WIA Launches Major Australian Amateur Band Plan Review

This is Grant VK5GR, your WIA Technical Advisory Committee Chairperson, with some news about a community consultation being launched looking at changes to the Australian Amateur Radio band plans.It has been some years now since a wholesale review of our band plans has been conducted. In that time, we have seen various changes made to what radio spectrum amateur radio operators can access, and under what conditions they can access it. We have also received various requests for changes, or recognition of various activities on the band plans from members of the Australian amateur radio community. As a result, we have decided to conduct a wide-ranging review of the existing band plans, and are proposing various changes across almost all bands, addressing one of a number of issues that have arisen since the last series of changes several years ago.

 

The last major revision of the Australian national Amateur Radio band plans administered by the WIA was carried out almost a decade ago. At that time, major changes were mostly made to the 30m, 2m and 70cm bands.With various changes to the Amateur Radio regulations since that time, including some spectrum losses and gains, it is now necessary to update the band plans to both reflect those regulatory changes as well as update them with information on current centres of activity. We have also used this as an opportunity to address many of the requests that have been received over the past 2-3 years for changes to various bands.

WIA TAC committee has reviewed each band and made recommendations for changes where appropriate. Areas being addressed include:

  Better highlighting centres of activity for various modes – particularly AM and Emergency call channels on the HF bands

  Reviewing band plans vs current on air practice to see if better alignment can be achieved (630m, 160m and others)

  Revising bands where new spectrum access has been obtained (the lower 2MHz of 6m for Standard calls)

  Revising bands where spectrum has effectively been lost (upper 200 MHz of the 9cm band)

  Provision of alternate narrow band segments on 13 and 9 cm to help with adjacent band interference scenarios

  Revising usage recommendations given our secondary service obligations (23cm, 9cm)

  Adding new segments for new areas of interest (FM repeaters on 13, 9, 6 and 3cm)

  Promotion of new or revised wireless broadband segments (13, 6 & 3 cm)

  Revision of ATV Segments considering the extensive adoption of Digital ATV modes today

  Review of repeater sub-bands and the growth of digital voice hotspots on 2m and 70cm

  Provision of band plan data for the Microwave mm wavelength bands (24-134 GHz) showing current centres of activity

Along with this, the intention has been to improve the way the band plans are presented visually to make them simple to understand and follow. Feedback on the new presentation style is also most welcome!

So, as you can see, a lot has happened since the last wholesale review. Now, this is your opportunity to have a say in areas where you have an interest. We are looking for feedback on the proposals so that we can determine which changes to take forward and which to leave behind.

The Process

The consultation process will be conducted as follows:

1. The paper was released publicly via the WIA website on October 17th2. Consultation responses can be sent to wia.tac.consultations@gmail.com

3. Responses will be accepted from any licenced radio amateur or amateur radio club based in Australia only. This is a domestic matter and is not relevant to people outside of Australia.

4. While requests for clarification on any of the material will be answered, discussion on alternative proposals will only be received, and then be considered after the deadline closes.

5. The Consultation will remain open to receive responses up until December 12th. (8 weeks)

6. Responses will not be published; however, they may be used as input to the outcomes & recommendations paper that is expected to be published before January 31st 2026.

7. A final revised Australian Amateur Service Band Plan will then be published by the end of the first quarter of 2026.

So, over to you! Your input is valuable so now it’s time for you to have your say.

On the WIA TAC Consultations page, there is a feedback form you can download and fill out. This, when read in conjunction with the review paper, will guide you to answering the questions being asked about each proposed change.Head over to:

http://www.wia.org.au/members/tac/consultation/

For more information.

You can also Download a copy of the consultation document at this Link

Download a copy of the Feedback template at this Link