CBAA and RPHA Welcome Matt Field and Extend Management Agreement

The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) and RPH Australia (RPHA) are excited to announce their agreement to work collaboratively has been extended for another three years to 30 June 2024, which will benefit the Radio Reading Network.

Under the agreement extension, CBAA and RPHA will continue to be co-managed by Jon Bisset, the CBAA CEO, but will remain governed by two separate boards of directors. This will preserve the uniqueness of the Network’s programs and services.

The organisations also announced the appointment of Matt Field as Project Director to lead the key initiative that will bring RPHA services onto digital multimedia platforms. Mr Field is CEO of Attitude Foundation, an organisation that explores how people with disabilities are portrayed in the media and works to ensure more people with disabilities are realistically included across all forms of media. He will also continue as CEO with Attitude Foundation

Jon Bisset, CBAA’s CEO, said,

“Organisations like RPH Australia are vital because they serve the specific, and expanding, community of people who are dealing with a print disability. By centralising some of the key administration functions, RPHA can keep its operations streamlined and run more efficiently without duplication. 

We welcome Matt Field as he helps us explore ways to take Radio Reading Network services to the next level and help better support over four million Australians with disabilities as well as their parents, carers, and support communities.”

Scott Black, Chair of RPHA, said,

“Because our organisations’ missions are so closely aligned and there is significant overlap in membership, it makes sense for RPHA and CBAA to continue our journey together. If we at RPH Australia want to remain a strong and resilient organisation, we will need size potency and the resources only larger organisations can afford. By continuing to work together, we can build on and take advantage of the synergies between our two organisations through sharing links, contracts, knowledge, and skills between CBAA and the Radio Reading Network." 

RPHA represents 18 AM/FM radio stations as well as 10 DAB+ digital radio services across Australia’s capital cities, producing radio reading programs for people with a disability. These services are powered by the passion of over 1,500 volunteers who read popular publications, making them accessible for people with a disability. Together the stations broadcast over 1,750 hours of specialist programs each week to 160,000 on average listeners each weekday and over 950,000 listeners each month.

Trained volunteers and staff prepare and read from a broad range of national, state and local newspapers and other high-turnover print materials, including magazines. They also serialise books for broadcast. The Network broadcasts important information segments including government information, assisting Australians with a print disability, including those with learning, physical, vision and literacy impairments, to participate fully in Australian social, political and economic life.

Matt has a long history working within the community media sector, most recently as CEO of Melbourne’s Community TV Station, C31, and Secretary of the Australian Community Television Alliance. In his time in the community media sector, Matt worked with communities to assist them develop content for broadcast with the aim of celebrating and sharing unique cultures, increasing representation of diversity on our screens, and creating opportunities for emerging screen practitioners. He led the Community TV sector’s transformation from traditional to digital broadcasting, supporting diverse communities to use online platforms to create content for their audiences. Matt is passionate about the power of media to increase social cohesion through authentic portrayals of diversity.

For futher information and to read some FAQs about the management agreement, click here.