The ABC has established a new Indigenous Archives Unit responsible for managing Australia’s largest news and current affairs collection relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The Unit will oversee the ABC’s Indigenous content collection, including video, audio, photos and documents. This unique and important collection captures songs and ceremonies from as early as the 1940s to contemporary material on Indigenous communities, health, the land rights movement, the freedom ride in 1965, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in front of Parliament House and the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart.
The collection includes a highly significant recording of Indigenous man ‘Sandy’, who spoke to Dr C.T. Madigan, leader of the 1939 Simpson Desert expedition – the first broadcast from central Australia; audio recordings and images from the 1950s of Albert Namatjira, one of the pioneers of Indigenous contemporary art; and the 1974 TV drama Pig in a Poke, a contemporary series set in Redfern with Indigenous people as part of the multicultural community – almost 40 years before Redfern Now.
Much of the collection, including all images, has been digitised and is held in the ABC’s Content Digital Archive (CoDA).
David Anderson, ABC Managing Director, said the Unit’s establishment was an exciting opportunity to grow and support audience knowledge of Australia’s Indigenous peoples.
“This initiative will highlight and celebrate the cultural contribution made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
“It is a very exciting moment and one that will provide valuable story-telling, context, history and connection with different communities.
“Having a dedicated Indigenous Archives Unit run by Indigenous experts in the ABC to catalogue the material, preserve this historically significant collection and ensure it is managed in a culturally appropriate way will enable us to share content not only with the communities it depicts but to all of Australia.
“The collection and presentation of content created by, for and about Australia’s first peoples is an essential part of the ABC’s role as a national broadcaster and storyteller, offering a unique and rich legacy that is worthy of protection and management.”
One of the Unit’s key functions will be to support the ABC’s content makers in delivering Indigenous stories for audiences across all platforms and services, and in ways that are culturally appropriate and respectful of sensitive cultural content.
The ABC will be advertising two new roles for the Indigenous Archives Unit – a Manager and a Curatorial Assistant – and there are plans to further expand the team.
