deep South of Alabama, Ebony is a teacher in training, published poet, workshop facilitator and spoken word slam champion who delves into the realm of vulnerability and self-strength through her works. Wallace Calvalho: Brazilian born beatmaker and producer, sound engineer in training and beats/electonica event curator. Katherine Gailer: Colombian born visual artist and musician. Oscar Jimenez: Colombian born musician and producer, front-man of ARIA nominated band Watussi.. Zakia Baig: Hazara writer, educator and activist. Zakia set up the Australia Hazara Women’s Friendship Network to aid with settlement issues for Hazara women living in Dandenong. Quinn: Quinn is an emerging writer working in queer theory, fictocriticism, and post-structuralist and feminist theories of the body, subjectivity, and self. She writes short fiction, poetry, and fictocriticism, and is currently writing her PhD titled ‘this body, written’ at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Yoseph H. Bekele: Ethiopian bass player, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer. Vicki Fairfax: writer, meditater, nature lover, mother…. Of Jess. Finally, I would love to keep the conversation going and the pens flowing. The poems you hear throughout the piece were written in response to a soundscape I created and fed to my friends as a sonic stimulus. I’d love for you to head to my Soundcloud page, stream this soundscape, write your own piece, record it and post it in the group."
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By Sue Reece, Radio Adelaide
secrets
you know
you mustn’t
share them
so heavy
you don’t know
how to
carry them
hide them
hide them
deep inside
Welcome to the world of Multiple Personalities, or ‘multiples’ for short. You may have heard of this as Dissociative Identity Disorder. The world of I, the Many; We, the One is often a world of secrecy, rejection, and the burden of far too many thrillers where the serial killer turns out to be the hidden personality of someone who didn’t know they were multiple.
Even from mental health professionals, misdiagnosis, confusion, and assumptions that people are ‘making things up for attention’ are painfully common.
This is a world close to me, as one of the voices in this documentary belongs to my daughter, and the other participants are members of the DI, an international network she founded.
When I asked the network what they would like people to know about multiples, I was given many answers, all of them wanting to go beyond the fears, myths, and stigma. Here is a rare opportunity to hear from 5 different people about their personal experiences with multiplicity.
Please be advised that the content you're about to hear contains descriptions of mental illness, the effects of abuse, and references to suicide, which some listeners may find distressing.
I’d like to thank the five who contributed their stories, using their single public name for each person with multiple selves. Some share more through websites, while others requested anonymity. Ruth, Samira Claire, Jade, Tyrone, Sarah K Reece.
Thank you to those who lent their voices as voice-actors, Winston Kay, Jennifer Fane & Kirk Jones. Thank you to Keith Gratton for technical advice and assistance. Original music composed by Dave Reece.
To learn more about multiplicity visit The Dissociative Initiative.
If any content has caused distress to you, please call Lifeline, on 131114 or visit lifeline.org.au.
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By Stella Glorie
Listen to 'It's the Satanic Verses, Love'
One of the first audio books Ruth Mercer read after joining the RVIB (Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind) library some thirty years ago was Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. The postman delivered all 32 tapes to her front door and announced “It’s the Satanic Verses, love”.
Ruth maintains to this day that if she had tried to read it in print rather than audio form she would not have finished the book. For me, the postman's words demonstrate how Ruth and the other book group members chose to approach their blindness: with a mix of realism and humour.
The group meet monthly in the Vision Australia office building where I work - 'just another blind bunch of old women'. It was that they were blind and older and loved books that attracted me to them. I enjoyed their company instantly. They are unafraid to laugh loudly or to use their minds, voices and opinions. I have been moved by their involved and zealous discussions about books which, more broadly, are conversations about the world in general.
While all of them enjoy reading it is Jan who is the most passionate about books; she keenly felt the loss of her ability to read. She missed browsing through bookshops. For most book lovers, walking into a bookshop is akin to a spiritual experience, giving a sense of purpose and place. For Ruth, while she did take pleasure in books, she says it's newspapers she missed the most.
“I always imagined that when I retired I would sit in bed every morning with my cup of tea and read The Age. Sadly, I can’t.”
It’s the Satanic Verses, love.
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By Lisa Burns
Deep in the South Australian outback lies a place only accessible via dirt track and almost 200km from the nearest town. Out-of-towners know the small, mostly Aboriginal community of Oodnadatta as little more than a fuel fill and a quick feed. Few venture beyond the bowsers of the iconic Pink Roadhouse.
But over at the church ground rises the Cathedral of a Thousand Stars. It’s an open-air church run by Julia Warren, a local Aboriginal woman. Julia founded the Oodnadatta Faith Community in 2007, on the same earth that missionaries from the United Aborigines Mission built the Oodnadatta Children’s Home in 1924. A slab of concrete is all that remains of the Home, but for generations past and present, its impact has been much more lasting.
Cathedral of a Thousand Stars follows the stories of two Aboriginal women separated by time but united by place. Their stories are shaped by family, culture, survival and hope, and together they highlight the diversity of spirituality and faith in Australia.
A heartfelt thank you to the Aunties for sharing their stories. Julia Warren (Preacher, Oodnadatta Faith Community Leader), Mona Olsson, (Yankunytjatjara Woman, Stolen Generations Survivor), Reverend Denise Champion (Adnyamathanha Woman, Minister at UAICC Port Augusta), Linda Sutton (Poet, Writer, Former Minister & Gulf FM 89.3 Broadcaster), Karina Lester (Yankunytjatjara Woman, Aboriginal Language Worker, Niece of Auntie Mona Olsson) and Merrilyn Maine (Organist at Western Link Uniting Church).
Oodnadatta Image by Lisa Burns.png Open-air church Oodnadatta Faith Image Lisa Burns.png
Thanks also to the Oodnadatta community, Ian Dempster from Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, Reverend Jenny Swanbury, Radio Adelaide, the CMTO trainers and mentors, and my friends and family for their ongoing support throughout the making of this feature.
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By Anna Carlson
Listen to 'Kabul to Kafka: Inside Australia's Community Detention'
Hello, child,
Welcome to Australia. Here are some things you'll need during your time with us.
First, here's your boat ID number. This is so that everyone knows that you don't deserve a name. Also, yours is too hard for us to say. Next, here's your gag clause. You must keep it on at all times. If we find out that you've taken it off, we'll send you back to detention. And finally, here's your future. We've wrapped it up nice and tightly so that we can be sure that you don't open it until we tell you to. If we find out that you've tried to open it, we'll take it off you for good.
Now, while you're in Australia, you must obey all directions from an authorised person. Who's an authorised person? I'm sorry, we are not authorised to give you that information at this time.
Please wait patiently while your claim is assessed.
Look, a pencil! Would you like a pencil? You could use it to draw a picture to put up in your cage. That'll make you feel better.
What's that? You'd like to know how long you'll have to stay here?
Sorry, Boat ID 714661X, we are not authorised to provide an exit date. It might give you too much hope...
Drawings by children on Christmas Island, via Australian Human Rights Commission Illustration by James Foley, via jamesfoley.com.au
Bureaucracy, boredom and the invisible cage
In July 2015, 857 children were in immigration detention in Australia. Of those 857 children, 642 live in the community, under a program called "Community Detention." They are the "lucky" ones.
Kabul to Kafka: Inside Australia's Community Detention program takes an inside look at what life is like for children and young adults who arrive in Australia alone. Through a collection of interviews with youth workers, caseworkers, project officers, counsellors and advocates, I look to the mundane, the everyday, to try to understand what it feels like to be a "UAM" - unaccompanied minor - in Australia.
Right at the core of the project, however, lies a gap. When I started thinking about Kabul to Kafka, I had spoken to a number of young people who had lived in community detention and who were keen to share their stories. Once I explained the possible consequences of speaking to the media, however, almost all of my participants withdrew their consent. As a former youth worker and current community educator in Brisbane's refugee and asylum seeker communities, I was pretty unwilling to push these vulnerable and marginalised young people into a position of heightened anxiety. And so instead of direct interviews, I asked everyone I knew, to ask everyone they knew, to find stories and anecdotes from refugees and asylum seekers in community detention. These submissions make up the backbone of this documentary. They are the reason I made this work. And they are powerful. They allow us to feel, just for a moment, some of the intensity that comes of growing up in a new country, in a new city, surrounded by strangers, under the watchful gaze of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection - the legal guardian and chief protector of young asylum seekers.
If you feel like you’d like to speak to someone after listening to this documentary, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. They offer counselling and assistance, for free, to anyone who calls. They are a wonderful service. If this has motivated you to do something about Australia’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, join your local branch of the Refugee Action Collective, or contact any one of the numerous social and political organisations dedicated to softening the blow of Australia’s policies. And if you’d like any more information about this particular project, please contact Anna Carlson via Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ.
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By Britta Jorgensen
Listen to 'Cracked Open'
I came to this story after reading a surprising claim by Tassie's anti-battery hen campaigner Pam Clarke in an ABC news article late last year: that layer hens are no better off today than they were back in the 1980s. In a day and age where people are more worried about what's in their food and where it comes from than ever, where 'free range' and ‘ethically sourced' are popular buzzwords in menus and Instagram hashtags, and where more and more people are buying free range eggs from the supermarket shelf, it seemed impossible that things hadn't changed.
The news in Tassie around that time was that yet another attempt to ban cage eggs, this time for use in the prison service, had failed.
I wondered what was really behind all this to-ing and fro-ing. Despite an obvious push by the community to ban cage eggs, something was driving the industry to continue producing them.
It didn't seem to make sense that here in Tassie, the ‘free range’ state, where the market scene is thriving and local farmers are proud of the way they grow their food, consumer demand for eggs produced by hens hidden away from public view in battery sheds was still going strong.
This story takes a look behind the footage, giving some colour to an issue that’s so often painted as black and white and a voice to local figures on all sides, including the free range farmers trying to find some middle ground and perhaps a way forward.
It cracks open what's going on in the industry right now, the way the laws aren't really protecting hens or consumers and why it matters.
All the music in this piece is by local Hobart band and Salamanca Market regulars, The Foley Artists.
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By Hannah Reich
Late last year I went along to an open mic night to support a friend of mine, Tash, who had just begun performing stand up comedy. She performed at a seedy backpacker bar in Melbourne’s CBD and though I laughed heartily at her set, I was shocked at what I heard coming out of the mouth of the MC and many other performers that night. At times I wanted to walk out, to leave behind the string of racist, sexist, transphobic and ableist remarks that these guys had tried to pass off as “comedy.” It made me wonder why Tash and the other female comedian performing that night (on a set list of around 12) would stand up in a room like that and put up with that nonsense.
So this documentary asks the question: If there are countless funny ladies proving that the old adage that women aren’t funny is totally wrong, why are there still a lot fewer women (or female-identifying persons) at the grassroots level of the comedy world, in the open mic scene? I followed Tash to open mic nights around Melbourne and spoke with other women in the scene including comedian Lauren Bok, comedy writer Alex Neill, and Judith Lucy, the undeniable first lady of Australian comedy. My question was a hard one and the answer isn’t clear but it’s still a question worth asking. We need to keep asking these difficult questions in a world where women are still outnumbered in so many fields, where women are paid 17% less than men, and where women’s rights and voices are still being silenced. Ultimately, whatever the answer, more women need to get up, speak up and (do) stand up.
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By Paul Conn
Listen to 'Fairlight: How Australia Changed the Sound of Music'
Behind this strange claim is a story that started in a Sydney basement and ended up in recording studios around the world. Along the way, the sound of music (yes, the way music actually sounds) was changed.
The best part is that it all started in Australia, just because two nerdy guys thought they would push the boundaries of technology 40 years ago without ever realising where it would lead.
So what was this Fairlight? Its proper name was the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument, or Fairlight CMI for short. As the pictures show, it was a plain looking computer with a keyboard, big floppy disks and monitor, but no hard drive or external storage. It was custom built long before today's mass manufactured personal computers, laptops, tablets and more. But this dull exterior hid what it could really do.
It went from that Sydney basement through an amazing set of circumstances to the recording studios of Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Duran Duran, Tears For Fears, the Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and literally hundreds of other musicians. In the end, you could not listen to radio in the late 1980s and not hear the Fairlight's sounds on nearly every song.
And then, in the 1990s it just disappeared.
Image of Fairlight CMI Synthesiser Image of Fairlight CMI Synthesiser
'Fairlight: how Australia changed the sound of music' tells the story of its strange rise, its immense success and its sudden demise, as well as letting you hear plenty of the sound effects and music it was used to create.
If you enjoy the Fairlight story and would like to see it in action, here are some great examples:
Herbie Hancock showing children on a Sesame Street program what the Fairlight could do (entertaining and clever)
Pet Shop Boys performing Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) live in the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test in 1986, with two Fairlights in the keyboards array and up on the monitors
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By Meeghan Bell
Listen to Red Dirt In Bondi: The Story of Building Bridges'
"The facts are really not at all like fish on the fishmonger's slab. They are like fish swimming about in a vast and sometimes inaccessible ocean; and what the historian catches will depend, partly on chance, but mainly on what part of the ocean he chooses to fish in and what tackle he chooses to use – these two factors being, of course, determined by the Kind of fish he wants to catch. By and large, the historian will get the kind of facts he wants. History means interpretation." - E.H. Carr
I was sitting in the packed auditorium as Gary Foley presented 'Life of Struggle' at the 2015 Marxism Conference in Melbourne. He commanded the stage, held the audience in the palm of his hand and I listened fiercely and took notes. He spoke passionately about the history of Aboriginal resistance in Australia, of which he played a central role and shared iconic images of his life including photos with rock star Michael Hutchence (pictured below). Foley also spoke about an album he'd been involved with titled, Building Bridges - Australia Has A Black History.
Gary Foley & Michael Hutchence, Building Bridges 1989 Bicentenary January 26th 1988 Aboriginal Protests at Sydney Harbour
It wasn't entirely clear then of course but as I listened to Foley talk, a seed was planted and once I'd been selected to participate in the CBAA National Features and Documentary Series, the 1989 Building Bridges album and the story surrounding its creation began to absorb almost every waking moment of my life.
'Red Dirt in Bondi' is a radio feature set in Sydney around the time of the Bicentenary, 26 January 1988. The key participants in this feature are Aboriginal activist and academic Gary Foley, the Building Bridges Cultural Construction Crew featuring Jim George, Tony Duke and Denise Officer (Andrew McMillan passed away on 28 January 2012) and singer-songwriter, Kev Carmody.
For a rookie like myself there were significant challenges in bringing this radio story to life including the historical nature of the topic and the complex relationship between black and white Australia since 1788. Not to mention attempting an interesting and thought-provoking radio feature in under 27 minutes.
The story of Building Bridges, involving a small group of people with the support of the Australian Music Industry, is as relevant today as it was back in '88. It is vital to keep re-telling and sharing this piece of history so that we may move towards true reconciliation in this country and achieve justice for Australia's First People.
I would like to thank Phil Ruck, David Miller and others from 3MDR for their amazing support, the CBAA and CMTO for the wonderful opportunity but most importantly to the 'Red Dirt in Bondi' participants Jim, Gary, Tony, Denise and Kev for sharing the incredible Building Bridges story.
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By Jane Arakawa
Listen to 'Australian Radio Pioneer Wound Up the Cat and Put the Clock Out'
How and where you access your favourite radio programs is changing so rapidly that it can be challenging to keep up. It may be reassuring to hear that it was only about 100 years ago that radio was the new emerging technology, and an experimenter named Charles Maclurcan spent much of his time educating the general public on how to hear a radio broadcast signal.
My passion for radio and the immediate, intimate connection it creates between us, lead me to discover more about this dedicated Australian radio pioneer and how he faced his technical hurdles and engaged his audience over various media.
I learnt that Charles Maclurcan erected aerial masts on top of the first Wentworth Hotel located on Church Hill, Lang Street Sydney in 1911 and was communicating with incoming and outgoing ships. By early 1922 he was broadcasting an entertaining and engaging radio program each week with a program guide published in the weekly newspapers of the time. He was issued Licence No.1 in December 1922 and continued his broadcasts and experiments until 1927 when he was required to take over the management of the Wentworth Hotel until its sale in 1950.
I discovered that some of Charles Maclurcan’s equipment was held by the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and also on display at the Radio Museum at Kurrajong, NSW. It was at Kurrajong that I first heard of an ongoing discussion among radio historians regarding which station can lay claim to holding Licence No 1 in Australia. Charles Maclurcan returned to his love of radio in his retirement and his passion and dedication resulted in the Australian Government declaring upon his death in 1957 that his call sign 2CM was never to be re-issued.
Feb 1923 Josie Melville at Strathfield copyright 1924 - Charles Maclurcan talks to England copyright
You will hear how Charles Maclurcan engaged his listeners through multi-media platforms of the time, why historians are debating who holds Licence No.1, and how his grandsons have respectfully and openly shared his story of radio with us.
I now consider Charles Maclurcan to be Australia’s first multi-platform radio producer.
If you wish to discover more about Charles Dansie Maclurcan’s radio programs, technical instructions, newspaper articles, long distance records achieved and his place in Australia’s radio history, you could start at the National Library of Australia (Trove), access reference material at the NSW State Library and Powerhouse Museum, read Ron Langhan’s book The First Twelve Months of Radio Broadcasting in Australia 1923 -1924 or Australian Radio History (5th Edition) compiled by Bruce Carty Phd and visit the Historical Radio Society of Australia.
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