RPH Australia is the national peak representative organisation for a unique Australian network of

radio reading service A radio reading service or reading service for the blind is a public service of many universities, community groups and public radio stations, where a narrator reads books, newspapers and magazines aloud for the benefit of the blind and vision-imp ...

s designed to meet the daily information needs of people who, for any reason, are unable to access printed material. It is estimated that 22% of the Australian population has a print disability (over 5 million).

History

Historically, RPH stood for "Radio for the Print Handicapped", and these services began in Australia in 1975 on Melbourne's 3ZZ. On 23 July 1978, the Minister for Post and Telecommunications announced, "The establishment of a special radio communications service for the blind and other people with reading difficulties." The federal government began its direct funding of the service with a $250,000 grant in the 1981–82 budget. Initially using marine band (today's

extended AM broadcast band The extended mediumwave broadcast band, commonly known as the AM expanded band, refers to the broadcast station frequency assignments immediately above the earlier upper limits of 1600 kHz in International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Regio ...

) frequencies, stations in Hobart, Melbourne, and Sydney began operating. 7RPH Hobart went to air in June 1982. 3RPH Melbourne was officially opened in December the same year. By 1984–85, RPH services were also operating in Brisbane and Canberra. After another review, the specialised stations of the service transferred to normal broadcast band frequencies in 1990 and 1991. Material from the network is heard on a small number of non-network community stations in Australia and on the

Radio Reading Service A radio reading service or reading service for the blind is a public service of many universities, community groups and public radio stations, where a narrator reads books, newspapers and magazines aloud for the benefit of the blind and vision-imp ...

of New Zealand. In December 2013, all RPH Australia network stations joined the new

VAST Vast or VAST may refer to: * ''Vast'' (novel), a 1998 science fiction novel by Linda Nagata * ''Vast'' (2011 film), a Dutch film, winner of the 2011 Golden Calf for Best Television Drama * Vast Broadband, an American cable and internet compan ...

satellite platform.

RPH Australia Radio Reading Network Stations

Radio 1RPH Radio 1RPH 1125 kHz Canberra (89.5FM Wagga, 99.5FM Junee) is a volunteer-staffed AM band radio broadcast station in the Australian Capital Territory serving all of the ACT and surrounding areas of NSW including Queanbeyan, Yass and Michelago, ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

: 1125 kHz AM and DAB+ *

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's ...

: 89.5 MHz FM *

Junee Junee () is a medium-sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in par ...

: 99.5 FM (retransmission by Junee Shire Council) * Internet stream: *

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

: Viewer Access Satellite Television, radio channel 632

2RPH 2RPH (a.k.a. Radio for the Print Handicapped) is an Australian radio reading service that reads newspapers and magazines for the benefit of those who have difficulties reading for themselves. It is the Sydney station of the RPH Network. The 2R ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

: 1224 kHz AM and DAB+ *Sydney Eastern Suburbs: 100.5 MHz FM and DAB+ *

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

: 100.5 MHz FM *

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...

: 93.3 MHz FM *

: Viewer Access Satellite Television, radio channel 632

4RPH

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

: 1296 kHz AM and DAB+ *

: Viewer Access Satellite Television, radio channel 632

Vision Australia Radio (3RPH)

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – t ...

2APH 2APH is a radio station based in Albury-Wodonga. It is part of the Vision Australia Radio network, a reading and information service for those persons unable to read or easily access information in print. The station is operated by volunteers. ...

101.7 MHz FM *

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...

3BPH 3BPH is a radio station based in Bendigo, Victoria. It is part of the Vision Australia Radio network, a reading and information service for those persons unable to read or easily access information in print. The station is run and operated by vo ...

88.7 MHz FM *

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Laragiya language, Larrakia: ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the spa ...

: 3RPH DAB+ *

Geelong Geelong ( ) ( Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the south eastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon ...

3GPH 3GPH is a community radio station owned and operated by Vision Australia as part of the Vision Australia Radio network. The station broadcasts a radio reading service to Geelong, Victoria, with 18 hours of local programming each week. Outside o ...

99.5 kHz FM *

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

3RPH 3RPH is a community radio station owned and operated by Vision Australia as part of the Vision Australia Radio network. The station broadcasts a radio reading service to Melbourne, Victoria, with repeater services in Warragul and Warrnambool, Vi ...

1179 kHz AM and DAB+ *

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

3MPH 3MPH is a radio station based in Mildura, Victoria. It is part of the Vision Australia Radio network, a reading and information service for those persons unable to read or easily access information in print. The station is run and operated by vol ...

107.5 MHz FM *

Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparto ...

3SPH 3SPH is a radio station based in Shepparton, Victoria. It is part of the Vision Australia Radio network, a reading and information service for those persons unable to read or easily access information in print. The station is run and operated by ...

100.1 MHz FM *

Warragul Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the , the town had a population of 19,8 ...

93.5 MHz FM *

Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (A ...

882 kHz AM *

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

Optus Aurora Optus Aurora was a free-to-view satellite television platform in Australia, which aimed at providing television and radio services to remote and black spot areas using the Optus C1 and B3 satellites. The service was available in all areas, usin ...

, radio channel 12 (Melbourne feed)?? VAST *

: Viewer Access Satellite Television, radio channel 632

5RPH Radio 5RPH (1197 kHz) is a volunteer manned AM band community radio station in Adelaide, South Australia Australia for the blind. Radio 5RPH is a member of the Radio Print Handicapped Network. Its stated mission is to "provide a quality readi ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

: 1197 kHz AM and DAB+ *

: Viewer Access Satellite Television, radio channel 632

990 Vision Australia Radio, Perth (6RPH)

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

: 990 kHz AM and DAB+ *

: Viewer Access Satellite Television, radio channel 632

Print Radio Tasmania (7RPH)

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/ Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

: 864 kHz AM and DAB+ * Launceston: 106.9 MHz FM * Devonport: 96.1 MHz FM *

: Viewer Access Satellite Television, radio channel 632

NDIS

In February 2016, funding from the

National Disability Insurance Scheme The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a scheme of the Australian Government that funds costs associated with disability. The scheme was legislated in 2013 and went into full operation in 2020. The scheme is administered by the Na ...

(NDIS) was called into question after July 2016, with 1RPH being the first station to have

funding Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm use ...

from previous Disability services sources withdrawn.

External links

RPH Australia

Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA)
{{National radio networks in Australia Accessibility Australian radio networks Radio reading services of Australia Radio stations established in 1982

History

RPH Australia Radio Reading Network Stations

Radio 1RPH Radio 1RPH 1125 kHz Canberra (89.5FM Wagga, 99.5FM Junee) is a volunteer-staffed AM band radio broadcast station in the Australian Capital Territory serving all of the ACT and surrounding areas of NSW including Queanbeyan, Yass and Michelago, ...

2RPH 2RPH (a.k.a. Radio for the Print Handicapped) is an Australian radio reading service that reads newspapers and magazines for the benefit of those who have difficulties reading for themselves. It is the Sydney station of the RPH Network. The 2R ...

4RPH

Vision Australia Radio (3RPH)

5RPH Radio 5RPH (1197 kHz) is a volunteer manned AM band community radio station in Adelaide, South Australia Australia for the blind. Radio 5RPH is a member of the Radio Print Handicapped Network. Its stated mission is to "provide a quality readi ...

990 Vision Australia Radio, Perth (6RPH)

Print Radio Tasmania (7RPH)

NDIS

See also

External links