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In the 1950s, a pioneering form of distance education in Australia emerged with School of the Air. For the first time, schoolchildren from remote parts of Australia had access to education by communicating with teachers on a daily basis via the radio.
School of the Air was established in the Northern Territory with the first broadcasts made from the Royal Flying Doctor Base in Alice Springs. The system was also found to be effective for children living in remote parts of Queensland. In 1960, the Cloncurry School of the Air became the first to begin broadcasting in Queensland.
By 2005, HF Radio had been replaced by telephone teaching which proved to be a more reliable method of communication. More recently, the development of the internet has revolutionised access to education for children in remote areas.
School of the Air in Australia is indebted to the Reverend John Flynn, founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, who pushed for the development of a radio network across remote Australia.
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 | School mistress Bridget O’Sullivan conducts the first Queensland School of the Air broadcast from Cloncurry Base VJI, 1960
State Library of Queensland, Image no. 166302 |
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|  | | The Minister for Education’s Christmas message, handwritten by School of the Air student Frances Terry of ‘Lucerne’, Richmond, c December 1962
Queensland State Archives Item ID 1139964, Digital Image ID 2942 Education Department |
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