There is absolutely no way to sugarcoat this.
Absolutely categorically every two way radio that has the Baofeng brand or any of the derivatives (Retevis, Wouxun, Puxing for example) are completely illegal to use in Australia.
This is because it can never meet the minimum standards for RF interference set out by ACMA.
Who or what is ACMA?
Who or what is ACMA?
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is the Australian government statutory authority. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Australian Communications Authority. ACMA managed all communications infrastructure, services and content for Australia. This includes all airwaves and is the only government body that can issue a licence to use a specific frequency in Australia.
Tip: If you don’t have an ACMA issued licence and it’s not a certified UHF CB, there is a good chance you’re owning and or using a two way radio illegally.
This is what ACMA has to say:
“Supply of non standard radio communications devices is an offence under Section 160 of the Radio Communications Act 1992, and can attract substantial penalties of up to $13,200 – Operation and possession of non-standard radio communications devices are offences under sections 157 and 158 of the Act. Non standard devices have the potential to cause harmful interference to licensed radio communications services.”
Caveat, or Exceptions?
There are no exceptions for business use, period.
For a radio ham (a licensed radio amateur, as defined by ACMA) there is one potential caveat. And it’s just this one. If you are a licensed radio amateur and use one (no more than one at at time) only on the amateur band only, you could technically argue that it’s being used as a concept radio for research.
But even that is a poor argument and might not stand up if challenged in a legal environment.