SWR FM

SWR FM (ACMA callsign: 2SWR) is a community radio station based in Blacktown in Sydney. The station broadcasts to parts of Greater Western Sydney, mainly to the City of Blacktown, City of Fairfield and the City of Holroyd.

The mission of SWR FM is to offer the community a voice and an opportunity for anyone to access the airwaves regardless of age, gender, nationality or experience. SWR FM is a mostly volunteer run organisation and is funded through listener support, grants and limited commercial sponsorship.

History

What is now SWR FM grew out of a group of people who had initially started in the 1980s as aspirant broadcaster WOW FM. Eventually forming as SWR FM, in 1992 the station started conducting regular test transmissions on 88.3 FM and later on 100.3 FM. These are fully operational and programmed broadcasts, but were usually limited to one or two weeks at a time. In 1994 the then Australian Broadcasting Authority agreed that SWR FM could use its 90 days per year of temporary transmission time by broadcasting every weekend, rather than using up all the time in one or two blocks. This enabled the station to have a continuous presence within the community.