Celebrating 70 years

As Radio Australia celebrates our 70th birthday, our Tok Pisin service is going strong at 35!

Radio Australia began its Tok Pisin – or Pidgin – service in Papua New Guinea in 1974. The service was established at the request of PNG’s first Prime Minister, Michael Somare, in preparation for his country’s independence in 1975. The ABC had been broadcasting in PNG prior to this, but it withdrew and handed over to the country’s newly formed National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) before independence.

Radio Australia is still the only international broadcaster to provide a service in Tok Pisin.

For many in Papua New Guinea the service is a listening institution, particularly for those in remote and rural areas as well as the many islands that make up the island nation.

The reputation of the Tok Pisin service is also built on a solid listenership in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, where versions of Pidgin are spoken. This highlights one of the service’s strengths in helping bring Pacific nations closer together.

News and current affairs underpin the service, but it also broadcasts programs on the environment, women’s issues, health and music, and reflects Australia back to the region by telling Australian stories.

In short, the service plays a vital role in the lives of many Melanesians.

The Tok Pisin service has established close links with PNG’s national broadcaster, the NBC, and has been involved in rejuvenation projects the NBC has undertaken. As some of the service’s Pidgin language programs are re-broadcast by the NBC, it helps complement the broadcaster’s output.

While short wave has and continues to be the principal means of delivery of broadcasts, the service is taking advantage of the expansion of Radio Australia’s FM broadcasting and is now heard nightly in Port Moresby and Lae, as well as through other local partners in provincial centres.

It has also embraced the internet, where its broadcasts are streamed live and news and features are regularly published.