Koori Radio (

callsign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assi ...

2LND), is a

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...

station based in Redfern broadcasting to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on a citywide licence. Since the early 1990s it has been part of the Gadigal Information Service (GIS), and is the only radio station in Sydney providing full-time broadcasting to the Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

community. Radio Redfern was the precursor to Koori Radio in the 1980s, but was not connected.

Background: Radio Redfern

Radio Redfern was the precursor to Koori Radio. In 1981,

Maureen Watson Maureen Watson, also known as "Aunty Maureen" (9 November 1931 – 4 January 2009), was an Aboriginal Australian activist actor, vocalist, writer, musician, and storyteller. Early life and education Maureen Watson was born on 9 November 1931, ...

and her son Tiga Bayles started broadcasting for 10 minutes each week on community radio station

2SER 2SER is a not-for-profit radio station in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, broadcasting on the frequency 107.3 FM. It is operated by Sydney Educational Broadcasting Ltd, and co-funded by two Universities, University of Technology Sydney and Ma ...

107.3 FM. After Radio Skid Row (2RSR 88.9 FM) was licensed as a community broadcaster in 1984, it gave 10 hours of air time per week to Radio Redfern. 2RSR was initially broadcast from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, before moving to a

terraced house A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

at 27 Cope Street, in Redfern, next to the old

Black Theatre Black theatre or black theater may refer to: * Black light theatre, a staging concept using black backgrounds and black light * Black Theatre (Sydney), an Australian Aboriginal theatre company 1972–1977 * African-American musical theater A ...

building. It broadcast 30–40 hours a week, with all staff being volunteers, among other things playing an important role in informing the Sydney Aboriginal community about protests related to the 1988 Australian Bicentenary as well as Aboriginal deaths in custody. Around 1991 the building was demolished, at the same time as the old Black Theatre building. A documentary film about Radio Redfern, ''88.9 Radio Redfern'', was released in 1988. The 54-minute film features

Linda Burney Linda Jean Burney (born 25 April 1957) is an Australian Labor Party (ALP) politician who was the member of Parliament (MP) for the division of Barton from 2016 to 2025. She was the minister for Indigenous Australians from 2022 to July 2024. S ...

, Brenda Croft,

Oodgeroo Noonuccal Oodgeroo Noonuccal ( ; born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska, later Kath Walker (3 November 192016 September 1993) was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, artist and educator, who campaigned for Aboriginal rights. Noonuccal was best known for ...

, Mac Silva, Tiga Bayles, and many others. It was directed and produced by Sharon Bell, co-directed by Geoff Burton.

History

It was the success of Radio Redfern that inspired Cathy Craigie, Matthew Cook, and Tim Bishop to set up the Gadigal Information Service (GIS), an Aboriginal-owned and -operated communication organisation. Koori Radio began broadcasting on community station Radio Skid Row around 1993 under the auspices of GIS, and moved in to its own premises in Redfern in the upper level of a terraced house on the corner of Cleveland and Edwards Streets, near The Block. In 1995, American rapper

Ice Cube O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1989 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popu ...

opened the radio's new studios. Koori Radio was part of a series of national Indigenous radio broadcasts during the

Sydney 2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, from a temporary location in

Marrickville Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council local government ...

. Other Indigenous radio stations around the country received regular updates from Sydney via the National Indigenous Radio Service, and stations from all over broadcast into Sydney through Koori Radio. The ACMA granted the licence to broadcast full-time across Sydney on 25 May 2001. Koori Radio began full-time broadcasting on 93.7FM in December 2002 with a 1 kW transmitter, switching to a new 50 kW transmitter in December 2003. In 2005, the

Indigenous Land Corporation The Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) is an Australian federal government statutory authority with national responsibilities to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to acquire land and to manage assets to achieve cultura ...

purchased the site on Cope Street formerly occupied by Radio Redfern and the Black Theatre. In 2008 Koori Radio received

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

funding to move into purpose-built studios with Black Theatre in Redfern. A new building was designed by architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer to accommodate the

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

s and offices of the Gadigal Information Service, with exterior artwork created by Aboriginal artist

Adam Hill Adam Hill may refer to: * Adam Hill (rugby union) (born 1986), New Zealand rugby union player * Adam Hill (baseball) (born 1997), American baseball player * Blak Douglas, Australian artist and musician formerly known as Adam Hill See also *Adam Hil ...

(now known as Blak Douglas), inspired by the life of Kevin Gilbert and his writing of the play ''

The Cherry Pickers Kevin John Gilbert (10 July 1933 – 1 April 1993) was an Aboriginal Australian author, activist, artist, poet, playwright and printmaker. A Wiradjuri man, Gilbert was born on the banks of the Lachlan River in New South Wales. Gilbert was the f ...

''. The building was opened in 2008. Author and academic

Anita Heiss Anita Marianne Heiss (born 1968) is an Aboriginal Australian author, poet, cultural activist and social commentator. She is an advocate for Indigenous Australian literature and literacy, through her writing for adults and children and her memb ...

was voluntary chair of the radio station until 2008.

Programming

Koori Radio is the city's only

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

music station. the music format was one third Australian Indigenous, one third

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Indigenous and one-third other black music. The station broadcasts live from 07:00 to 00:00 with a music service overnight. It is a

volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

-run organisation and is funded through listener support, grants and limited commercial sponsorship. As well as its format of Indigenous and black music, the station broadcasts news, current affairs, sport and listener involvement programs. There are also programs by the Samoan and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

communities. Koori Radio's flagship program was ''Blackchat'', a current affairs program discussing news, issues and events from an Indigenous perspective which was broadcast on weekday mornings. Koori Radio also contributes programming to the

National Indigenous Radio Service The National Indigenous Radio Service (NIRS) is a satellite program feed available in Australia to Indigenous and non-Indigenous community radio stations. NIRS provides targeted and specialist programming for and by Australia's Aboriginal and ...

. Koori Radio's programming also features Koori Radio Sport, an entertainment programme that covers the latest in sport news, with a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players. Richard Baini is a regular co-host of Koori Radio Sport and is best known for his segment Richie's Rants. It also features ''Marloo's Blues'', a programme of blues and roots music hosted by

Marlene Cummins Marlene Cummins is a jazz blues singer, saxophonist, songwriter, artist, Aboriginal Australian activist, broadcaster, dancer, and actor. Many activists consider her to be Australia's Angela Davis. Music Cummins is considered Australia's foremost ...

Recognition

The Gadigal Information Service is the subject of an interview with Lily Shearer in an episode of the 2013 TV documentary series '' Desperate Measures''. It is available on SBS on Demand.''Desperate Measures''
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References

External links

* {{coord missing, New South Wales Radio stations in Sydney Community radio stations in Australia Indigenous Australian radio

Koori Radio Koori Radio (callsign 2LND), is a community radio station based in Redfern broadcasting to Sydney on a citywide licence. Since the early 1990s it has been part of the Gadigal Information Service (GIS), and is the only radio station in Sydney ...

2002 establishments in Australia 1993 establishments in Australia