HF radio operators licence

G'day, Have been following the recent discussion on HF radios. Does one still need an operators licence from the government to transmit on an HF? I stopped paying my dues some years back to a government agency called Spectrum, I think. I have a 1963 Codan 6924 ( with 3 channels... Darwin,Alice Springs,Port Augusta ) which I have had for about 20 years and it helped us out on two occassions when we had to have vehicle parts flown in. But I haven't used it for about two years now and it is DEAD. They get 'wet' joints or something like that. Had it serviced last in 1995 and then Codan(Alice Springs) told me that the parts were getting scarce. Methinks they wanted me to buy a newer version. I am in the market for an updated version but $3300 is a hefty price to pay just to listen to all the interesting channels. Cheers, Willie