Radiocommunications (Citizen Band Radio Stations) Class Licence 2025

Dated: 11 September 2025

Adam Suckling

[signed]

Member

Michael Brealey

[signed]

General Manager

1  Name

  This is the Radiocommunications (Citizen Band Radio Stations) Class Licence 2025.

2  Commencement

  This instrument commences at the start of 1 October 2025.

Note: The Federal Register of Legislation is available, free of charge, at www.legislation.gov.au.

3  Authority

  This instrument is made under section 132 of the Radiocommunications Act 1992.

4  Interpretation

 (1) In this instrument, unless the contrary intention appears:

accessory, for a CB station, means a thing that is or may be connected, directly or indirectly, to the station, for the purposes of, or in connection with, radiocommunication.

Example 1: An amplified or power microphone may be an accessory for a CB station.

Example 2: A protective case is not an accessory for a CB station.

CB repeater station (short for citizen band repeater station) means a station:

 (a) the operation of which is authorised by an apparatus licence; and

 (b) that is operated:

 (i) from a fixed location; and

 (ii) on a channel mentioned in table item 4 or table item 6 of Schedule 1; and

 (iii) for the reception of radio signals from a CB station; and

 (iv) for the automatic retransmission of those signals.

CB station (short for citizen band station) means a station that is operated on a channel mentioned in a table item of Schedule 1.

duty cycle: see subsection (2).

emergency services organisation means each of the following:

 (a) the Australian Federal Police or the police force of a State or Territory;

 (b) a fire-fighting, civil defence or rescue organisation;

 (c) an ambulance service;

 (d) the Royal Flying Doctor Service;

 (e) any other organisation whose sole or principal purpose involves securing the safety of persons during an emergency;

 (f) a service for despatching such a force, organisation or service.

emission mode: see subsection (3).

Note 1: A number of other expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act, including the following:

(a) aircraft;

(b) apparatus licence;

(c) ART;

(d) equipment rules;

(e) inspector;

(f) interference;

(g) operate;

(h) radiocommunication;

(i) radiocommunications transmitter;

(j) reception;

(k) transmitter licence;

(l) vessel.

Note 2: Other expressions used in this instrument may be defined in a determination made under subsection 64(1) of the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 that applies to this instrument, including:

(a) Act;

(b) AM;

(c) ARPANSA Standard;

(d) communication;

(e) EIRP;

(f) HF;

(g) LSB;

(h) necessary bandwidth;

(i) pX;

(j) pZ;

(k) radio astronomy;

(l) Radio Regulations;

(m) spurious emission;

(n) SSB;

(o) station;

(p) UHF;

(q) USB.

 (2) In this instrument, where a radiocommunications transmitter is operated during a period (the total period), the duty cycle is the ratio of:

 (a) the period the transmitter was operated; to

 (b) the total period.

Note: The maximum possible value of the duty cycle is 1. The value of the duty cycle will be less than 1 if the radiocommunications transmitter was not continuously operated during the total period.

 (3) In this instrument, the emission mode of a transmission made by a radiocommunications transmitter is the designation of the emission worked out in accordance with Appendix 1 (REV.WRC-19) of the Radio Regulations.

Note: Appendix 1 of the Radio Regulations is titled ‘Classification of emissions and necessary bandwidths’. The Radio Regulations are available, free of charge, from the website of the International Telecommunication Union at www.itu.int.

 (4) In this instrument, unless the contrary intention appears, a reference to a part of the spectrum or frequency band includes all frequencies that are greater than but not including the lower frequency, up to and including the higher frequency.

 (5) Unless the contrary intention appears, no condition in in this instrument limits any other condition.

5  References to other instruments

  In this instrument, unless the contrary intention appears:

 (a) a reference to any other legislative instrument is a reference to that other legislative instrument as in force from time to time; and

 (b) a reference to any other kind of instrument or writing is a reference to that other instrument or writing as in force, or existing, from time to time.

Note 1: For references to Commonwealth Acts, see section 10 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901; and see also subsection 13(1) of the Legislation Act 2003 for the application of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 to legislative instruments.

Note 2: All Commonwealth Acts and legislative instruments are registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Note 3: See section 314A of the Act.

6  Class licence

 (1) Subject to the conditions in sections 7 and 8, this instrument authorises a person to operate a CB station to which at least one of subsections (2), (4) or (5) applies.

Note: This instrument does not authorise the operation of a CB repeater station. Operation of a CB repeater station may be authorised by a transmitter licence.

 (2) This subsection applies to a CB station that:

 (a) directly transmits speech to, or audio tones to initiate communication with, another CB station; and

 (b) does so:

 (i) using a frequency mentioned in table item 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 of Schedule 1 as the carrier frequency; and

 (ii) in accordance with the restrictions mentioned in that table item.

 (3) A CB station to which subsection (2) applies may also be operated for the carriage of speech to another CB station indirectly, by:

 (a) using an internet-based technology or application; and

 (b) not using a frequency mentioned in Schedule 1.

Example: The connection (otherwise than by radiocommunication) of a CB station to a personal computer, for the carriage of speech over the internet (which may or may not include carriage by radiocommunication), to a second CB station that is connected (otherwise than by radiocommunication) to a personal computer.

 (4) This subsection applies to a CB station that:

 (a) transmits radio signals that:

 (i) identify the station; or

 (ii) indicate the geographic location of the station; and

 (b) does so:

 (i) using a frequency mentioned in table item 4 or 6 of Schedule 1 as the carrier frequency; and

 (ii) in accordance with the restrictions mentioned in that table item.

 (5) This subsection applies to a CB station that:

 (a) transmits data to communicate with another CB station; and

 (b) does so:

 (i) using a frequency mentioned in table item 5 of Schedule 1 as the carrier frequency; and

 (ii) in accordance with the restrictions mentioned in that table item.

7  Conditions – general

Limited operation on certain frequencies

 (1) A person must not operate a CB station using one of the following as the carrier frequency:

 (a) 27.065 MHz (HF channel 9);

 (b) 476.525 MHz (UHF channel 5);

 (c) 477.275 MHz (UHF channel 35);

  unless the person operates the station:

 (d) during an emergency or a natural disaster; or

 (e) for the purposes of an emergency services organisation’s response, or ability to respond, to an emergency or a natural disaster.

Note 1: The use of these frequencies and channels in an emergency is not a substitute for calling Triple Zero using a public telecommunications network.

Note 2: Emergency services organisations do not monitor these frequencies and channels.

Note 3: If, in an emergency of a kind mentioned in subsection 49(1) of the Act, a frequency mentioned in this paragraph cannot be used, it is preferable to use one of the following frequencies as the carrier frequency:

 (a) 27.085 MHz (HF channel 11);

 (b) 27.155 MHz (HF channel 16);

 (c) 476.675 MHz (UHF channel 11).

Note 4: For paragraph (e), the operation of the station may occur in the absence of an emergency or a natural disaster.

No encryption of speech

 (2) A person must not operate a CB station:

 (a) using a frequency specified in subsection (1) as the carrier frequency; or

 (b) to communicate with another CB station through a CB repeater station;

  if the station, whether on its own or with another thing, encrypts speech transmission.

No operation of altered stations except in certain cases

 (3) A person must not operate a CB station if:

 (a) the station, or an accessory for the station, has been altered after the station or accessory was first supplied by the manufacturer or importer of the station or accessory; and

 (b) the operation of the station is likely to cause interference to radiocommunications; and

 (c) the alteration did not occur in accordance with a direction given under section 9 or section 10.

No harmful interference

 (4) A person must not operate a CB station using a frequency mentioned in a table item of Schedule 1 as the carrier frequency, if the operation causes harmful interference to radiocommunications of another CB station using that frequency as the carrier frequency.

Compliance with directions

 (5) A person must not operate a CB station if:

 (a) the person has been given a direction under section 9 or section 10 in relation to the station; and

 (b) either:

 (i) if the direction requires the person to do a thing before operating the station – the person has not complied with the direction; or

 (ii) the person does not operate the station in accordance with the direction.

No speech on certain frequencies

 (6) A person must not operate a CB station to transmit speech using one of the following frequencies as the carrier frequency:

 (a) 476.95 MHz (UHF channel 22);

 (b) 476.975 MHz (UHF channel 23).

Identification requirements

 (7) A person must not operate a CB station that transmits radio signals that:

 (a) identify the station; or

 (b) indicate the geographic location of the station;

  with a duty cycle greater than 1/360.

Note: A duty cycle of 1/360 works out to 10 seconds of transmission in one hour.

 (8) A person must not operate a CB station that transmits radio signals that:

 (a) either:

 (i) identify the station; or

 (ii) indicate the geographic location of the station; and

 (b) are in the form of data as a burst appended at the end of a voice transmission;

  otherwise than with a data burst length equal to or less than 400 milliseconds.

Use near radio-astronomy observatory

 (9) A person must not operate a CB station within 70 kilometres of Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, located at latitude 26°42′10.4″ south, longitude 116°39′37″ east, if the operation of the station causes harmful interference to radio astronomical observations.

 (10) In subsection (9), latitude and longitude are measured with reference to the geodetic datum designated as the “Geocentric Datum of Australia (GDA94)” gazetted in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No. GN 35 on 6 September 1995.

Note: More information on the Geodetic Datum of Australia is available, free of charge, from the Geoscience Australia website at www.ga.gov.au.

Compliance with ARPANSA Standard

 (11) A person must not operate a CB station or a group of CB stations if:

 (a) equipment rules do not prescribe the EME standard for the station, or for 2 or more stations in the group; and

 (b) the station, or group, when operated, does not comply with the basic restrictions for general public exposure.

Note: If equipment rules prescribe the EME standard for a CB station, see section 160 of the Act.

 (12) In subsection (11):

basic restrictions means the restrictions identified as basic restrictions in the ARPANSA Standard.

Note: The ARPANSA Standard is available, free of charge, from the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency website at www.arpansa.gov.au.

EME standard has the meaning given by the:

 (a) the Radiocommunications Equipment (General) Rules 2021; or

 (b) if a later instrument replaces those rules and defines the term – the later instrument.

Note: The Radiocommunications Equipment (General) Rules 2021 are available, free of charge, from the Federal Register of Legislation at www.legislation.gov.au.

8  Condition – transmission of audio tones

  A person must not operate a CB station to transmit audio tones for initiating communication with another CB station unless:

 (a) if the CB station uses a frequency mentioned in table item 1, 2 or 3 of Schedule 1 as the carrier frequency– the person only transmits audible audio tones for less than 3 seconds in any period of 60 seconds;

 (b) if the CB station uses a frequency mentioned in table item 4 or 6 of Schedule 1 as the carrier frequency – the person only transmits:

 (a) audible audio tones for less than 3 seconds in any period of 60 seconds; or

 (b) subaudible audio tones.

Note: Subaudible audio tones are used in continuous tone coded squelch systems, or CTCSS.

9  Direction in relation to CB station – emergencies

 (1) Subject to subsection (3), a person specified in subsection (2) (the specified person) may give another person (the recipient) a direction that relates to the operation of a CB station by the recipient.

Note 1: The direction need not be in writing.

Note 2: See subsection 133(3) of the Act.

 (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the following persons are specified:

 (a) a member of the Australian Federal Police or the police force of a State or Territory;

 (b) a person specified in paragraph (a) of the definition of officer in subsection 4(1) of the Defence Act 1903;

 (c) an officer of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority who is engaged to work in the Authority’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre;

 (d) an officer specified in regulations made for the purpose of subparagraph 108(3)(b)(v) of the Act.

Note: At the time this instrument was made, section 7 of the Radiocommunications Regulations 2023 specified officers for the purpose of subparagraph 108(3)(b)(v) of the Act. The Radiocommunications Regulations 2023 are a legislative instrument and are available, free of charge, from the Federal Register of Legislation at www.legislation.gov.au.

 (3) A specified person may only give the recipient a direction under subsection (1) if the person is satisfied that the direction is reasonably necessary to:

 (a) secure the safety of an aircraft or vessel that is in danger; or

 (b) deal with an emergency that involves a serious threat to the environment; or

 (c) deal with an emergency that involves the risk of death of, or injury to, a person; or

 (d) deal with an emergency that involves the risk of substantial damage to, or substantial loss of, property.

 (4) A specified person may give the recipient of a direction (the first direction) under subsection (1) a further direction that:

 (a) varies; or

 (b) revokes;

  the first direction.

 (5) The recipient of a direction under subsection (1) may apply to the ART for review of:

 (a) the direction; or

 (b) a variation of the direction.

10  Direction in relation to CB station – inspectors

 (1) An inspector may give another person (the recipient) a written direction that relates to interference to radiocommunications that:

 (a) is likely to be caused by the alteration, installation or maintenance of a CB station, or of an accessory for use with a CB station, by the recipient; or

 (b) is, or is likely to be, caused by the operation of a CB station by the recipient.

Note: See subsection 133(3) of the Act.

 (2) Before giving a direction under subsection (1), an inspector must have regard to the following:

 (a) whether giving the direction is necessary or convenient for the prevention, or minimisation, of interference to radiocommunications;

 (b) the extent to which interference, or the risk of interference, would likely be reduced or removed, if the inspector did not give the direction;

 (c) any other matter the inspector considers relevant.

 (3) An inspector may, by written instrument given to a recipient:

 (a) vary; or

 (b) revoke;

  a direction given to the recipient under subsection (1).

 (4) The recipient of a direction under subsection (1) may apply to the ART for review of:

 (a) the direction; or

 (b) a variation of the direction.

Schedule 1—CB station frequencies and restrictions

(sections 4, 6, 7 and 8)

  In this Schedule:

 (a) the frequencies specified in table items 4 and 5 are the centre frequencies of 25  kHz channels; and

 (b) the frequencies specified in table item 6 are the centre frequencies of 12.5 kHz channels.

Note: CB stations that have 40 pre-programmed UHF channels are only capable of operation on the UHF channels with 25 kHz bandwidth (specified in table items 4 and 5). CB stations that have 80 pre-programmed channels are only capable of operation on the UHF channels with 12.5 kHz bandwidth (specified in table item 6). Most modern CB stations have 80 pre-programmed channels. The UHF channels with 25 kHz bandwidth have the same centre frequency as some of the UHF channels with 12.5 kHz bandwidth.