Community radio providing opportunities for voice in Brisbane and beyond

Everybody has a right to participate in the democratic dialogue of our communities, to express their needs and shape cultural change. Participation in the media is one way that we can do this, however the mainstream media often do not value or encourage diversity and are not representative of broader society (Ellis, 2016). Participation in citizen media, which makes self-representation a priority, can be a remedy to both lack of participation and misrepresentation. Community radio in Australia was created for that purpose (Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, 2008). This article describes work and research, much of it done in collaboration with people with intellectual disability, that emphasizes the value of listening well to voices of people with disability and supporting them to reach a broadcast audience regardless of their skill or speech capacities.