About 5ALX 91.5 FM Alex FM

5ALX 91.5 FM Alex FM

Overview

Alex FM, also presented on air and online as Radio Goolwa, is the community radio station for Goolwa and the Alexandrina district at the mouth of the Murray River on South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula. It broadcasts under the callsign 5ALX and is operated by Radio Alexandrina (Alex FM) Community Broadcasters Association Inc, an incorporated community association. The station describes itself in current material as the voice of the Fleurieu, broadcasting across Alexandrina and beyond and bringing local listeners together through music, stories and updates from their own district. Its studio base is the Railway Superintendent's Cottage in Goolwa, a historic railway building that the association leases from the local council.

One point in the station's published information needs to be flagged rather than smoothed over, because the sources do not agree about its FM frequency. Callsign listings for South Australia associate 5ALX with 96.3 FM at Goolwa. The station's own current listening guidance, however, tells listeners to tune in at 91.5 FM across Goolwa and the surrounding Fleurieu Peninsula, and a volunteer listing for the station also uses the name Alex FM 91.5, so this profile follows the station's own guidance and carries 91.5 FM in its title. No source consulted for this profile explained whether this reflects a frequency change, a second frequency or an error in one of the listings, so readers who want to listen on FM should check the station's own website, which is the most current source, rather than rely on the older callsign listing alone. What is not in doubt is that the station is operating: its website was carrying current local items in 2026, including a notice about transmission problems, and it offers live streaming alongside its FM service.

History

According to the association's own submission to a parliamentary inquiry into community broadcasting, Radio Alexandrina, known as Alex FM, was established in November 2001 to serve the community of the Lake Alexandrina geographical area. That makes the station a product of the early 2000s expansion of Australian community broadcasting, in which small incorporated local groups took out community licences to serve districts that commercial and national broadcasters covered only from a distance. The submission described the Alexandrina area at the time as one of the fastest growing regions in the country, with farming, viticulture and tourism as its main industries, along with some light industry, and with local interests centred on history, water-based activities, the arts and sport.

The station has long been associated with a historic Goolwa building. In its 2006 submission the association noted that the station was situated in one of Goolwa's historic buildings and that tourists often called in for a look. That arrangement continues in a formal modern form. Minutes of an Alexandrina Council ordinary meeting in June 2025 record the council granting consent for a lease to Radio Alexandrina Community Broadcasters Inc for continued occupancy of the Railway Superintendent's Cottage at 5 Laurie Lane, Goolwa, for a fixed term of two years commencing 1 July 2025 and expiring 30 June 2027, at a commencement rent of $721.68 per annum plus GST, with CPI applied for the second year. The station's own volunteering material likewise says it broadcasts from the Railway Superintendent's Cottage in Goolwa. The transmitter site is separate from the studio: in October 2026 the station told listeners it was experiencing transmission disruptions due to issues at its transmission site on the hill above Port Elliot, the coastal town a short distance west of Goolwa.

Programming and Content

The fullest picture of the station's programming comes from its 2006 parliamentary submission, and it should be read as a record of what the station was doing at that time rather than as a current schedule. The submission described a magazine-style program between 9am and 12 noon in which members of community groups were interviewed and local personalities talked about their lives and special interests, with casual visitors and tourists also welcomed on air. Regular contributors included the local business association, the tourist information centre, wildlife welfare and tidy towns groups, the Cittaslow committee, a cancer support group, Alexandrina Council and arts organisations, with the RSL, Rotary and Lions clubs also appearing. A segment each Sunday gave members of a local writing group, the Sandwriters, a chance to read their work on air. On Tuesday afternoons the station carried a one-hour Aboriginal program, received on disc from Deadly Vibes in Sydney, followed by a two-hour segment presented by three Year 9 students from Investigator College, the local school. Specialist music programs covered classical, jazz and Celtic music, the station set a target of 25 percent Australian music across its programs, and three hours on both Saturdays and Sundays were devoted entirely to Australian music. Frequent weather forecasts, gardening segments, local real estate news and regular information on tourism, business, community activities and health rounded out the service. At that time the station broadcast live from 6am to 9pm, after which a computer mix produced by the station filled the remaining hours.

Current programming information is presented differently, through the station's website and social channels rather than a published program grid. The station promotes a Fleurieu Live Music Guide every Thursday, sharing a list of upcoming live music events across the Fleurieu Peninsula, from Goolwa to Port Elliot, Middleton and Victor Harbor, and inviting venues and performers to send in gig details so the station can spread the word. Its websites also carry features labelled Listen Live, Tap 'N' Text and Catch Up, indicating that listener interaction and on-demand access to recent material form part of the present-day service.

Audience and Reach

Alex FM's audience is the population of Goolwa and the surrounding Alexandrina district, extending across the Fleurieu Peninsula. The 2006 submission made the point that while two stations in nearby Victor Harbor broadcast some Fleurieu information, Alex FM was the only station devoted to the Alexandrina area itself, and that local focus remains the station's stated identity, summed up in its description of itself as the voice of the Fleurieu and in its website branding, The Mouth of the Murray, a reference to Goolwa's position near where the Murray River meets the sea. The district's mix of farming, wine, tourism and a large retiree and visitor population shapes the service: the historical program mix of community group interviews, tourism and business information, gardening, health and local arts coverage was designed for residents, while the welcome extended to tourists and casual visitors in the studio reflected Goolwa's role as a holiday and heritage town. In its sponsorship material the station describes its listeners as local people who live, work and shop in the Fleurieu, from coastal townships to rural communities, and offers local businesses sponsorship packages built on that local reach. Online streaming and app listening extend the station beyond its FM footprint, but no verified audience figures for the station were found, and none are claimed here.

Digital Presence

The station maintains two live websites: radiogoolwa-alexfm.com.au, the address recorded for this profile, and alexfm.com.au, which carries the station's news items, listening guidance and community notices. Its Ways to Listen page says Alex FM can be heard on FM locally, streamed live from the website, through the Community Plus Radio app and through TuneIn, describing the service as available around the clock. During the October 2026 transmission disruption the station actively directed listeners to those streaming options, pointing them to the Listen Live link on its page, the Community Plus Radio app and TuneIn while work on the transmitter problem continued. The station also uses Facebook and Instagram, where its Fleurieu Live Music Guide is posted each Thursday, and its news pages are updated with current local items, including volunteering appeals and sponsorship information.

Ownership and Organisation

Alex FM is owned and operated by its community association, Radio Alexandrina (Alex FM) Community Broadcasters Association Inc, the body named in the council lease for its Goolwa premises. It is a volunteer-run station. In its 2006 submission the association reported fifty members and volunteers and no paid staff, with volunteers ranging in age from fourteen to seventy-six, around seventy volunteers having passed through its training by that time, and new volunteers given orientation and training for office work, presenting and production. The station's current volunteering material tells the same story in present-day terms: prospective volunteers can learn to become a presenter, or help in the office, in the garden, or by recording messages, and the station describes the many tasks involved in keeping a radio station on air. Volunteering listings for the station have even extended to recruiting a cleaner for its office and studios, a reminder of the practical, unglamorous work behind a small volunteer station. Revenue appears to come principally from membership, sponsorship by local businesses and community support; the station actively markets sponsorship packages to Fleurieu businesses, emphasising trust, local reach and support for community radio.

Contact and Availability

Alex FM broadcasts from the Railway Superintendent's Cottage at 5 Laurie Lane, Goolwa, South Australia, with its transmitter site on the hill above Port Elliot. The station invites visitors to drop in at the cottage and lists its telephone number on its volunteering page as 8555 3876. Its websites are radiogoolwa-alexfm.com.au and alexfm.com.au, where the Listen Live facility, current news and event information, sponsorship details and volunteering information are published. Listeners outside the FM coverage area, or affected by transmission problems, can hear the station through its website stream, the Community Plus Radio app and TuneIn. Because published sources disagree about whether the station's current FM frequency is the 96.3 MHz associated with the 5ALX callsign in callsign listings or the 91.5 MHz promoted in the station's own current listening guidance, FM listeners in the Goolwa area should confirm the dial position on the station's website before tuning in.