Proposal to vary the Perth and Remote Western Australia radio licence area plans

We have made the following decisions about radio broadcasting in the Perth region that will:

• enable 3 ABC national services to convert from AM to FM, with associated changes to other services to support the conversion
• make FM spectrum available for a new community radio broadcasting service to serve the Swan area
• make other technical changes and minor amendments in the Perth licence area plan. 

The completion of ABC conversions marks significant progress of FM band replanning in Perth. With ABC conversions completed, and noting there has been no progress with any potential conversions of commercial AM services to FM, we now consider our work on Perth replanning completed and will shift our focus to broadcast planning priorities in other locations across Australia.

ABC conversions and associated changes

On 4 December 2025, we made the Variation to Licence Area Plan – Perth Radio – 2025 (No. 1) and Variation to Licence Area Plan – Remote Western Australia Radio – 2025 (No. 1).

These variations facilitate the conversion of 3 ABC national services from AM to FM, among other updates. Key changes include:

• Enabling the ABC national services 6WF and 6RN to convert from AM to FM.
• Enabling the ABC national service 6PB to broadcast on both AM and FM.
• Making technical changes to support the conversion of 6WF service to FM. This includes updates to:
  • community broadcasting services 6SEN (Perth) and 6KCR (Kalamunda)
  • commercial broadcasting service 6FMS (Lancelin and Leeman).
• Making technical changes to the high-powered open narrowcasting service broadcasting on 103.3 MHz in Perth to facilitate the conversion of 6RN service to FM.
• Making technical changes to the commercial broadcasting service 6SAT in Lancelin and Leeman to facilitate 6PB service to broadcast in FM.  
• Making FM spectrum available for a new community radio broadcasting service to serve the Swan area in Perth.
• Other technical changes and minor amendments to reflect the operating conditions of services planned in the Perth licence area plan.  

We received 15 submissions during the initial consultation period 29 August 2025 to 26 September 2025. We received 3 additional submissions in response to the addendum published on 3 October 2025. You can access these at the bottom of the page.

Position on conversion of commercial AM services

Converting the ABC AM services marks what was originally proposed to be the first stage of FM band replanning in Perth, as outlined in our September 2022 outcome statement. In that statement, we said we would monitor the progress of the ABC AM to FM conversions and industry negotiations to facilitate the conversion of commercial AM services to FM. If no material progress was made, we stated we would revisit planning options for the Perth market in 3 years. 

We have reviewed progress made on the implementation of AM to FM conversions in Perth. We have also considered alternative proposals put forward in the submissions we received to our 2025 consultation about the conversion of the ABC AM services to FM. 

Our view remains that converting AM services to FM best promotes the objects of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. However, considering the lack of progress on any potential conversion of commercial AM services, we now consider our work on Perth replanning completed and will shift our focus to broadcast planning priorities in other locations across Australia.

Read our options paper for Perth replanning and the September 2022 outcome statement.

The initial consultation on our proposal to vary the Perth and Remote Western Australian licence area plans closed on 26 September 2025.

A request has since been made to consider a proposal to change the radiation pattern for the 6SEN community radio broadcasting service as part of the process to facilitate the conversion of the 6WF national service from AM to FM. 

We have now published an addendum to the consultation paper, which provides a summary of this proposal. You can access this in the key documents section above. 

The new closing date for submissions is 5 pm (AEDT), Friday 17 October 2025. Please click on the ‘Upload submission’ button to send us your views. 

We are setting out proposals to make technical changes to radio services planned in the Perth and Remote WA licence area plans. This will help facilitate the conversion of 3 ABC national services from AM to FM, among other matters. The changes include:

• Enabling the ABC national services 6WF and 6RN to convert from AM to FM.
• Enabling the ABC national service 6PB to broadcast on both AM and FM.
• Making technical changes to the community broadcasting service 6SEN in Perth, the community broadcasting service 6KCR in Kalamunda, and the commercial broadcasting service 6FMS in Lancelin and Leeman to facilitate the conversion of the 6WF service to FM.
• Making technical changes to the high-powered open narrowcasting service broadcasting on 103.3 MHz in Perth to facilitate the conversions of 6RN to FM.
• Making technical changes to the commercial broadcasting service 6SAT in Lancelin and Leeman to facilitate 6PB to broadcast in FM.  
• Making spectrum available for a new community radio broadcasting service to serve the Swan area in Perth.
• Other technical changes and minor amendments to reflect the operating conditions of services planned in the Perth licence area plan.