The National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council (NEMBC) has won the Australian Human Rights Commission’s prestigious ‘Racism. It Stops With Me’ award.
The NEMBC is the peak body representing and advocating for ethnic community broadcasting and represents a vast institution: 2,000 hours of language programs produced each week on 100 radio stations in over 110 different languages, with news and information delivered on a local level to those communities, as so many individuals and communities produce their programs on a daily basis, making community radio so ubiquitous that it has become part of our daily lives and part of the media landscape.
Accepting the award, NEMBC executive officer Russell Anderson said: “The NEMBC is deeply honoured to accept this award and acknowledges its president Dr Tangikina Steen, the NEMBC board members and staff for their work in supporting ethnic community broadcasters.
“Ethnic community broadcasting, and indeed community broadcasting in Australia, is unique. Nowhere else in the world is there such a depth, breadth and diversity of community media.
“The tireless work of all ethnic broadcasters and volunteers has helped to create a multicultural Australia that is accepting, diverse and non-racist,” Anderson continued, extending the award to the more than 4,000 volunteer ethnic community broadcasters who, on a daily basis, produce radio programs around Australia that help to build social cohesion, combat racism and provide a voice for multiculturalism.
“Every person involved will be proud of this achievement, especially all those people who have developed ethnic community broadcasting over the last 30 years,” he said.