Rufus Barr takes over Breakfast on Broken Hill’s Hill FM 96.5

Broken Hill has a new Breakfast radio host, with recent TAFE NSW graduate Rufus Barr securing the gig.

Barr replaces ‘A D’ – Andrew Doman – who is heading back to Mount Gambier in South Australia.

His replacement, Barr, had been a venue host in Sydney, so when COVID-19 hit, all his work dried up. He decided to use the catastrophe to pursue his passion for radio.

“I’ve always had a passion for radio, but initially started working in editing for television, and to satisfy my passion for performing I became a trivia and karaoke host – which is basically like hosting radio, just in a pub and with even worse music,” Barr said.

“After losing all my work during COVID-19 I decided to enrol in the Diploma and then Advanced Diploma of Screen and Media (Radio) at TAFE NSW Ultimo to get qualified and go after my dream job.”

TAFE NSW teacher Nick Bennett said the Advanced Diploma tackles presenting, producing, storytelling, audio and video editing, and industry.

“Students get the opportunity to build their own websites which become a solid portfolio of their work, and Diploma students start to focus on the sort of work they want to make post-studies,” Bennett said.

“Rufus, for example, made a series of quite dark-yet-hilarious radio plays with a fellow student which impressed his teachers and our industry guests.”

Rufus continued into the Advanced Diploma of Screen and Media (Radio), a student-driven and designed course where students work on a collaborative project to manage the TAFE NSW Ultimo radio station and news site and build up a portfolio of creative work.

“Rufus was laser focused on fine tuning his radio producing and presenting, so we wasted no time in getting him on air producing and presenting a regular two-hour show. That, coupled with regular air checks and a few strategic introductions to industry contacts helped bring the industry gig to fruition,” Bennett said.

Rufus completed the Advanced Diploma in late 2020 and one of his teachers introduced him to the program director at Hill FM, a former teacher at TAFE NSW.

“Hill FM needed a new Breakfast host and my teacher suggested me for the job (without my knowledge), sent them some of my work and I got a phone call from the station manager, out of the blue, offering me the job. 12 days later, I was here in Broken Hill, starting my dream career,” Barr revealed.

Barr is on air from 6am to 9am on weekdays.