About 6CRA 100.9 FM Great Southern FM

6CRA 100.9 FM Great Southern FM

Overview

Great Southern FM is the community radio station for Albany and the Great Southern region of Western Australia, broadcasting on 100.9 MHz FM under the call sign 6CRA. It is operated by Albany Community Radio Inc, which trades under the Great Southern FM name, and it is a non-profit, member-based station staffed almost entirely by volunteers. From its studios at 211–217 North Road in the Albany suburb of Centennial Park, the station broadcasts around the clock, with live and locally presented programming running from 6am until late on most days.

The station's purpose is deliberately broad and local. Volunteers present national news bulletins alongside local weather details, community information and entertainment, and the majority of programs heard on 100.9 FM are produced and presented in Albany itself rather than taken from a network. Great Southern FM also promotes and supports Australian artists, both established and emerging, and gives local not-for-profit organisations and community groups free on-air promotion for their events and services. The station acknowledges the Menang people as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which it operates, and pays respect to Elders past and present.

History

Albany Community Radio has been part of the city's media landscape for roughly three decades. The station's own presenter histories provide the clearest dating evidence: one long-serving volunteer, Jean, joined Albany Community Radio in 1995/96 "when the station was just over a year old", which places its first broadcasts in the mid-1990s. Jean went on to serve on the station's committee, fill a number of organisational roles and present programs in every timeslot, including the midnight-to-3am "graveyard" shift, before retiring from on-air duties in 2025 while remaining part of the station family.

That volunteer longevity is a recurring theme in the station's history. Another presenter, Dawson Moore, joined Albany Community Radio in its infancy and, with his wife Dorothy, presented a Wednesday afternoon program called "Memories with the Moores" featuring old-fashioned music. Dawson also co-hosted a monthly R.S.L. hour interviewing service personnel, served as a life member of the organisation, and was remembered by the station on his death in June 2023 as having supported the station for more than 25 years. Stories like these chart a station built and sustained by Albany people over a generation, evolving from its Albany Community Radio identity into the Great Southern FM brand it uses today. In its current era the station's patron is Scott Leary, the state Member for Albany elected in 2025, who describes himself as proud to support a station that keeps the community connected.

Programming and Content

Music is the backbone of the schedule, and the station is explicit that its playlist is shaped by listener response. Tuning in across the week, listeners hear contemporary music alongside jazz, blues, country, classical, gospel, First Nations music, classic rock and easy listening, with the overall mix spanning from the 1940s to today — a breadth the station says reflects the diversity of the Great Southern community. Specialist volunteer presenters anchor themed programs: the station's team pages, for example, describe an Alternative Music Show running on Wednesday nights from 7pm to 10pm, and a Friday afternoon duo program presented by two local presenters between 5pm and 7pm.

Youth participation is a distinctive feature of the schedule. Great Southern FM has welcomed senior high school students onto the airwaves — one current young presenter began at the station in Year Eleven at Great Southern Grammar with a show called Razzle n' Dazzle — and the station's policies commit it to a biannual senior high school student work experience program. Beyond the studio, the station undertakes outside broadcasts at community events, holds open days inviting the public to tour the studios, and promotes local musicians and community organisations as a matter of policy. News, local weather and community announcements are woven through the day, consistent with its volunteer-run local service model.

Audience and Reach

Great Southern FM's audience is the population of Albany — Western Australia's oldest European settlement and the major service centre of the Great Southern — together with listeners across the surrounding region who can receive the 100.9 FM signal. Community radio stations in Australia are not measured by the commercial ratings surveys, and Great Southern FM publishes no audience figures, so its reach is best described in terms of its licence area, its longevity and its community embeddedness: a station on air for around 30 years, whose presenters are drawn from the local population, including school students, retirees and long-serving volunteers with devoted program followings.

The station's programming choices reflect that audience: a music mix stretching back to the 1940s sits comfortably with older listeners, while student presenters, alternative music shows and community noticeboard content speak to younger and community-minded audiences. Its role as a free promotional platform for local not-for-profits and events makes it part of the civic infrastructure of the Great Southern, not simply an entertainment service. The station actively seeks listener requests and feedback, holds member discussion forums alongside its annual general and other meetings, and positions itself as a focal point for information about access to community services across the region — functions written into its own community participation policies.

Great Southern FM also plays a measurable role in Albany's volunteer economy. Its recruitment spans on-air announcers, office assistants and roster coordinators, and its presenters' biographies show people arriving from other local not-for-profits, schools and community groups, reinforcing the station's function as a connective hub for organised community life in the city.

Digital Presence

Great Southern FM maintains its home online at greatsouthernfm.com, where listeners can find presenter profiles, station policies, contact details and information about the station. The station also maintains a presence on Facebook and Twitter/X, and its published policies commit it to streaming its broadcasts online in order to expand its listening audience and invite listener feedback. It is also listed in online radio directories such as myTuner, extending its availability beyond the Albany FM footprint to listeners anywhere with an internet connection.

Ownership and Organisation

The licence holder and operator is Albany Community Radio Inc, an incorporated non-profit association that trades as Great Southern FM. The station is member-based and governed through a committee structure typical of Australian community broadcasting, with formal policies and procedures covering codes of conduct and ethics, volunteer rights and responsibilities, and community participation; the station's policy manual was adopted in revised form on 20 April 2024 and has been amended several times since, most recently during 2026. Great Southern FM is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia and operates within the community broadcasting sector's codes of practice.

Financially, the station is independent of any media group: Albany Community Radio is funded entirely through fundraising, memberships, grants and business sponsorship, and its volunteer listings emphasise that presenters and support staff — from radio announcers to office assistants and roster coordinators — give their time unpaid. Volunteering is presented by the station as a two-way benefit, offering locals skills, social engagement and a pathway into media, while keeping the service running.

Contact and Availability

Great Southern FM broadcasts on 100.9 FM in Albany and the Great Southern, 24 hours a day. The station is located at 211–217 North Road, Centennial Park, Albany WA 6330. The office phone number is (08) 9842 3455, and the direct studio line is (08) 9842 3456. Programs run live from 6am until late most days, with automated or networked content filling the remaining hours. Listeners can also connect with the station through its website at greatsouthernfm.com and its Facebook and Twitter/X pages, and prospective volunteers and members can make contact through the same channels.