Nhill Aeradio and Airport, Victoria's First Regional Airport

From Engineering Heritage Australia


This bulk of the facility was built for the purpose of developing a major air crew training base for the RAAF under Wartime conditions.

The historic Aeradio Control Building at Nhill, on the Adelaide-Melbourne air route in Western Victoria, housed one of the original twelve standardised Aeradio stations constructed by Amalgamated Wireless Australasia (AWA) in 1938-39 for the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA).

Today, the Nhill Aeradio Control Building is the best–preserved example of these surviving buildings, the others being at Cambridge in Tasmania, Kempsey in NSW and Wagga Wagga in NSW.

However, a complete Aeradio installation comprised a number of other structures and buildings as shown in the following photograph. Nhill is the only site to retain these buildings, or their footings/foundations. Since then, the Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre has taken an interest in the building and has restored it with the intention of using it as a museum.

Standard Aeradio installation when in operation. This is not the Nhill installation
Source: Civil Aviation Historical Society
Nhill Airport tarmac area 2019
Source: Owen Peake
Nhill Aeradio Building after restoration in 2019
Source: Owen Peake
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Engineering Heritage Recognition Program

Marker Type Engineering Heritage Marker (EHM)
Award Date October 2019
Heritage Significance The Aeradio installation at Nhill was one of a national network of civil aviation radio network assets and is now the most complete remaining such facility in the country. The small but growing collection of historic aircraft at the Nhill Aviation Museum adds a greater degree of authenticity to an airport, built just in time for World War II and which served with distinction as a training facility during that war.
Nomination Document Available here.
Ceremony Booklet
Ceremony Report
Not Available. A ceremony was planned for September 2020 for this site.
Plaque/Interpretation Panel Not Installed.
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