Melbourne community radio station 3CR was established in 1976. Its mission is ‘to provide a voice for those denied access to the mass media, particularly the working class, women, Indigenous people and the many community groups and community issues discriminated against in and by the mass media’.

The donor of this badge, John Ellis, writes:

I wore this badge to show support for one of the first community-owned radio stations in Australia. 3CR was licensed on 10th October 1975. I was involved with the first meetings to establish 3CR and this badge was worn at the 30-year anniversary. With the original setting up, many fiery meetings were held before a consensus about programming was arrived at. This was due to the large number of political organisations that wanted air time. It was even harder to reach agreement on which group should present the news. Premises and equipment also needed to be found. This badge brings back the memories of our efforts. Many good people were involved.

3CR survived the initial opposition from right-wing organisations and now flourishes as a genuine community-based organisation radio station. It caters for a wide variety of groups, including gardening, environment, unions, etc—groups that may otherwise not have a media outlet.