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Maltese Community Council of NSW Inc
The formatting of this submission may have been altered due to the processing required for publication on the Department's website.
This Council supports the submission by SBS to government for increased resources and funding as set out in its document 'SBS's Plans for the Future'.
In particular this Council is concerned that in the absence of increased funding for SBS Radio enabling additional stations, established communities such as the Maltese Community will lose air time to new arrivals. Our experience is that as our community ages, there is more need, not less, for Maltese programs on SBS radio disseminating information about government and non-government services. Very often, these programs are the only link for isolated older people with service providers and the activities of the Maltese Community. It is now undeniably established that as people grow older they revert to their original language.
With regard to SBS Television, the Maltese Community's share is one half hour a week of news from Malta. There is hardly ever any coverage of the Community's activities in NSW. With a marginal increase in allocated time, the Community could have access to many wonderful events held by its hard working voluntary organisations, not to mention the many sought after cultural, educational and historical programs from Malta.