| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media, communications and events management agency |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Defunct | 2014 |
Key people | Gavin Jones Georgia Cordukes |
| Products | Radio,Television andMagazine |
Vibe Australia was anAboriginal media, communications, and events management agency founded byGavin Jones in 1993. Located inDarlinghurst,Sydney,New South Wales, they worked with Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander people throughout Australia. The organisation was known for hostingThe Deadly Awards, as well as running the music and culture radio showDeadly Sounds. It also published the website and magazineDeadly Vibe, and hosted an annual national music and sporting event calledThe Vibe 3on3 forIndigenous Australians.
Vibe Australia was founded in 1993 by Gavin Jones at theBoomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative.[1]Rhoda Roberts was a producer at Vibe through its entire history.[2]
In June 2014, Vibe Australia funding was cut by theAbbott government underCoalition budget measures designed to reallocate funding to Indigenous education programs, despite a recent audit which had been wholly positive. This including cutting theDeadly Awards funding back to $1 million, with no funding provided for future years. On 12 July 2014, Jones died at age 47.[3][1]
On 14 July 2014, Vibe Australia announced that all Vibe projects including the Deadly Awards concluded on 30 June 2014.[4] After a story was run onTriple J's Hack program on 15 July 2014, a groundswell of community support for saving the Deadly Awards began.[5] A petition onChange.org attracted over 26,000 signatures[6] and aKickstarter campaign reachedA$6,699.[4]
The website, Deadly Vibe, was updated with the news of the project's termination, but kept as an archive of its activities up to that point.[7]
Since 1995, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music, Sport, Entertainment and Community awards, known as theDeadly Awards or simply "The Deadlys", have been held at theSydney Opera House and broadcast bySBS.[8]
Vibe Australia produced a number of other events and media broadcasts, including:[7]
Gavin Jones was born in 1966[3] inGoulburn,New South Wales and grew up there. He started a cadetship at theGoulburn Post, and then studied communications at theUniversity of Canberra, graduating in 1989. He worked in journalism across various government departments.[1]
In 2008, he launched Vibe TV, which produced the programsLiving Strong andMove it Mob Style.[1]
He died on his farm at Goulburn on 12 July 2014, aged 47.[1]