Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC, marked its 90th birthday on 1 July.

The broadcaster has been celebrating the anniversary with special programming on its television, radio, online and social media platforms.

Among the highlights was ‘ABC 90 Celebrate!’, a live, two-hour event on ABC TV on the evening of 30 June. Live crosses throughout the evening took audiences to locations, studios and community events throughout Australia.

The ABC also produced a special version of the song ‘I am Australian’ to celebrate its birthday.

The Australian Broadcasting Commission, as it was originally called, was officially launched as a radio service on 1 July 1932 by Prime Minister Joseph Lyons and ABC announcer Conrad Charlton.

It launched a television service on 5 November 1956. In 1983 its name changed to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Funded by direct grants from the government, the ABC now operates five national, non-commercial TV channels within Australia, headed by its flagship ABC TV channel, as well as ABC Australia, a satellite channel broadcast to Southeast Asia.

It operates four national radio networks as well as more than 50 local radio stations and an international service, Radio Australia.