A lunchtime hobby in a high school broadcasting booth in Kel Rankine’s younger days has today flourished into a passion for radio and celebrating Aboriginal culture, sharing community stories, and bringing people together through the power of conversation.

As the host and driving force behind Feel Good Nunga Radio, Kel, an Aboriginal Cultural Practitioner in AnglicareSA’s Northern Foster Care team, has spent the past seven years creating a space where Aboriginal voices, achievements, challenges, and stories are heard.

“I wanted to create something that informed people about what was happening in community,” Kel says. “A place where people could come and share their stories, promote events, talk about their businesses, their art, their music, or just come in and have a yarn.”

Broadcasting each Friday Night from 6pm to 8pm on community radio station PBA-FM, Feel Good Nunga Radio features interviews, music, community news, National Indigenous News, Elder yarns, and Yunga Nunga Nights, where young people take over the microphone and share their own perspectives.

It is a format Kel said he hoped would inspire the next generation to get involved in community media.

“We want young people to see that their voices matter,” he said. “Hopefully one day someone younger will come through and take over from fellas like me.”

 

 

Kel said the award-winning community program had also extended its broadcast reach to communities outside of South Australia through partnerships with media organisations including the Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association in Northern Territory and Ngaarda Media in Pilbarra region of Western Australia.

But despite the growing audience and continued success, Kel said he remained focused on what mattered most to him – creating opportunities for authentic storytelling.

“The community has been great,” he said. “People are always willing to come up and have a yarn and simply authentic conversations which are fun and everyone has a good laugh.

“The variety of stories out there is just amazing. About two weeks ago, there was a brother and sister who had been separated as children and had not seen each other for 15 years.

“I was promoting her music through our Facebook page, and the brother saw the ad, recognised her, and reached out.

“They found each other again through that connection and those are the sorts of stories that make you realise how important community media can be.”

While Feel Good Nunga Radio put success stories and positive community events in the spotlight, Kel said it also explored important issues affecting Aboriginal communities.

He said sharing solutions-focused stories could help strengthen communities and celebrate the resilience of Aboriginal culture.

“Culture is incredibly strong in our people,” he said. “You see it everywhere, whether it’s through dance, song, language, or community we have been celebrating it for 65,000 years and continues to guide us today.

“We have doctors, lawyers, judges, business owners, artists, and community leaders doing amazing things.

“There are so many positive stories out there and it makes you feel proud to see the community doing so well.”