AICA, founded in 2003, is the third of a series of peak national representative bodies created to represent Indigenous media producers in Australia. The first of these was the
National Aboriginal and Islander Broadcasting Association (NAIBA), which was mainly an advocacy body, operating from 1982 to 1985 until federal funding dried up. One of its founders was
Tiga Bayles. The National Indigenous Media Association of Australia (NIMAA) was established in 1992, with its membership spanning urban, regional and remote community broadcasters and
multimedia producers across the country. It created policy relating to a variety of Indigenous media, including
film, advertising, print, radio and television. In 1994, members included broadcasting entities in around 80 remote Indigenous communities and about 50 additional community groups which broadcast on local radio across the country. NIMAA encouraged and provided support to Indigenous broadcasters to use new technology in production such as
video-conferencing and digital video editing, while incorporating their own cultural protocols. NIMAA ceased operations in 2001, at which time an Indigenous Communication Consultative Committee was set up in order to participate in the lobbying process for a national Indigenous broadcasting service. The
Indigenous Remote Communications Association (IRCA, now First Nations Media Australia) was set up in October 2001, to allow voices in remote communities to have their say in the discussions. In 2003 the Australian Indigenous Communications Association was launched, in the same year that the federal government split the powers of the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC). In 2004 the independent
Indigenous Community Television (ICTV) service was established to serve the needs of remote communities, but was taken off air in July 2007 when the government decided to establish the new
National Indigenous Television (NITV) service. ==Description==