The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) has won the People’s Choice Award for its "Voices for the Voiceless" project at the Voiceless Annual Awards ceremony in Sydney.

Animal rights think tank, Voiceless, awarded the prestigious $10,000 grant to the CBAA as part of its annual Voiceless Grants Program, which provides financial support to non-profit organisations, councils and universities for the implementation of projects which promote and improve animal protection in Australia.

L-R: Voiceless Founder, Brian Sherman AM, CBAA Operations Manager, Yvette Novosel and Voiceless Ambassador Hugo Weaving

The CBAA's award-winning “Voices for the Voiceless” project aims to promote greater awareness about animal cruelty issues and build the animal protection movement by utilising the wide-reaching network of community radio stations around Australia.

The CBAA will develop a series of twelve 60-second radio segments, providing information on how Australians can take action for animals. The campaign will be broadcast between April and September 2010 across the CBAA's 270-strong member stations.

The diverse stations within the Community Broadcasting sector reach more than 9.5 million adult Australians every month, making the campaign an effective way of communicating the message of animal welfare at a grass roots level. The campaign will raise awareness in local communities of the conditions in which animals live and provide practical ways they can take action to protect animals from suffering.

CBAA General Manager, Michele Bawden said, "Community Broadcasting gives a voice to many who would not otherwise be heard. So we are honoured to partner with Voiceless in this campaign."

For more information, go to: www.voiceless.org.au