This week marks 30 years since Melbourne community station 3CR’s
first test broadcast back in 1976. 3CR has celebrated its birthday with special
programming featuring rare archive material and
historical interviews.

3CR has been Melbourne’s “independent voice of dissent”
for 30 years. It’s also been Melbourne’s alternative
voice, Melbourne’s progressive voice, the voice of
resistance, ‘the voice of terrorism’, and the home of
activist radio.

The station was established to provide a voice for
those denied access to the mass media, particularly
the working class, women, Indigenous people and the
many community groups discriminated against in and by
the mass media.

3CR has much to celebrate in its 30th year. 3CR
currently broadcasts in 23 languages, 24 hours a
day,365 days a year. 3CR actively discriminates in
favour of Australian artists and composers, playing at
least 55% Australian music.

The station is committed to training community members
under-represented in the media. Each year around one
hundred people are trained in radio production at 3CR,
from a variety of backgrounds and communities. 3CR
also trains women exclusively in live-to-air technical
production in order to encourage women sound engineers
in the music industry.