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Clip description
At Halls Creek, the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) conducts a hostel for schoolchildren from the surrounding areas, where they play and learn. AIM staff look on as the children play an educational game on the hostel grounds. AIM hospitals are located at Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing. From the AIM outpost, mission patroller Reverend Fred McKay makes contact with the flying doctor, who tends to a medical case in an isolated location in the region. On an outback property, young Susan Kelly attends the School of the Air where she communicates with her teacher in Sydney over the radio.
Curator’s notes
This clip is a good illustration of how communication technologies were used in the context of regional health and education throughout isolated communities in Australia. The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) established a radio network powered by pedal radio to assist in coordinating its aerial medical service but its importance in connecting isolated communities expanded to other areas such as education. At the time this film was made, the School of the Air was a cooperative service between State educational departments and the RFDS radio networks. The first school lessons were broadcast over the airwaves from the Alice Springs RFDS base in 1948.
