Transparency and media
Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905
18 October 1905
The Australian Government takes control of the airwaves by regulating wireless telegraphy.
Since its invention in the 1890s, wireless telegraphy – radio – has been enthusiastically embraced in Australia. It has also been considered an essential public service requiring government control to regulate its use and to ensure its economic viability in rural and regional areas.
The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905 created a broadcast system controlled by the Australian Government but with content delivered by privately owned stations. The Postmaster-General – the minister responsible for communications at the time – was given the authority to license stations, determine broadcast frequencies and set guidelines for content.
Section 51 (v) of the Australian Constitution gives Parliament the power to make laws about 'postal, telegraphic, telephonic, and other like services'. Under this power the Australian Parliament has assumed responsibility for all forms of mass communication, including radio, television and the internet.
Radio centre operating - New Guinea, New Britain, Rabaul
National Archives of Australia, A6510, 1353
Radio centre operating - New Guinea, New Britain, Rabaul
National Archives of Australia, A6510, 1353
Description
Photograph from the National Archives of Australia showing a radio operator at work.
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