Operation under a Foundation Amateur Licence is subject to conditions in the:

An Amateur Licence primarily authorises the operation of an Amateur station

  • for self-training in radiocommunications,
  • intercommunications between Amateurs and
  • technical investigations into radiocommunications.

An Amateur Licence only authorises Amateur-to-Amateur communications

  • except in relation to a distress or emergency situation,
  • or participating in emergency services operations or training exercises.
  • You must not transmit a message on behalf of a non-amateur (third-party traffic) unless the message relates to a disaster.

Distress and Urgency Signals

  • Distress communications are signalled by the use of “MAYDAY” and these communications have priority over all other communications
  • Persons hearing a “MAYDAY” communication are responsible for passing the information on to an appropriate authority
  • Some urgent situations not warranting the use of “MAYDAY” are signalled by the use of “PAN-PAN”
  • These communications should receive priority and should be reported to an appropriate authority

Station Identification

  • Correct station identification is required at the beginning of a transmission and at least every 10 minutes during transmissions
  • Any transmission, even a test transmission, must contain station identification

Authorised frequency bands and emissions

Authorised bands and modes for Foundation use are:

  • 80 m band (3.5 – 3.7 MHz any emission mode)
  • 40 m band (7.0 – 7.3 MHz any emission mode)
  • 15 m band (21.0 -21.45 MHz any emission mode)
  • 10 m band (28.0 – 29.7 MHz any emission mode)
  • 2 m band (144.0 – 148.0 MHz any emission mode)
  • 70 cm band (430.0 – 450 MHz any emission mode)

Permitted power output

  • The Foundation Amateur Class Licence restricts the transmitter output power to a maximum of 10 watts.

Encoded Messages

  • Transmission of messages that are encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning is not permitted except for the purposes specified in the Amateur Class Licence.

Use of amateur stations

  • An amateur station cannot be used for financial gain.
  • Only people with suitable qualifications may operate a station.
  • A person without amateur qualifications may communicate via an amateur station, provided the station is always under the full control of a qualified person.

Amateur Callsigns

Commence with the prefix “VK” in Australia followed by a state identifier:

  • 0 = Antarctic
  • 1 = Australian Capital Territory
  • 2 = New South Wales
  • 3 = Victoria
  • 4 = Queensland
  • 5 = South Australia
  • 6 = Western Australia
  • 7 = Tasmania
  • 8 = Northern Territory
  • 9 = Australian External Territories

Advanced Callsigns

Contain two (2) or three (3) letters following the state identifier.

  • GGA to GGZ is reserved for the Girl Guides Association
  • SAA to SDZ is reserved for the Scouts Association
  • E.g., VK3PH is an advanced callsign issued in the state of Victoria

In 2021, the ACMA allowed advanced amateur operators to apply for 2×1 callsigns to be used during designated contests. These callsigns:

  • Commence with the letters VJ, VK, or VL
  • Have a state designator (0 = Antarctic is not available)
  • Contain a single letter designator (A-Z)

Advanced, Standard & Foundation Callsigns

Contain three (3) letters following the state identifier and are considered a callsign for life. Once you have a callsign, it remains active as long as the ACMA has received the scheduled fee. You can upgrade to another licence class and still keep your current callsign. You can move to another state without having to change your state designator.

Prior to 2020, Foundation callsigns contained four (4) letters commencing with the letter “F” – these callsigns are still valid however, ACMA will no longer issue them.

  • E.g., VK2FAAA is a Foundation callsign issued in the state of NSW prior to 2020
  • VK7ABC could be an advanced, standard, or foundation callsign issued in the state of Tasmania

Repeater and beacon callsigns

  • Contain the letter “R” following the state designator, followed by two (2) letters to identify the repeater or beacon.
  • E.g., VK3REC is allocated to the EMDRC club repeater (147.175 MHz +600)
Official ACMA Callsign Policy
Apply for a callsign

Notification of change of contact details

  • An operator should notify the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) of any change of contact details.

Harmful interference

  • A licensee must not operate an Amateur station if operation causes harmful interference to other licenced services.

Additional conditions

  • The ACMA has the power to request information from an amateur, including evidence of their qualification.
  • The ACMA has the right to restrict the operation of an amateur station to avoid harmful interference.
  • An operable amateur station must not be accessible to unauthorised people.
  • A Foundation class licence can only be used to operate a station on the Foundation frequencies.