At midnight on 1 March 1975, Aunty Jack, together with Thin Arthur and Kid Eager, confronted the ‘colour monster’ on ABC in a unique way. Rather than welcoming the chance to be in colour, Aunty Jack fights the change and Thin Arthur is terrified, mocking conservative attitudes in society that resist innovation. They sing a solemn rendition of 'Wollongong the Brave’ in tribute to their hometown holding out against the shock of the new till the last possible moment. Colour is introduced in the above clip as a wash effect which gives Aunty Jack time and opportunity to fight it off for as long as she can. As Aunty finally succumbs to the magic, the grey tones of black-and-white seem dull against the vibrancy of colour. The effect demonstrates why colour television re-invigorated the industry and was embraced so quickly by Australian viewers.

The ABCB ordered a blackout of all colour broadcasting after 6 pm between 24 and 28 February 1975 so there was a big impact when 'C-day’ finally arrived. This clip from 7 Perth: The First 50 Years (2009) shows how Channel 7 celebrated the launch of colour.

This clip from From Australian Movie Magazine No. 7436 offers a fascinating glimpse inside the manufacturing of colour television sets at the Philips plant in Clayton, Victoria.

This clip from From Federal File 73/63 features Bill Morrison, then Minister for Science, discussing the safety concerns that the government must consider before implementing colour television in Australia.

To give broadcasters and viewers time to adjust to the new medium, the Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB) advised that stations could transmit colour test patterns from 7 October 1974. These test transmissions were for a total duration of one hour per day in 15-minute sessions.

This particular transmission was from STW9 Perth.

In the 1960s, Australia was involved in the Vietnam War which, by the early 1970s, had placed a heavy burden on the Australian economy. According to Bruce Gyngell, then head of the Seven Network, Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War also delayed the arrival of colour television in Australia.

This clip is an excerpt from Brendan Horgan's interview with Bruce Gyngell which was completed as a part of the NFSA's oral history program.

Stations used the colour broadcast tests to tantalise viewers with some of the programming they would be able to watch once colour television commenced, as can be seen in this clip from Channel 7.

In 1956, television was introduced to Australia in time for the Olympic Games in Melbourne. In 1976, the Olympic Games in Montreal contributed to the high uptake of colour, as is highlighted in this clip from 20 Years of Television (1976).

On commencing office in December 1972, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam ordered an Inquiry into Colour Television to consider whether protection should be granted to local manufacturers and what protections would be needed to sustain the production of local content. Australians were subsidising the local manufacture of black-and-white television sets by an average of $100 and, with the advent of colour, local manufacturers were lobbying for even higher protections.

Local manufacturer, Philips, engaged the services of television presenter Roger Climpson to promote their colour sets in the 1970s.

Bruce Gyngell, then head of the Seven Network, discusses the uptake of colour television in Australia and around the world.

This clip is an excerpt from Brendan Horgan's interview with Bruce Gyngell which was completed as a part of the NFSA's oral history program.

Even before the Postmaster General had settled on a colour standard, TV stations set up displays at agricultural shows and shopping centres to educate audiences on the advantages of colour television. This clip is from Brisbane’s Channel 7 and was screened as part of their demonstration at the Ekka (Royal Queensland Show) in 1967.