Repeaters take your signal from a handheld and retransmit it from a high site, turning a few kilometres of range into a whole region. This guide covers how to find them, how they're licensed and how to use them well.
1Find your local repeaters
The WIA Australian Repeater Directory is published as a PDF and CSV; the latest is dated 5 July 2026. It's cross-referenced with the ACMA database, licence status comes solely from ACMA, and unlicensed repeaters aren't listed. A status of "W" means the repeater carries the weekly WIA broadcast.
2Read the call sign
Repeater call signs usually take the form VK$Raa to VK$Rzz, where $ is the digit for the state or territory the repeater is in (ACMA call sign policy). So a repeater starting VK4R is in Queensland and one starting VK2R is in New South Wales. These calls aren't on ACMA's public register.
3How repeaters are licensed
A class licensee can't operate a repeater. Repeaters need an amateur assigned apparatus licence, and the holder needs a Standard or Advanced qualification (ACMA: Amateur radio licences). Under the Licence Conditions Determination 2025, a repeater must identify at least every 10 minutes, must be "incapable of transmitting a signal in the absence of a received signal", and where access control is used it's a 1750 Hz tone burst, CTCSS or DTMF.
The licence conditions also say a repeater must not relay a station that isn't authorised on the repeater's output frequency. On 2m and 70cm this covers Foundation operators, because their privileges include 144–148 and 430–450 MHz.
4Make your first call
Listen first to get a feel for the repeater. To join in, wait for a gap and give your call sign. ACMA says "it is not necessary to use call signs every 'over' – call signs must be used every 10 minutes" (ACMA: Operating procedures).
Two widely followed conventions: leave a short pause between overs so others can break in, and always give priority to emergency traffic.
5Linking and retransmission
Some repeaters are linked over the internet through systems such as IRLP, EchoLink, AllStarLink and VKLink. ACMA's operating procedures set a clear rule for anything connected to the internet: "If you connect your station (including a repeater station) to the internet (including via an Amateur Internet Linking System), you must have measures in place to ensure that it cannot be operated by unlicensed persons."
And on retransmission: "If you re-transmit another station's transmission, you must have the other station's permission and indicate it is a retransmission." (ACMA)
6Sources
- WIA Australian Repeater Directory
- ACMA: Amateur radio call sign policy, September 2024 (PDF)
- ACMA: Amateur radio licences
- Radiocommunications Licence Conditions (Amateur Licence) Determination 2025 (F2025L01087)
- ACMA: Amateur radio operating procedures
- WIA Australian Amateur Radio Band Plan, Rev 2026-1 (PDF)