• Contributing to an open society
• A strong democracy
• A Vibrant Culture 

Recalling the days when he began his career on community radio station 3RRR Melbourne, Greg Pickhaver, aka HG, told CBAA Conference delegates “in those days Carlton was the centre of the universe… we were confident that we were leading the country in the arts, music, football and that gloriously uncertain sport of horse racing, if you didn't like that you could piss off!"

Opening the CBAA Conference in Adelaide today, President Adrian Basso told delegates community broadcast funding was under threat earlier this year.

"When the commission of audit report proposed that community broadcast funding be abolished, the CBAA mobilised thousands of people and on budget night we shone through... the funding was not cut."

He said community broadcasters are "a key Australian broadcasting pillar that helps build a strong democracy and maintain a vibrant culture."

The CBAA National Listener Survey for June 2014 has been released, revealing a strong increase in community radio listenership in non-metro areas of WA.
 
Not only are an estimated 10,000 more people tuning into community stations per week since 2012, the hours spent listening have increased from 10.8 to 13.2.
 
Listeners strongly value the local information and news services the stations provide as well as the local voices and personalities they air and the sense of involvement they inspire.
 

The Community Broadcasting Association has announced the finalists for this year's Awards.

The CBAA Awards are designed to promote excellence and to encourage and assist community broadcasters. They acknowledge the accomplishments of stations in their programs, initiatives or practices that increase their station’s capabilities or improve the services offered to their community.

The Community Broadcasting Association has unveiled a new logo and brand identity.

The logo is one part of a new organisation-wide brand identity, which will extend to all aspects of the peak sector organisation's programs and activities.

The new brand aims to be "a more cohesive and professional reflection" of the organisation's services, benefits and programs. The CBAA website has been revamped to reflect the new look.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann this week revealed the impact of the May Federal Budget's indexation freeze on community broadcasters.
 
The freezing of the indexation to the Community Broadcasting Program means that Federal Government contributions to the sector will be $3.093 million less over four years than it would have been if indexation was applied.

The CBF Board has appointed Griffith University to undertake a review of the community broadcasting sector’s National Training Program.

Griffith University's Associate Professor of Journalism Susan Forde will lead the university's review team. 

The review will take a broad training industry focus, and will assess current Australian Government policy on training initiatives. It will aim recommend how the National Training Project can optimise future opportunities for training in the community broadcasting sector.