Talk, telephone and the radio: the introduction of 'talk-back' radio in Australia

In 1967, the Post-Master General’s Department (PMG) and the Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB) formally permitted use of the ‘two-way’ radio technique in Australia. While radio broadcasters had infrequently employed the technique from 1949 for news and information relays, the modi operandi were bound by technological developments, and further subject to industry regulation and Commonwealth telephone privacy legislation. With the introduction of the Swedish ‘beep-a-phone’ in 1964 – a device allowing a caller and compère to be broadcast ‘onair’ simultaneously after only a few seconds delay – the debate turned to moral questions regarding the involvement, character and conduct of members of the general public participating in radio programmes. This paper will examine the protracted process preceding the introduction of talk-back radio in Australia, with reference to legislative and regulatory restrictions, and additionally, the commercial radio sector’s enthusiastic adoption of the technique.