2SER down to the wire

Little can beat on-the-job training – especially for journalism students. Learning to write and fact check news under pressure, with the adrenalin rush of getting it to air, is hard to mimic in a classroom setting. That is not to downplay the value of classroom learning, which has its own merit. But putting what you learn in the classroom into action is a different and highly valuable experience, which is why UTS and Macquarie University created 2SER some 45 years ago.

Since then, it’s been the home of some groundbreaking news and current affairs programs, such as The Wire, which have helped journalism students spirit their way to legacy media. The roll call is impressive – Michael Rowland (ABC), Robbie Buck (formerly ABC), Jill Emberson (formerly ABC Newcastle), Amanda Collinge (ABC TV Compass), Ginny Stein (journalism discipline lead, UTS), Eleanor Hall (artist and formerly ABC Radio host), and many others. The educational and community station has kick started many a career.

Now 2SER is under serious threat. Its core funding is about to be effectively halved, after a decision by Macquarie University in September 2025 that the partnership with 2SER was 'no longer part of the university’s strategic alignment, financially sustainable, or necessary for student experience.' The university went on to say that 2SER had been given 15 months’ notice to find other sources of funding, although it wasn’t until early this year that the station began its search for more funds in earnest. And whilst UTS says it’s committed to continued support for the station, it seems no one else is – at least not yet! Two other universities have passed on the chance to have a stake in a broadcast licence.

The problem is made even more urgent by the rather significant issue of its broadcasting licence renewal by the regulator, the ACMA. The current 2SER licence expires in October 2027. That sounds like it’s a long way down the line, but the ACMA reminds a licence holder 14 months before the expiry of current licences that applications for renewal should be lodged 6–12 months before expiry. That means 2SER needs to lodge the required documentation with the ACMA no later than April 2027 and preferably by October 2026. The clock is ticking – and the process of proving to the regulator that a community radio station can comply with its obligations can be arduous.

To renew a licence, the ACMA may, at its discretion, require the applicant to detail, amongst other things, whether the applicant is able to provide the proposed service. And this is tricky for 2SER, without a commitment from another funder to take over where Macquarie University is leaving off at the end of this year.

That leaves narrowing options, amongst them the transfer of the licence to another not-for-profit interest group. Cheryl Northey, the 2SER Managing Director told staff in an email last week, 'This option would need to ensure that any such organisation could not only meet the requirements of being the 2SER licence holder but also be able to operate at a substantially lower cost basis than the station operates on.' For a station that already runs on the smell of an oily rag, the prospect of lowering operational costs must have sent shivers down the spine of staff who’ve been working under a huge financial cloud since the Macquarie University decision. And that’s before asking whether the ACMA would agree to transfer the licence.

With Macquarie University funding ending in December this year, the station may need to stop broadcasting in July if it’s to meet all employment termination obligations to current staff. There will be an outpouring of grief if that happens. 2SER has been a fixture in the Sydney metropolitan broadcasting landscape over the years, if one whose output has waxed and waned in impact and reach. Its supporters say the almost half-a-million dollars needed to top up UTS’s contribution and keep 2SER alive isn’t much to ask for, and it doesn't sound like a lot until you consider universities across the country are making academics and professional staff redundant in their hundreds, claiming financial distress.