Established in 1984, with its roots dating back to the 1930s, the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) has been preserving the nation’s audiovisual heritage for close to eight decades.  After a series of transformations the organisation – now a statutory authority under the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Act 2008 (NFSA Act) – the NFSA has firmly established its place among Australia’s National Collecting Institutions.

As Australia’s ‘living’ archive the NFSA not only collects and preserves but shares the nation’s diverse and exciting film, sound, broadcast and new and networked media heritage. From wax cylinders to MP3s, from flammable celluloid film to the Digital Cinema of today, the NFSA captures and makes accessible the nation’s creative output, including a unique Indigenous Collection.

Our people care – staff at the NFSA bring great depth of understanding to the national audiovisual collection through our specialised curatorial and technical knowledge. We are committed to and passionate about service delivery to the highest standards, for a wide range of audiences.

The national audiovisual collection includes a unique collection of Indigenous films and sound recordings.  The NFSA aims to ensure that Indigenous people have access to this collection and that Indigenous people are engaged in the activities of NFSA.

The NFSA recognises the principle expressed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, that Indigenous people have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop intellectual property in their heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions  – referred to collectively as Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP).

The NFSA has a proud history of acknowledging Indigenous cultural rights in its collection and since the 1990s has had policies pertaining to the treatment of NFSA items which contain ICIP.  NFSA supports the Deepening Histories of Place project through drawing on its collection and audiovisual expertise, and in developing an ICIP protocol for the project.

http://www.nfsa.gov.au/
http://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/indigenous-collection/