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The first screening of film in Australia took place in a shop in Sydney, in 1894. The public paid a shilling to view images of an American circus and vaudeville performers on the Edison Kinetoscope.
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Running between 40 and 60 minutes depending on film projection speed, The Story of the Kelly Gang was the first feature-length narrative film produced in Australia. It is believed by some film historians to also be the first of its type in the world.
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In 1912 the US-based National Cinematograph Company produced and exhibited the first colour films shot in Australia. Using their patented Kinemacolor process, the company showed a series of short travelogues and films depicting Australian industry at work.
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Shooting commenced in June 1930 on Showgirl’s Luck; the first full-talkie feature made in Australia.
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Australia set up the Australian Broadcasting Commission, as a government agency that was largely separate from political interference.
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By the late 1930s, almost every Australian home in cities and towns had a radio. Radio played an important role in people’s lives and became a normal part of a person’s day. It created a new sense of community as people all over the country would be listening to the same programs at the same time.
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The Commonwealth Government’s Department of Information (formed five days after the outbreak of the Second World War) launched its film division on 9 August 1940 to 'mobilise the film medium for national ends’.
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By the early 1940s the Australian radio broadcasting scene was established. There were about 130 commercial stations and a roughly equivalent number of ABC stations.
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Commercial FM radio was introduced in 1980. The quality of the sound was far better than the old AM radio and programs could now be transmitted in stereo. This caused a split in the radio market.
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The Labor government under Prime Minister Gough Whitlam commenced a broadcasting renaissance so that by the 1990s there were 50 different radio services available for groups based on tastes, languages, religion, or geography.
