Australia’s National Film & Sound Archive (NFSA) has welcomed the announcement of new funding for the National Collecting Institutions announced by Minister for the Arts Tony Burke.
The Federal Government will invest AUD$535.3 million towards the nine National Collecting Institutions over four years. Funding will be provided to the Australian National Maritime Museum, Bundanon Trust, Museum of Australian Democracy (Old Parliament House), National Archives of Australia, National Film and Sound Archive, National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, National Museum of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery of Australia. The Government is also acting to secure the future of the National Library’s digital archive Trove.
According to the NFSA, “The funding will increase our ability to enrich the collection on behalf of all Australians, no matter where you are, and to realise our vision for the NFSA as a modern digital institution connecting all Australians to our audiovisual history.
“While we are currently digitising as much of the national collection as possible, concentrating on items on deteriorating formats, this additional funding means we can do more to make the collection stay relevant long into the future.”
The NFSA says it aims to make more of its collection available in digital format, more searchable for the public, and easier for users to find what they need through new online and offline services, such as streaming.
“We can also increase our work to better understand the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander items in our care,” said the NFSA, “including relevant cultural protocols that should properly be in place, and returning these stories to their communities of origin where they can add value to cultural practices including the revitalisation of language.
“Our national audiovisual collection is incredibly rich. And we want it to be even more valuable and interesting by engaging with the new digital cultures of today, including video games and social media.
“It is incredibly exciting to consider what we can now do to keep telling Australian stories in all their diversity and range.”
Visit https://www.nfsa.gov.au/