MEANDER VALLEY COMMUNITY RADIO (MVFM)

DIVERSITY POLICY

PREAMBLE
The station is located in Deloraine, a small town in the centre of the Meander
Valley Municipality, and the listening area stretches to the edges of Launceston
and Devonport as well as all the towns in between.
Deloraine is a picturesque and vibrant community renowned for its number of
artists and for its regular special events. The town has the range of businesses,
service, sporting and arts organisations one might expect.
The area includes a significant Moslem community as well as several Christian
and other religious communities. Aged Care facilities and four schools
(including one specifically for students with autism) are located in the town.
MVFM reflects this diversity and involvement. All regular workers at the
station live in the municipality, are volunteers and include people of many
ages, nationalities, faiths, backgrounds and lifestyles.
For instance, while the makeup of the station’s committee changes, of course,
at the time of writing, the committee includes the following:
 Ten members – five men and five women
 Ages range from 20s to 70s
 Three members with experience in radio stations in three different
states
 Experience in accountancy and administration, including running a small
business
 Two members have experience teaching in schools for pupils with
disabilities
 One member is a Moslem; others are Christian or non-believers
 Three have experience living and working overseas – Egypt, Israel,
Pakistan, West Papua and Tonga - and in an Australian Aboriginal
community
 All members are involved in other community organisations in the area.
With this background, it is not surprising that the committee and the station as
a whole takes seriously our commitment to diversity. The strategies in use or
are intended for use to recognise diversity are listed below.

STRATEGIES
MVFM responds to the diversity within our community in the following ways:
1 Seek to reach the newly-available listening audience from a wider
geographical area and to drive for greater membership in the ‘new’
areas.
2 Promote discussions around vital local issues (currently, the location
of a new prison and a drug rehabilitation centre).
3 Host Candidates’ Fora (for local government, state and federal
elections), recording them and broadcasting them at appropriate
times.
4 Host programs of faith-related music plus cover and support inter-
faith events and interview local religious leaders (including non-
Christians)
5 Acknowledge traditional owners of the land on a regular basis and
support NAIDOC each year.
6 Develop and maintain relationships with local schools and provide
opportunities for them to participate in station life.
7 Develop and maintain relationships with local aged care facilities and
provide opportunities for them to participate in station life.
8 Help to keep our community informed of current local activities and
issues. This includes local council news and community
announcements. In particular, increase our coverage of events in the
nearby town of Westbury (St Patrick’s Festival and Carols on the
Green, for instance) and the Tasmanian Craft Fair and Stringfest in
Deloraine.
9 Maintain our wide range of music genres broadcast – jazz, reggae,
‘world’, stage musicals, Americana, world music, eclectic, steampunk,
classical and ‘easy listening’. This music covers not only genres and
tastes but also geographical allegiances.
10 Investigate suitable ways to provide music with elderly and youthful
listeners in mind.
11 Arrange for committee members to be invited to speak to local clubs
and organisations about the station.
12 Introduce livestreaming to increase our potential listening audience
throughout the municipality.
13 Introduce live-to-air broadcasting to increase the immediacy of
programs and, especially, to be able to broadcast relevant

information and warnings about fires, floods, accidents, school
closures, etc.
14 Introduce outside broadcasting to enable us to play an even bigger
role in local events, to increase our visibility within the community
and to encourage members of our community to be part of the
station’s operation and to give them another voice.