Australia
Australia is the closest thing to a GMRS analogue anywhere in the world: UHF CB is licence-free under an ACMA class licence, runs up to 5 W, and — uniquely among licence-free services — supports repeaters.
Spectrum regulator — the FCC equivalent
ACMA
Australian Communications and Media Authority
The ACMA is Australia's FCC equivalent, and it runs UHF CB under a class licence rather than individual licences.
National amateur society
WIA
Wireless Institute of Australia
Exams, band plans and the club network — the local counterpart to the ARRL.
Emergency communications
WICEN
Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network — amateur emergency communications during bushfires, floods and cyclones.
Visit WICENNets in Australia
No nets published for Australia yet. We add them once a national society or regulator source confirms the schedule and frequency.
Times are as published locally. Club and branch nets shift frequency and time more often than national broadcasts — always check the source link before you tune up.
Licence-free radio here
Notes and gotchas
- 80 channels, 476.4250–477.4125 MHz at 12.5 kHz spacing, 5 W maximum.
- Repeater outputs are channels 1-8 and 41-48; matching inputs are 31-38 and 71-78 (channel N pairs with N+30).
- Channels 5/35 are emergency channels — keep non-urgent traffic off them. Channels 22 and 23 are data/telemetry only. Channel 11 is the calling channel and 40 is the road channel by convention.
- Operating a UHF CB repeater station itself needs an apparatus licence, but using one is covered by the class licence.
Official links
The legal instrument behind UHF CB: channel plan, power limits and conditions.
Australian amateur qualifications, callsigns and the amateur class licence arrangements.
Exams and assessments, band plans, the national news broadcast and member nets.
Community-maintained national UHF CB repeater directory, online since 1999. Freshness varies by region.
Association of Citizen Band Repeater Operators — club-run repeater coordination.