National sponsorship opportunities through the National Indigenous Radio Service

The National Indigenous Radio Service (NIRS) has the largest satellite footprint in the southern hemisphere, owned and operated by Indigenous radio stations throughout Australia. NIRS also has a highly regarded website streaming Indigenous news from around Australia, as well as in-depth features using audio and video.

 NIRS provides a national satellite feed to approximately 160 Indigenous radio stations across Australia with an estimated 700,000 monthly listenership nationally.*

Federal and state government agencies have recognised that NIRS is the most effective way of distributing essential information to Australia's Indigenous communities, frequently carrying messages from Emergency Services, the Australian Tax Office, and federal and state health departments.

NIRS offers sponsors an opportunity for their campaigns to be delivered by experienced Indigenous staff, handling all aspects from placement to post-campaign reporting.

Campaigns might be targeted to a broad Australian audience or to a specific Indigenous community. In which case NIRS offers a campaign planning approach unique in this country, including either:

• Drafting culturally appropriate scripts from key points supplied by your organisation
• Production of 30-60 second generic English radio announcement
• Conduct interviews with your key staff, explaining the campaign
• Distribution of appropriate material and instructions to all network stations
• Translation into (up to) 24 Indigenous languages, if appropriate
• Collate proof of broadcast and feedback into a comprehensive post-campaign report

NIRS offers affordable rates and packages to suit your budget and to reach audiences in your target areas. For example, Arts Queensland chose NIRS to promote the 2009 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair with 96 on-air spot advertisements for under $5,000.

If you would like to receive a quote for your sponsorship, please contact Colin Cameron, 0407 232 342 or email, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

To read the Community Radio Broadcasting Codes of Practice,  click here.

To read the Australian Communications and Media Authority's Community Broadcasting Sponsorship Guidelines,  click here.

*Extensive research into radio listenership, conducted in late 2004 by the authoritative McNair Ingenuity Research revealed the NIRS national audience at 319,000 listeners per week (people aged 15+). This audience refers to fully-licensed stations only and does not take into account the many dozens of BRACS facilities who rely heavily on NIRS programming. Even more impressive is the monthly listenership of over 700,000 national listeners, suggesting our diversity of programming has resonance with Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences alike. This latter figure represents 5% of the potential Australian population. Demographically, audience is almost equally divided between the sexes, with 41% of NIRS listeners under 40, listeners aged 40-54 represent 37% and the balance (22%) over 55. The majority of listeners (77%) are in full-time or part-time employment. Interestingly, 19% of respondents regularly speak a language other than English.