UHF CB Radio Channels Australia: 80-Channel Guide (2026)

Updated August 2026. This is the UHF CB channel guide I wish I had in the car when we started travelling Australia by 4WD. The channel plan is simple once you separate the everyday channels from emergency, data and repeater channels.

Australia’s CB class licence was remade in 2025 and amended again in 2026. The main practical change for this guide is that I no longer describe Channel 11 as a channel you are required to use to initiate contact. For normal touring, choose the established road or group channel that fits what you are doing and move to a clear general-use channel when you want a longer conversation.

Australian UHF CB channels at a glance

• Channels 5 and 35: emergency use.
• Channel 10: commonly used by 4WD groups, clubs and parks.
• Channel 18: commonly used by caravanners and campers.
• Channel 29: commonly used for road safety on the Pacific Highway/Pacific Motorway corridor.
• Channel 40: the main highway/truck channel.
• Channels 22 and 23: telemetry and telecommand only — no voice.
• Channels 61–63: reserved and not normal voice channels.
• Repeater pairs: 1–8 with 31–38, and 41–48 with 71–78.

The old printable graphic on this page dates from 2020, so I have removed it rather than leave a neat-looking cheat sheet that can be mistaken for the current rules.

What channel should you leave your UHF on?

For touring, I use the channel that gives other road users the best chance of reaching me. If I am travelling with a caravan or camper, Channel 18 is the obvious default. On a 4WD track with a group, Channel 10 is common unless the park, club or convoy has nominated something else. Around trucks on major highways, Channel 40 is the useful one to monitor.

Those are conventions, not private channels. Anyone can hear you, and local use varies. If a sign at a mine road, national park, station or work site tells you to monitor a particular channel, use that channel while you are there.

Emergency channels: 5 and 35

Channels 5 and 35 are reserved for emergency communications. The old version of this guide said to use 5 and treated 35 as merely the repeater side of the pair. That was too casual. Both frequencies are protected for emergencies and should be kept clear unless there is an emergency.

If somebody is injured, there is an immediate threat to life or property, and you have no phone coverage, this is exactly what the radio is for. In an emergency you can also use another CB frequency if that is what gives you the best chance of attracting attention.

Channels 10, 18, 29 and 40

Channel 10 is widely used by 4WD groups and on off-road tracks. It is useful when vehicles need to warn each other about obstacles, oncoming traffic or recoveries.

Channel 18 is the caravan and camper channel. I like monitoring it when towing or carrying a camper because another driver can tell you about a loose hatch, a flat tyre or something dragging behind the vehicle before you discover it the expensive way.

Channel 29 has an established road-safety use on the Pacific Highway/Pacific Motorway corridor in NSW and Queensland. Channel 40 is the broader highway/truck channel and is the one I monitor when I want to understand what heavy vehicles around me are doing.

Which channels can a convoy use?

For a convoy, I pick a clear general-use channel and agree on it before moving. There is no benefit in occupying Channel 10, 18 or 40 with a long private conversation if you do not need that channel’s road-use convention.

On an 80-channel radio there are plenty of ordinary channels available. Scan first, choose one that is clear locally, and keep transmissions short enough that other users can get through.

Repeater channels: 1–8, 31–38, 41–48 and 71–78

Repeaters receive your transmission on one frequency and retransmit it from a better location on another, which can extend usable range enormously in hilly or remote areas. The paired repeater channels are 1–8 with 31–38, and 41–48 with 71–78.

The current rules allow simplex use of repeater frequencies when there is no repeater operating in the area. I still avoid them for an ordinary convoy when a normal channel is available. A repeater can be farther away than you realise, and unnecessary simplex traffic can interfere with people using it.

Channels 22 and 23: no voice

Channels 22 and 23 are for telemetry and telecommand. Do not use them for voice conversations. This is one of the easiest rules to remember because there is no touring reason to choose them in the first place.

Do you need a UHF radio for outback travel?

I consider a UHF one of the basic communication tools for Australian 4WD travel, but I do not treat it as an emergency beacon. UHF is line-of-sight radio. Range changes dramatically with terrain, antenna height and whether there is a repeater nearby. In an empty area there may simply be nobody listening.

For genuinely remote trips I want satellite communication or a PLB as the emergency layer, with UHF for vehicle-to-vehicle communication and local traffic. They solve different problems.

Choosing a UHF for a 4WD

For a fixed vehicle installation I prefer a legal 5 W unit from a mainstream Australian brand, paired with an antenna that suits the terrain. A huge high-gain antenna is not automatically better: flatter radiation patterns work well over open country, while a lower-gain antenna can be more useful in hills where the vehicle angle keeps changing.

Handhelds are useful around camp and during recoveries, but I would not substitute a low-power handheld inside the cabin for a properly installed vehicle radio if I planned to spend a lot of time in remote areas.

If you’re building the vehicle for touring, see our guide to choosing a 4WD ute for a camper.