Koori Radio has been going strong for 20 years, broadcasting the news and views of Aboriginal Australia from its home in Redfern. In this week's slot on 2SER with Tim Higgins, we talked about the history of Koori Radio and its predecessor Radio Redfern. This discussion was inspired by an exhibition celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Koori Radio currently showing at Carriageworks. It's well worth a visit, but you better be quick. The multimedia exhibition Live and Deadly: 20 years of the Gadigal Information Service finishes up on Thursday 1 August 2013. It's free and open 10am - 6pm, so get on down there! So where did it all begin? Maureen Watson and her son Tiga Bayles laid the foundations for Radio Redfern in 1981, when they started broadcasting for 10 minutes each week on community radio station 2SER 107.3 FM. When Radio Skid Row (2RSR 88.9 FM) was allocated a community broadcasting license in 1984, it gave 10 hours of air time weekly to Radio Redfern. The station was initially broadcast from the University of Sydney, later moving to a terrace house on Cope Street in Redfern, still under the license of 2RSR. Radio Redfern was considered the voice of the Aboriginal community in Sydney, and played a vital role in coordinating political protests against the Bicentennial celebrations in 1988 and Aboriginal deaths in custody in the early 1990s. Radio Redfern grew to have 40 broadcast hours each week, with all the announcers contributing their time voluntarily. When Radio Redfern stopped broadcasting in the early 1990s, the gap was quickly filled. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander owned and operated organisation Gadigal Information Service was founded in 1993 by Cathy Craigie, Matthew Cook and Tim Bishop. It broadcasts a full-time radio station, Koori Radio (93.7FM 2LND), to the Sydney metropolitan region. Gadigal Information Service was originally based in a rented terrace on Cleveland Street on the edge of Redfern. It quickly gathered a groundswell of volunteer support across Sydney. Other First Nation communities that also call Sydney home, including many Maoris and Pacific Islands peoples, gave support and found a kindred voice in Koori Radio. The radio station was on a number of test transmissions until it finally qualified for a full-time community radio broadcasting license in May 2001. Gadigal Information Service and Koori Radio have been a strong voice for Aboriginal politics, social justice and, of course, music. They've been instrumental in organising Klub Kooris around the city and in 1999 Gadigal Information Services released the first compilation of Sydney-based Aboriginal musicians on a CD titled 'Yabun', a Sydney language word meaning 'music made by singing or beating time'. A few years later Gadigal Information Service presented the first Yabun festival at Waverly Oval at Bondi. Moving later to Redfern Park and more recently Victoria Park to accommodate the growing attendances, Yabun is an alternative celebration of survival held annually on 26 January and is an event of national significance. In 2005, the Indigenous Land Corporation acquired the buildings on Cope Street that had been occupied by Radio Redfern and the National Black Theatre. A new building to house the recording studios and offices of the Gadigal Information Service was designed by the architectural firm Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, with exterior artwork by Aboriginal artist Adam Hill. The building was opened here in 2008. We don't have a lot about Koori Radio in the Dictionary of Sydney yet (although it does get a shout out in our article on Maori life in Sydney) but we'll work with Gadigal Information Service to get something in there soon! This history is drawn from the following sources: Gadigal Information Service Barani: Sydney's Aboriginal History website, presented by the City of Sydney, especially entries on Radio Redfern and Gadigal Information Service. All this and more was discussed on Breakfast with Tim Higgins. Catch up with the podcast here. And don't forget to tune into 2SER 107.3FM next Wednesday morning when we once again talk Sydney's history with Tim and uncover some gems in the Dictionary of Sydney.