Welcoming Srirama to the NEMBC Board
The NEMBC is excited to welcome Srirama Jayaraman to the Board. Srirama is a Chartered Accountant (India), CPA (Australia), and member of CA ANZ, with over 20 years’ experience in finance, banking, and governance, including senior roles such as CFO of a sovereign wealth fund in Dubai.
Srirama is also a dedicated multicultural leader. He is the Founding Chairperson of the ICAI Adelaide Chapter, has served as Treasurer of Shruthi Adelaide, taught Tamil at the South Australian Tamil School, and mentors and supports Hindi programs at 5EBI 103.1FM (South Australia). He brings a strong commitment to inclusive representation, strategic insight, and financial stewardship, and we look forward to his contributions on the Board.
Constitution Re-Vote: Have Your Say!
The NEMBC is preparing for an important vote on changes to our Constitution, and we want every broadcaster and station to have their voice heard.
Hear from our President
We’ve created a short video from the NEMBC President, explaining what the vote is about and why it matters. Please take a moment to watch and then speak with your station leaders about how your vote will be represented.
What’s Changing?
The proposed Constitution will:
- Strengthen our governance
- Give programs their own vote for the first time
- Update how the Board works
- Introduce a clear dispute resolution process
- Make meetings more flexible.
For more details, see the Constitution Explainer document.
How Voting Works
Under our current Constitution:
- Every 5 ethnic/multicultural programs that are NEMBC Members equals 1 vote (if your station has fewer than 5 eligible programs but 3 or more, it will still receive one vote).
- Stations nominate delegates who vote on behalf of program members. This means it’s vital you share your views with station leadership so your voice is part of the decision-making process.
Once delegates are confirmed, we’ll provide full details of the voting process. Voting will be run online by an external provider to ensure fairness and transparency.
Next Steps for Stations
In the coming weeks, stations will receive an email from the NEMBC to confirm your registered ethnic and multicultural programs (membership remains $0 until 31 December, 2025). Please respond promptly, as the number of member programs determines how many votes your station is entitled to.
This is a crucial moment for the NEMBC. Make sure your voice is heard, both as a station and as individual programs.
Endorsed New Strategy
The NEMBC Board has endorsed a refreshed captured in three guiding statements:
1. We champion multicultural media broadcasters and digital creators, ensuring they influence Australia’s media and public conversations.
2. We push for policy change, provide education, and build partnerships to grow multicultural media’s impact.
3. This builds a strong, independent, and inclusive media sector that connects communities and promotes social and cultural inclusion.
To put these into action, the Board has adopted the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) Framework, which:
- Aligns strategy, board oversight, and staff activities.
- Enables measurable tracking of progress at both organisational and operational levels.
- Strengthens accountability by linking Board strategy, GM performance, and staff KPIs.
The Board has endorsed three high-level objectives:
1. Grow the Multicultural Broadcasting Media Sector Across Australia
2. Drive Policy, Learning and Partnerships to Expand the Sector’s Reach and Impact.
3. Strengthen the Multicultural Media Ecosystem to Support Connection, Independence and Inclusion.
Each objective is supported by measurable Key Results, which inform staff KPIs and guide our collective work.
We look forward to sharing further updates as we move forward on this important journey.
Join our Rebrand Journey
With a new strategy and clear objectives in place, now is the perfect time to refresh the NEMBC brand. As the national voice for ethnic and multicultural broadcasting, we want our identity to reflect who we are today and where we are heading in the future.
We know that the NEMBC is more than just a name or a logo. It’s about the values we stand for, the way we connect with our members, and how we represent multicultural voices in Australia. To make sure our new brand reflects the people we serve, we want to hear from you.
We are inviting broadcasters, stations, partners, and supporters to take part in our NEMBC Brand Survey. Your ideas and feedback will help guide our designers and shape a brand identity that is trusted, inclusive, and future-focused.
The survey takes less than 5 minutes to complete, and your voice will directly help us build the next chapter of the NEMBC.
Thank you for being part of this important journey. Together, we can create a brand that reflects the strength, diversity, and vision of multicultural broadcasting in Australia.
NEMBC Conference 2026 – Save the Date!
Mark your calendars! The 2026 NEMBC Conference will be held on 22-23 May in Brisbane, and it promises to be an unforgettable celebration of multicultural media. Get ready for two days full of culture, connection, learning and fun, where broadcasters, digital creators, and community media supporters come together to share ideas, celebrate achievements, and shape the future of multicultural media in Australia.
Stay tuned for registration details, program highlights, and special guest announcements. We can’t wait to see you there!
Marianne Wangira
General Manager
[email protected]
Membership Update
Members Forum
We were delighted to host our first round of member forums recently, bringing together stations and members from across Australia. These conversations gave us valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities facing ethnic community broadcasters, and we thank everyone who contributed their time and ideas. For those who could not make it, you can view a summary of the outcomes via the link we have provided.
Member Insight Forum
Station Leadership Forum
Looking ahead, we are planning the next online forum for November. While also staying ahead of the December wind-down period when many members are on holidays. This session is a great chance to reflect on the year and to discuss NEMBC priorities for 2026.
We are also exploring the option of opening this forum up to a wider audience. By doing so, we hope to encourage more participation and ensure a broad mix of perspectives are heard.
Your voices are essential in shaping the NEMBC’s work, so we encourage you to save the date once it is confirmed. We will share registration details shortly and look forward to another engaging conversation that supports the strength and future of our sector.
Visits & Engagement
September has been a busy and rewarding time for engagement with our members.
We’ve had the pleasure of visiting several stations, strengthening connections and celebrating the fantastic work happening in community broadcasting.
At NEMBC Melbourne office, we warmly welcomed Damian Roache from 4EB’s Irish Radio Program, who gave us an excellent insight into how the Irish Program connects with their community. It was inspiring to see the dedication and passion that drives the program’s success at 4EB.
Photo: Camilo Montoya Yepes (NEMBC Media Content Developer), Damian Roache (4EB Irish Radio Program) and Chad Phillips (NEMBC Membership & Engagement Coordinator).
Meanwhile, in August the NEMBC visited 1CMS and 2XX FM both in Canberra, where we spent valuable time learning more about the station’s efforts to support multicultural voices in the nation’s capital.
These kinds of visits highlight just how diverse and dynamic the sector is, and they remind us why member engagement remains at the heart of everything we do.
Photo: Pradeep Timalsina (NEMBC Board Director) and Marianne Wangira (NEMBC General Manager) welcomed and hosted by the 1CMS Team.
Finally, the NEMBC Team also had the opportunity to tour 3MDR in Upwey, Victoria. The visit was a chance to meet with broadcasters, share updates from the NEMBC and learn more about the creative ways the station connects with its local community in Victoria.
And celebrating 40 years of broadcasting.
Photo: The NEMBC team had the pleasure of touring and learning about 3MDR in Upwey, Victoria.
We look forward to continuing these visits in the coming months, building strong relationships and ensuring our NEMBC members are represented at every step.
Members Value Proposition Projects
The NEMBC is excited to invite NEMBC members of the Broadcasters’ Bursary Fund, created through our partnership with the Entertainment fundraising program. This initiative is designed to directly support ethnic and multicultural broadcasters across Australia by building a dedicated pool of funding that can provide meaningful assistance where it’s most needed. When you purchase an Entertainment membership, you’ll enjoy access to an range of savings 50% off movies, dining, events, holidays, activities and more.
The membership is delivered through a user-friendly app that tailors offers to your location, so you can enjoy benefits wherever you are.
By using the app, twenty per cent of every purchase goes straight into the Bursary Fund. This means every membership helps deliver grants to broadcasters, from supporting travel to conferences and training, to assisting rural and regional stations, to helping new broadcasters from migrant and refugee backgrounds get started.
We encourage all members to not only purchase a membership themselves but also share the link with friends, family and listeners: https://subscribe.entertainment.com.au/fundraiser/9705k86
The NEMBC Blog continues to grow as a space for members to share ideas, stories and reflections from within the multicultural community broadcasting sector. We are inviting members who are interested in writing to pitch an article idea to [email protected].
Whether you want to highlight the work your station is doing, explore issues facing ethnic community broadcasting, or share your personal experiences as a broadcaster, we would love to hear from you.
The blog is a flexible space designed to showcase the diversity of voices and perspectives in our membership.
We understand that writing can sometimes feel daunting, so the NEMBC team is happy to workshop your ideas with you. If you’re unsure where to start, we can help shape your article and provide editorial support along the way. This is a great opportunity to have your voice heard beyond the airwaves, and to connect with a broader audience. We encourage members of all backgrounds and levels of experience to get involved and contribute to the growing library of stories on the NEMBC Blog.
Chad Phillips
Membership & Engagement Coordinator
[email protected]
Station Spotlight
The NEMBC has released a video celebrating 4EB’s new sports newsroom.
The concept was first tested during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, when broadcasters from Filipino, Italian, Uruguayan, and Indian communities collaborated on a multilingual sports segment.
That trial led to a permanent newsroom, funded by the Community Broadcasting Foundation and supported by the Community Media Training Organisation.
The newsroom’s flagship program, ‘Sports Vibe’, airs Fridays at 9.00 am on 98.1 FM, hosted by a rotating team covering local and international sports with a focus on storytelling and cultural connection.
Volunteers represent communities including Samoan, Filipino, Latin American, Slovak, and Papua New Guinean, creating content for translation into multiple languages.
All programs are available at 4eb.org.au/sportsvibe.
Learn more about this project in our blog post here.
Projects
SBS Content Platform for NEMBC Members Officially Launched
The NEMBC is pleased to announce the launch of the SBS News Bulletins platform, now available at www.nembc.org.au/sbs.
We’ve also created an SBS How-to Guide to help members easily download and integrate bulletins into their programs. The step-by-step instructions make the process simple, allowing broadcasters to focus on connecting with their audiences while delivering accurate and reliable news.
This initiative follows a memorandum of understanding between the NEMBC and SBS, giving members access to a trusted news source.
Currently, bulletins are available in Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin and Vietnamese, with potential for more languages in the future.
Stations serving these communities can now provide high-quality news content in their listeners’ language, free of charge.
SBS is nationally recognised for rigorous reporting. Through this collaboration, the NEMBC and SBS are helping stations strengthen programming and better serve multicultural communities across Australia.
We encourage all members to explore the guide and make the most of this valuable resource.
Get Involved
Are you interested in collaborating with the NEMBC on future projects? We’d love to hear from you!
Please reach out to us at [email protected]
Radio stations are encouraged to share a list of the languages you offer so we can keep you in mind for relevant opportunities that align with your community’s needs.
We’re excited to hear from you and explore ways we can work together!
Camilo Montoya Yepes
Media Content Developer
[email protected]