About PBA-FM

PBA-FM

PBA-FM 89.7 (callsign 5PBA) is a community radio station in Adelaide, South Australia, broadcasting to the northern suburbs. Operated by the Para Broadcasters Association Inc. — established in 1978, with a full licence granted in late 1982 and first broadcast in January 1983 — it airs over 60 diverse programs each week, including multicultural shows in Spanish, Indonesian, Macedonian, Thamizh, Romanian, Filipino and Bosnian-Herzegovinian. Its slogan is "Community First." The station is based at the Twelve25 Youth Centre, 17–19 Wiltshire Street, Salisbury SA 5108, with published contacts 08 8250 3735 and info@pbafm.org.au. The station's website is https://www.pbafm.org.au/.

Overview

PBA-FM is Adelaide's northern community station: the volunteer-powered 89.7 FM for the northern suburbs — the 60-plus weekly programs, the multicultural voices, the creative freedom. Where the commercial dial chases the ratings, PBA-FM serves the community: the management encourages creative freedom, announcers choose their own music, and community groups can broadcast for a small fee. The 40th birthday celebrations in 2023 — at the Salisbury Institute, with 35-year volunteer Gary Lockyer, former Premier Lynn Arnold (who opened the station 40 years earlier) and Playford Mayor Glenn Docherty — marked four decades of the north's own airwaves.

History

The callsign — 5PBA — is the identity: the 5 for South Australia, the PBA for the Para Broadcasters Association. The 89.7 frequency — the dial position since 1983 — is the brand: the north's number. The slogan — 'Community First' — is the mission: the community, before everything. The association — established 1978, the full licence late 1982 — is the governance: the members, the volunteers, the north's station.
The Salisbury Teachers College years — 1983 to 2007, nearly 25 years — were the campus era: the college, become the CAE, become the UniSA campus, housing the community station. Foundation Studios — the affordable professional recording for local artists — was the early innovation: the community's music, professionally captured. Its 1989 closure — 'due to mismanagement,' per the histories — was the stumble: the studios, closed; the station, continuing. The campus's 2005 sale — the housing development, Lifestyle SA — forced the move: the station, homeless, then rehomed.

PBA-FM is operated by the Para Broadcasters Association Inc., established in 1978. Full-time broadcasting began in January 1983 (full licence granted late 1982). The station was originally located at the Salisbury Teachers College — later the South Australian College of Advanced Education, then the University of South Australia Salisbury campus. An early initiative was Foundation Studios, giving local artists an affordable facility for professional recording; it closed in 1989.

In 2005, plans began to relocate after the former campus land was purchased for a housing development. With help from the Salisbury Council and the developers, the station relocated to Wiltshire Street in Salisbury on 4 August 2007, as part of a new community complex — now the Twelve25 Youth Centre at 17–19 Wiltshire Street. The station commenced streaming live online in April 2010.

In October 2024, Bronwen Whyatt joined as station manager — an Adelaide-born cellist, writer, teacher and artist who trained as a classical music presenter at Melbourne's 3MBS. The station launched its inaugural radiothon with around 60 volunteers and 50 weekly programs.

Salisbury — the north's city — is the station's home: the Twelve25 Youth Centre, 17–19 Wiltshire Street, the community complex the station moved to on 4 August 2007. The Para district — the Para Broadcasters' namesake — is the broadcast area: the northern suburbs, the multicultural north, the First Nations community. The 2023 Hansard tribute — the 40th birthday, the Salisbury Institute celebration — was the parliament's recognition: the station, praised in the House of Assembly.

Programming

PBA-FM airs over 60 diverse programs each week: 70s, 80s and 90s shows, vintage country, jazz and blues, hard rock, metal, dance music and classical favourites — plus multicultural programs in Spanish, Indonesian, Macedonian, Thamizh, Romanian, Filipino and Bosnian-Herzegovinian. The magazine-style Northern Voices features the northern suburbs' activities and personalities; the station's youngest trio presents The Groovy Helpline; Feel Good Nunga Radio with Kel won the SACBA Best First Nations Programming award; the Harmony Day outside broadcast won Best Outside Broadcast. The Hansard tribute noted the station as "a fantastic rallying point for Aboriginal Australians based in northern Adelaide."

The multicultural programs — Spanish, Indonesian, Macedonian, Thamizh, Romanian, Filipino, Bosnian-Herzegovinian — are the north's diversity on air: the migrant communities, the languages, the cultures. The First Nations programming — Feel Good Nunga Radio with Kel, the SACBA award-winner — is the Aboriginal voice: the rallying point, the recognition. The disability access — 'an accessible radio station for people with disabilities to explore their love of music' — is the inclusion: the station, for everyone.

Coverage & Audience

PBA-FM broadcasts on 89.7 MHz FM (5PBA) to Adelaide's northern suburbs — Salisbury, Para Hills, Playford and the north. Its audience is the north's diverse community: the multicultural communities, the First Nations listeners, the music lovers the commercials ignore. All volunteers are financial members, contributing across on-air presentation, production, administration, technical, research, library, training and promotions.

The 40th birthday — 2023, the Salisbury Institute — deserves the detail: Gary Lockyer, 35 years a volunteer, telling the early days — the Salisbury Teachers College base, the Para Hills broadcast tower; former Premier Lynn Arnold — who opened the station 40 years earlier — raising the toast and cutting the cake; the Yellow Door Street Band and Fyred Up, live; Playford Mayor Glenn Docherty, attending. The radiothon — the inaugural, 'running all this week' — was the fundraiser: the community, funding the community's station.
The Bronwen Whyatt era — from October 2024 — brings the musician's ear: the Adelaide-born cellist, the 3MBS classical presenter, the writer-teacher-artist, now managing the north's community station. Her love — 'the richness of PBA-FM's first nations and multicultural programs' — is the mission: the diversity, the accessibility, the community. The station she leads — 60 volunteers, 50 programs, the radiothon — is the north's success story: 40 years, and thriving.

Ownership

PBA-FM is operated by the Para Broadcasters Association Inc. — the community-based, not-for-profit licensee. Revenue is reinvested directly into the station, including training for the volunteer legion. It is based at Twelve25 Youth Centre, 17–19 Wiltshire Street, Salisbury SA 5108. Published contacts: 08 8250 3735, info@pbafm.org.au. The station is on social media at @pbafm897.

The creative-freedom culture — 'interference with program producer's content is minimal,' announcers 'free to choose the music' — is the station's philosophy: the volunteers' voices, unmediated. The training — the 'fantastic training given to its legion of volunteers' — is the investment: the revenue, 'reinvested directly back into the station,' the people, developed. The media-career pipeline — 'important places for anyone aspiring to a career in media to hone their skills' — is the legacy: the north's broadcasters, trained on the north's airwaves.
The north's radio ecology — the commercials from the city, the ABC, the narrowcasters — leaves the community gap PBA-FM fills: the northern suburbs' own voices, the multicultural programs, the First Nations shows. The 40-plus years — 1978 to today — are the endurance: the Teachers College, the Wiltshire Street complex, the volunteers' constancy. Community First — the slogan, the practice, the promise.

Digital Presence

The station's website is https://www.pbafm.org.au/, streaming live online since April 2010, with the station on social media at @pbafm897. From the 1978 association to the 1983 first broadcast to the 2007 Wiltshire Street move to the 2023 40th birthday to the Whyatt era: PBA-FM 89.7 — Community First, the north's own station — the volunteers, the diversity, the creative freedom.