The history of broadcasting in Australia has been shaped for over a century by the problem of communication across long distances, coupled with a strong base in a wealthy society with a deep taste for aural communications in a silent landscape.Diane Collins, "Acoustic journeys: exploration and the search for an aural history of Australia". Australian Historical Studies 37.128 (2006) pp: 1–17 online Australia developed its own system, through its own engineers, manufacturers, retailers, newspapers, entertainment services, and news agencies. The government set up the first radio system, and business interests marginalized the hobbyists and amateurs. The Australian Labor Party was especially interested in radio because it allowed them to bypass the newspapers, which were mostly controlled by the opposition. Both parties agreed on the need for a national system, and in 1932 set up the Australian Broadcasting Commission, as a government agency that was largely separate from political interference.
The first commercial broadcasters, originally known as "B" class stations were on the air as early as 1925. Many were sponsored by newspapers in Australia,Denis Cryle, "The press and public service broadcasting: Neville Petersen's news not views and the case for Australian exceptionalism." (2014) Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture & Policy Issue 151 (May 2014): 56+. by theatrical interests, by amateur radio enthusiasts and radio retailers, and by retailers generally.R. R. Walker, The Magic Spark – 50 Years of Radio in Australia (Melbourne: The Hawthorn Press, 1973). Almost all Australians were within reach of a station by the 1930s, and the number of stations remained relatively stable through the post-war era. However, in the 1970s, the Labor government under Prime Minister Gough Whitlam commenced a broadcasting renaissance so that by the 1990s there were 50 different radio services available for groups based on tastes, languages, religion, or geography.John Potts, Radio in Australia (1986) The broadcasting system was largely deregulated in 1992, except that there were limits on foreign ownership and on monopolistic control. By 2000, 99 percent of Australians owned at least one television set, and averaged 20 hours a week watching it.Graeme Davison et al., eds., The Oxford Companion to Australian History (2001), pp 546–47, 637–38
Regulatory chronology 1890s Pre-federation Prior to Australian federation, the regulatory framework was vested in the individual colonies and the province of South Australia. Wireless was closely aligned with the important postal and telegraphy functions and each state had its own post and telegraph department, which were merged into the Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) upon federation. Schedule 1 of the Post and Telegraph Act 1901 lists numerous State acts which were superseded by the new act, the key being: New South Wales – "An Act to establish and regulate Electric Telegraphs." Victoria – "Post Office Act 1890." Queensland – "The Post and Telegraph Act 1891." South Australia – "An Act to regulate the construction and management of Electric Telegraphs 1857." Western Australia – "The Post and Telegraph Act 1893." Tasmania – "The Electric Telegraph Act 1857."
Earliest wireless experiments The progressive developments in wireless theory and experimentation by James Maxwell, Heinrich Hertz, Guglielmo Marconi and others were not only described in the professional journals, but captured the public imagination to such an extent that each new success was widely reported in the worldwide press. Australia was no exception when it came to this public fascination. The equipment necessary to duplicate the smaller scale experiments was not difficult to manufacture and similar experiments were soon being undertaken in Australian laboratories and then public demonstrations in all Australian states. The experimenters can be categorised into PMG, Military, Academic and Private Experimenters.
Post and Telegraph Departments In each Australian colony, the respective Post and Telegraph Departments were actively engaging in wireless telegraphy experiments. The driver was not purely scientific, submarine cables were an expensive technology (both capital and maintenance) to give effect to communication to near-coast islands and across the Bass Strait. Australia's vast open spaces had already proven expensive projects for deployments of telegraph lines. Wireless telegraphy offered the prospect of very substantial cost savings. Military Military applications for wireless technology were clear and present. Ships of war were isolated from communication upon departure from ports immediately visual contact was lost. A mobile army force could not rely upon existing land lines and considerable effort was required to temporarily deploy additional lines, which in any event were exposed to enemy attention. Academia Australia's leading academic institutions were all following the international developments and had the advantage of bringing together our leading theoreticians and leading technologists. Private experimenters Prior to Federation, it is not clear whether formal licensing of private experimenters was required by individual colonies, or if it was whether it was pursued. No individual licences have been reported, while experiments by the PMG and Military would be exempt from licensing, and those by academia usually in co-ordination with the PMG. As always Australian amateur experimenters followed close in their wake, often overlooking the formal need for licensing by the authorities.
New South Wales Richard Threlfall The announcement by Hertz in 1888 of his successful experiments in the existence of free electromagnetic waves created a sensation throughout the scientific world. The Hertz' experiments were repeated in the Physics laboratory at the University of Sydney the same year.
Philip Billingsley Walker On 10 August 1899, the Postmaster-General, one or two officers of the department and representatives of the press, were invited to a demonstration of wireless under the supervision of P. B. Walker, Engineer-in-Chief of Telegraphs. The transmitting and receiving aerial wires were suspended on the corners of the roof of the Post Office building with the equipment itself in the laboratory below. The demonstration was entirely a success, though interference was present from adjacent tram lines. Walker stated that he felt there was presently limited commercial application, but nevertheless advised that further experiments would be conducted, with sea trials still to be decided upon. The transmitting was undertaken by Walker and the receiving by Watkin Wynne. All the equipment was manufactured by staff of the Government electrician, principally John Nelson. A 12-inch induction coil was used for transmission and a two-inch coherer for reception. An amount of £150.0.0 was stated to have been reserved for purchase of equipment from the Marconi Telegraph Company, with further experiments to proceed upon receipt. However Walker died in August 1900, and with his passing wireless telegraphy seems to have fallen dormant for many years.
Joseph Patrick Slattery is reported from 1900 as experimenting in wireless telegraphy at St Stanislaus' College, Bathurst with equipment made by himself, but the experiments were considerably extended from late 1903 when professional Marconi equipment arrived from London and were immediately deployed.
South Australia and the Northern Territory William Henry Bragg was working on wireless telegraphy as early as 1895, though public lectures and demonstrations focussed on his X-ray research which would later lead to his Nobel Prize. In a hurried visit by Ernest Rutherford, he was reported as working on a Hertzian oscillator. There were many common practical threads to the two technologies and he was ably assisted in the laboratory by Arthur Lionel Rogers who manufactured much of the equipment. On 21 September 1897, Bragg gave the first recorded public demonstration of the working of wireless telegraphy in Australia during a lecture meeting at the University of Adelaide as part of the Public Teachers' Union conference. Bragg departed Adelaide in December 1897, and spent all of 1898 on a 12-month leave of absence, touring Great Britain and Europe and during this time visited Marconi and inspected his wireless facilities. He returned to Adelaide in early March 1899, and already by 13 May 1899, Bragg and his father-in-law Sir Charles Todd were conducting preliminary tests of wireless telegraphy with a transmitter at the Observatory and a receiver on the South Road (about 200 metres). Experiments continued throughout the southern winter of 1899 and the range was progressively extended to Henley Beach. In September the work was extended to two way transmissions with the addition of a second induction coil loaned by James Oddie of Ballarat. It was desired to extend the experiments across a sea path and Todd was interested in connecting Cape Spencer and Althorpe Island, but local costs were considered prohibitive while the charges for patented equipment from the Marconi Company were exorbitant. At the same time Bragg's interests were leaning towards X-rays and practical work in wireless in South Australia was largely dormant for the next decade.
Victoria George William Selby took an interest in all aspects of the new science of electricity, both in practical experiments and public education. As early as 1878 he was demonstrating an induction coil (a key component of the future wireless telegraphy) and Geissler tube. In July 1897, in response to reports of Marconi's success, he announced that, he had also been successful in his experiments which had commenced some three years earlier (i.e. 1894). While, it does appear that no great distance was traversed, his experiments are amongst the earliest in Australia. At a time when public interest in wireless was extreme, Selby was balancing his time against his business interest in accountancy and progress with his experiments was slow. In June 1899, Selby approached the Victorian Defence Department for approval to conduct experiments between the coast and a warship. Approval was given and successful tests were achieved between HMVS Cerberus, which was moored in Hobsons Bay, and the naval depot, Williamstown. It is stated that the apparatus used was that made by Selby in 1897. In February 1900, it was reported that Selby was now successfully communicating between Malvern and Brighton, a distance of five miles, but still well behind Jenvey. In February 1901, he auctioned much of his equipment and thereafter there is little record of further experimenting. However his public education activities and commentary continued, including presentation in December 1908 of a major paper on Wireless Telegraphy to the Victorian Institute of Engineers.
James Oddie acquired considerable wealth during the gold rush period in Ballarat, and used much of that wealth in philanthropic pursuits. He was closely involved in the Ballarat School of Mines and taught there for a period. In the late 1890s he was involved in wireless telegraphy experiments, but detailed records appear limited. Famously, while visiting Bragg and Todd in Adelaide, he learned of their need for a second large induction coil and promptly arranged dispatch of his own unit which greatly assisted their more advanced experiments.