Listen up: Learn how to operate a radio station

Brimbank Live, a community digital radio project operating out of the Sydenham Neighbourhood House, is creating new opportunities for young people and was recently named winner of the Reducing Inequalities Award at the state-wide Neighbourhood House Victoria awards.

The station came into being when COVID-19 hit and, as physical community spaces closed, the digital setting helped connect and support young people in the area.

The station broadcasts locally and internationally through LIVE FM, which was created by veteran radio producer and former teacher, Ralph Barba who has become a “mentor for everyone” at Brimbank Live. Young people from diverse backgrounds learn how to host and produce content and podcasts, interview techniques, scriptwriting, voiceover production and how to pitch and promote programs.

“They learn to operate a commercial digital radio station. They walk away from here with transferable skills,” says Mr Barba.

Victoria University Community Psychology student and Doctoral candidate, Roshani Jayawardana, works with Brimbank Live as a researcher and participant. Using ethnographic and qualitative methods as part of her research, she aims to understand the mechanisms and processes that need to take place for young people to feel safe and empowered in leading their own digital community radio station and the narratives they choose to broadcast.

“It gives young people tools to emphasise their identities,” she says.

Ms Jayawardana, 24, was born in Brimbank. She relates to the radio crew on a personal level and understands their drive to tell their own stories. “It’s something I felt as a young person – that stories have been constructed by adults. This gives them a voice – a platform to tell their own narratives.”

Each show has a theme, such as music, community issues, mental health, LGBTQI stories, cultural diversity, sport, news and so on.

Among the 108 shows broadcast since July 2020, Brimbank Live has showcased conversations about being radicalised and policed in the community, experiences in the justice system, and what it means to be non-binary. The team has also interviewed high-profile community and international guests, such as actor Farid Yazdani from the television series Suits.

Their experience at Brimbank Live has led to young people being invited to help build education programs for public service organisations, doing outside broadcasts for Cultural Diversity Week at the Immigration Museum, and being recognised as vital members of their community.

The project wants more people who work, live and play in Brimbank to get involved. “We are looking for people from diverse backgrounds who have a passion for media and are keen to learn the skills required to work in commercial radio,” Ms Jayawardana says.

“We are hoping, in future, to expand beyond Brimbank.”

You can listen to Brimbank Live and watch all their broadcasted shows online.