FM broadcasting started in Australian capital cities in 1947 on an "experimental" basis, using a (monaural) ABC national network feed, consisting largely of classical music and Parliament, as a programme source.
The transmitters (operated by the PMG's Dept) were shut down in 1961, as much of the standard FM band (98–108 MHz) was reserved for TV channel 5 (102.25 video carrier).
The government-run ABC-FM, (now ABC Classic), launched on January 24 1976, in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide, later to expand to other capital cities and regional areas.
As AM/FM portable and car radios displaced AM-only receivers, conversion to FM-stereo became progressively more attractive to broadcasters, and the swing to FM with its superior sound quality and immunity from interference, was under way.
Today, as elsewhere in the developed world, most Australian broadcasting is on FM - although AM talk stations are still very popular and high-power AM transmitters, both national and commercial, are valued by travellers and country listeners, and in emergency situations.