Note: the scope of this article is limited to the discussion of the Australian broadcast callsign system.

This glossary article is divided into the following sections:

Australian television callsigns Commercial television callsigns ABC TV and SBS TV callsigns Australian radio callsigns

1. Australian television callsigns

Uppercase letters of the English-language alphabet (A through to Z) are used to denote television callsigns. The standard length of a television callsign is three letters, however this may vary (see here). All television callsigns are suffixed with a single letter that is used to denote the associated transmitter's State or Territory of origin - these letters are as follows:

• C - Australian Capital Territory (Canberra, capital)
• D - Northern Territory (Darwin, capital)
• N - New South Wales
• Q - Queensland
• S - South Australia
• T - Tasmania
• V - Victoria
• W - Western Australia

Commercial television callsigns

Commercial television broadcasters are mostly free to choose any two letters they desire as part of their callsign. The letters chosen for use often reflect the broadcasting company's name or its geographical location, although a callsign may be randomly assigned if none is chosen by the station. Examples:

• NRN - Northern Rivers Television, New South Wales
• GTV - General Television, Victoria (although General Television is also an acceptable use of this callsign)
• TVQ - TeleVision Queensland
• TNT - Television Northern Tasmania
• NWS - NeWs Corporation/Limited, South Australia
• NEW - As in "The NEW station", Western Australia
• NTD - Northern Territory, Darwin
• CTC - Capital Television, Canberra

A notable exception to the rule would be Imparja Television, whose callsigns are IMP, as in Imparja, despite being based in Alice Springs, Northern Territory.

ABC TV and SBS TV callsigns

The first two letters of an ABC Television callsign are AB (as in Australian Broadcasting Corporation), followed by at least one letter (or even more in extreme cases) representing the geographical region, such as H (as in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales), followed by the State/Territory suffix (in this case, ABHN). State capitals are the exceptions, with the regional letter(s) dropped, for example, ABN (which is the Sydney-based ABC station).

The callsign for SBS Television is SBS, no matter the geographical location of the transmitter - since SBS broadcasts a largely unified schedule Australia-wide, there is little need to distinguish between transmitting stations.

2. Australian radio callsigns

Uppercase letters of the English-language alphabet (A through to Z) and Hindu-Arabic numerals (1 through to 8) are used to denote radio callsigns. The standard length of a radio callsign is three characters for AM-band [1] and four characters for FM-band radio stations, however, this may vary. All radio callsigns are prefixed with a single numeral that is used to denote the associated transmitter's State or Territory of origin - these numerals are as follows:

• 1 - Australian Capital Territory (although '2' is more commonly used)
• 2 - New South Wales
• 3 - Victoria
• 4 - Queensland
• 5 - South Australia
• 6 - Western Australia
• 7 - Tasmania
• 8 - Northern Territory

Broadcast radio stations (commercial, community or national) may choose a callsign, often reflecting the broadcasting company's name or its geographical location, although a callsign may be randomly assigned if none is chosen by the station. Examples:

• AM-band: 2UE Sydney, 3AW Melbourne, 4BC Brisbane, 6PR Perth
• FM-band: 2DAY Sydney, 3FOX Melbourne, 4BBB Brisbane, 5SSA Adelaide

Footnotes

[1]In some instances, when an AM-based radio station adopts an FM-based broadcast frequency, the station may choose to retain its existing three-character callsign, though in most cases, it adopts a new four-character callsign.