Lets start with a very important clarification before move on.
In Australia, this ceased to be referred to as a licence for individual Amateur operators, as of February 19, 2024 as we moved to a class licence system. Previously Amateur operators, fell under the Apparatus licence.
We still have Apparatus Licences in Australia, but these are mainly for Amateur Radio Repeaters and Beacons.
I have left the heading with the word licence in it as the most common search term being used on search engines is “Amateur Licence”. This is due to past history, but also in part to older Amateurs still referring to it as an Amateur Licence, but mostly due to other parts of the world still having an calling them Amateur or Ham Licences.
In Australia, we now refer to all the personal “licences” as qualifications. So the various qualifications we have in Australia is the Foundation, Standard and Advanced. Now with the appropriate qualification, you now operate under the class licence.
So to make it clear, you need the following to be able to operate in the Amateur Radio frequencies in Australia.
- Obtain the appropriate Qualification (Foundation, Standard, or Advanced)
- Obtain a Call Sign
- Operate under the Amateur Class Licence (this very important as this is the rules and regulations you operate under)
Now you might be wondering why the change, as it just seems to be wording change, and on the whole it is, however it allowed the ACMA (the Australian Communications and Media Authority) to simplify and streamline their processes and paperwork. Australian Amateurs also came out ahead as well, with licence renewals being fee free, with the only requirement is that you respond to an email every 5 years to confirm that you wish to keep your call sign, so the main onus is on you to make sure your email address is kept up to date on ACMA Assist.
One of the other benefits to Amateur Radio, is that Foundation Qualification & Call sign allocation, is currently being done within 24-48 hours of test results being submitted to ACMA by ACMA Accredited Assessors. Please note this is not a documented SLA from the ACMA, but it has been experienced since it was bought back in house by ACMA, and really appreciated by new successful Foundation Qualification holders. Considering the turn around time was 2-4 weeks previously, and that was as long as there were no school holidays at the time.
Careful of old information. With this change only occurring in the last two to three years, there are still heaps of old websites (sadly some club websites still have out of date information on them) that still refer to the Qualification or Licence, being administered by the AMC (Australian Maritime College). If you come across a site with this information, it means that the information is 2-3 years out of date, and can largely be ignored. AMC used to administer examinations/assessors on behalf of ACMA, until ACMA brought it back in house at about the same time as the Class Licence changeover. This applies to all three qualifications.
Now we have that out of the way lets look at the various Qualifications you can obtain, with the entry level being the Foundation qualification.
Foundation Qualification
This is probably the easiest to obtain and requires basic knowledge and skills to safely assemble and operate an amateur radio station without causing interference to other services. It is the entry-level license, for which no prior technical experience is required, typically requiring about 8–12 hours of study (basically the course that most club run)
It does cover very basic Electronics theory, using a multimeter, understanding what resistors and capacitors are and how they work, identifying basic circuit components. Other areas cover regulations, safety, antenna, connectors and feedline identification. You will find that there is a very strong focus on “do no harm”, both to you personally, but also to other users and services, and this includes interference to other users and services of the air waves.
The examination for the Foundation Qualification is as follows
- Theory Exam – Multi-choice paper of 25 questions, where you must correctly answer 18/25 questions correctly (70%) – 30 minutes allowed
- Practical Exam – This involves primarily oral questions with pictures or symbols, and demonstrations (which you are taught in the course) – you required to achieve a 100% pass in the practical.
Now, you might feel like this is too much, as you have little or no knowledge of Electronics and you have never built a simple wire antenna, and you cannot even identify the connectors on your sound system/tv. People that have passed the examination including 12 year olds (and less), Girl Guides, Cubs and Scouts, Vet Nurses with no exposure to Electronics or even Amateur Radio. And these are not a few select examples that are the exceptions that make for good reading. As long as you have an open mind, have the ability to write a few study notes, in other words the ability to take in what you are reading and recall it, you will have a reasonable chance of completing your examination successfully.
Now, whilst you can obtain the recommended texts and do your own self study, and find a club that will offer a remote or on premise examination, which is an option. However, it is highly recommended that do your Foundation Course through a local club, with many holding regular Courses every few months over a weekend (for a small fee), that usually include the examination on the same weekend, so by the end of the weekend, you know if you have passed, and within a few more days, you will have your qualification and callsign. This structured way of doing it, seems to suit the majority of people, allowing you to focus on learning and the examination.
I am aware of some people that may not have a club in their area holding courses, or at least on a regular basis, so they seek out the larger clubs, usually within a few hours or half a day drive, and plan a weekend away, staying with friends or a motel/hotel, and using the Saturday night to revise their notes. This seems to work well for some people.
The Foundation qualification allows you a maximum of 10 watts, a nice variety of useful frequency ranges in the HF and VHF/UHF bands. This is regarded as quite good considering the equivalent “license” in the US, you have very little access to the HF bands (a very limited part of the 10m band). You might be thinking that 10 watts is very little, but depending on the mode (CW, SSB, FT8 etc), your antenna efficiency, your local noise floor, and the propogation, 10 watts will get you around the world. On CW, some can do this on a few watts. It teaches you to hone your skills, learn new techniques, increase your knowledge, all things that hold you in good stead if you decide to upgrade your qualification.
Standard Qualification
There are few that make this their first Qualification, especially if they have an Electrical Engineering background. It does still requires you to complete the practical and regulations exams, to qualify for your Standard Qualification.
The examination for the Standard Qualification is as follows
- Theory Exam – Multiple-choice paper of 50 questions, where you must correctly answer 70% questions correctly – 60 minutes allowed
- Regulations Exam – Multiple-choice paper of 30 questions, where you must correctly answer 70% questions correctly – 30 minutes allowed
and if you have not done the practical exam (usually done at the Foundation qualification), then you will need to complete the following exam: - Practical Exam – This involves primarily oral questions with pictures or symbols, and demonstrations (which you are taught in the Foundation course) – you required to achieve a 100% pass in the practical. This exam is only needed if you have not completed the Foundation qualification first.
Now this is in my personal opinion, so seek other opinions, the theory exam is more in-depth Electronics knowledge and formulas, but the benefit of the exam is generally its a straight question, direct answer. If you know your subject well (and you have studied), this Qualification is a good step up from the Foundation.
Typically, most attend an online (Zoom etc) course for 6 months at one night a week (or a set of purchased video courses which can allow you run at your own pace), but reserving one night a week even with packaged courses is still recommended to let it sink in, but at least you have a little more flexibility on your times. A few courses are run by clubs, but predominately they are run by organisations with a pure focus on training, and are very good at it. It’s a reasonable commitment from an instructor to teach the course, this is why you find many clubs do not have the resources. There are some, so look around.
You may find the organisations that offer the courses do not offer examinations for the Standard & Advanced Qualification. However, this is where clubs step back in as they can offer examinations for the Standard & Advanced Qualification, usually locally or online. It is also possible that independent ACMA Accredited Assessors can assist as well, with local or online examinations. Contact you local club before you start to see what they offer and recommend.
The Standard qualification allows you access to more bands, but now with a power limit of 100W PEP for SSB, and 30W Mean Power for AM/CW/Data and FM.
Advanced Qualification
The examination for the Advanced Qualification is as follows
- Theory Exam – Multiple-choice paper of 50 questions, where you must correctly answer 70% questions correctly – 90 minutes allowed
- Regulations Exam – Multiple-choice paper of 30 questions, where you must correctly answer 70% questions correctly – 30 minutes allowed (not required if completed and passed at Standard Qualification)
and if you have not done the practical exam (if you decided to skip the Foundation & Standard Qualification ), then you will need to complete the following exam: - Practical Exam – This involves primarily oral questions with pictures or symbols, and demonstrations (which you are taught in the Foundation course) – you required to achieve a 100% pass in the practical.
Again, this is in my personal opinion, so seek other opinions, the theory exam continued with more in-depth Electronics knowledge and formulas, but goes further in to Amateur Radio as well. Whilst there are some straight question, direct answers, there is a reasonable contingent of question extrapolation needed. In other words you are trying to understand what they are asking, which involves you having a good understanding of the subject, otherwise you will not be able to provide the right answer.
I have seen people that have some back from doing a course an Advanced examination, almost shattered, as they felt there were ready, thinking of a straight question and answer exam, but had to re-sit three months later as their failed their first attempt.
Again, typically, most attend an online (Zoom etc) course for 6 months at one night a week. A few courses are run by clubs, but predominately they are run by organisations with a pure focus on training, and are very good at it. It’s a reasonable commitment from an instructor to teach the course, this is why you find many clubs do not have the resources. There are some, so look around.
You may find the organisations that offer the courses do not offer examinations for the Standard & Advanced Qualification. However, this is where clubs step back in as they can offer examinations for the Standard & Advanced Qualification, usually locally or online. It is also possible that independent ACMA Accredited Assessors can assist as well, with local or online examinations. Contact you local club before you start to see what they offer and recommend
The Advanced qualification allows you access to more bands, but now with a power limit of 400W PEP for SSB, and 120W Mean Power for AM/CW/Data and FM.
Summary
How you do your qualifications is entirely up to you. I personally went through every qualification step by step, doing the Foundation first, then the Standard, and finally the Advanced, with a bit of actual experience between each one. This worked well for me, but you do what works for you…we are all different.