Indigenous community broadcasting enables Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have access to culturally appropriate and regionally relevant broadcasting services in the same way the broader Australian public does. It also takes Indigenous voices, stories, music, viewpoints and information into communities throughout Australia, including to non-Indigenous audiences.
They also produce and broadcast programs promoting Indigneous languages, thus improving Indigenous Australians knowledge of, and access to, essential services such as housing, health, education and legal services.
AICA's vision of a national Indigenous communications service, linking all our community and other broadcasting services (and other communications media) while maintaining and supporting locally controlled community and regional stations would not only strengthen the maintenance, development and promotion of Indigneous cultures, but also improve access to them and, at the same time, enhance the social and economic development of Indigneous communities, whilst also maintaining our languages.
Several decades ago, The Aboriginal Program Exchange (TAPE) was established. This service enables Indigenous community broadcasters to send a selection of their programs to TAPE who copy them onto tape cassettes and compact disk and distribute them to all the other Indigenous community broadcasters (many of whom broadcast on non-Indigenous Community Radio stations). Many mainstream libraries receive copies of these programs also.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are taking command of our culture and language through radio and communications technology and are mindful to ensure we maintain control of any technological advancements that are available to us.