SBS-50: Thank you Australia and SBS…

SBS is celebrating its 50th year anniversary. The Director of the Ukrainian Museum in Australia, Maru Jarockyj is a widely known artist and architect from Melbourne. Her parents fled Ukraine as refugees after WWII and in 1991 she moved to Australia from England with her family. As a person of Ukrainian ancestry, Ms Jarockyj congratulates SBS with its 50th anniversary, stating "Thank you Australian Government". Ms Jarockyj also highlights the infusion of the SBS Ukrainian program into Ukrainian families and the Ukrainian community in Аustralia.

More: SBS50 | SBS celebrates 50 years as Australia's most diverse broadcaster 1975-2025 | SBS Homepage

On June the 9th 1975 'Radio Ethnic Australia' launched - a bold experiment by Al Grassby, who was the first federal commissioner for community relations at the time. The former immigration minister had tasked Radio Ethnic Australia with the mission to explain Medibank, the first version of Medicare, to migrants in different languages. As Australia’s most diverse broadcaster, the Special Broadcasting Service aims to inspire all Australians to explore, respect and celebrate our diverse world and in doing so, promote an inclusive and cohesive society.

It's the year 1975 and two radio stations, then known as 2EA in Sydney and 3EA in Melbourne, went to air for the first time.

50 years on, SBS Audio broadcasts in more than 60 languages...