KEY POINTS
- AIATSIS is Australia’s leading national centre for quality, community-based research on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories and lifestyles – past and present.
- AIATSIS plays a unique role as the keeping place of the world's largest collection of materials relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples including films, stills, recordings and printed materials.
- AIATSIS raises awareness through its work of the richness and diversity of the world’s oldest continuing cultures and histories.
- AIATSIS is a statutory agency under the Public Service Act 1999, created by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Act 1989.
- AIATSIS is governed by a Council of nine members and the majority are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage.
- AIATSIS plays a unique and irreplaceable role within Australia’s research framework and has developed a reputation for rigorous, independent research across the breadth of Indigenous studies and affairs.
- Aboriginal Studies Press is Australia’s leading publisher of Indigenous studies and it prints up to ten new titles annually, selecting outstanding writing that promotes an understanding of Australian Indigenous cultures.
FACTS AND FIGURES
The AIATSIS is a statutory agency under the Public Service Act 1999, created by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Act 1989.
The Institute is funded by Annual Appropriation. For 2010-11 financial year a total of $13.172 million was appropriated of which $3.424 million relates to the AIATSIS digitisation project that expires 2010-11.
AIATSIS is governed by a Council of nine members and the majority are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage. The role is to encourage, undertake, promote and publish Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies; to assist in training persons, particularly Aboriginal persons and Torres Strait Islanders, as research workers in fields relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies; to establish and maintain a cultural resource collection consisting of materials relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies; and, to encourage understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies.
Current staffing is 118, of which 29 (25 per cent) are Indigenous. Of the total staff, 70 (59 per cent) are non-ongoing officers, 76 (64 per cent) are females and 12 (10 per cent) over 60.
Research
AIATSIS has developed a reputation for rigorous, independent research across the breadth of Indigenous studies and affairs. The Research Program is committed to Indigenous involvement and collaboration in ethical community-based projects. AIATSIS also runs a competitive research grant program open to academics and communities.
Key projects relevant to current government interests include:
- Indigenous health and well-being
- Justice and prisoner health
- Education and curriculum development
- Indigenous languages
- Art markets and artistic expression
- Water, climate change and sustainability (including the River Murray)
- Land management, native title and economic development
- Trusts, enterprise and corporate design (including taxation)
- Native title
- Indigenous governance and representation
- Agreement making, mediation and dispute management
- The administration and implementation of Indigenous policy and program
- International instruments and Australia’s international image
The Indigenous Researchers Fund ($1million over three years), provides support for Indigenous people to engage in policy relevant research in Canberra. The inaugural round of successful applications ranged in areas from Education, Mental and Sexual Health, Enterprise Development, State-Commonwealth Indigenous Affairs Policy and Native Title Governance.
Audiovisual Archives (AVA)
As caretaker of the world’s greatest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural materials, AIATSIS maintains a vast archive of film, sound, photographs and print materials. In line with international collecting standards, AIATSIS is digitally preserving these materials for access well into the future.
- The collection comprises 6 ½ million feet of motion picture footage, 45,000 hours of recorded sound; 620,000 photographic images; over 8,000 video titles as well as a collection in excess of 1,000 artefacts and works of art.
- In total, the Audiovisual Archive holds almost one million items.
AIATSIS provides copies of collection material to Indigenous individuals and communities as well as commercial organisations such as authors, publishers and filmmakers.
Library
The Library holds more than 100,000 items of the most comprehensive research collection of print materials on Australian Indigenous studies in the world, including manuscripts, language materials, books, records of organisations, newspapers, maps, microforms and in electronic formats.
The Library’s collections are of great research value especially for Indigenous personal and community use – in family history and native title research, and language renewal. The AIATSIS Thesaurus is used to more accurately describe the collections and is now used in other libraries.
The Library's Family History Unit trains assists Link-Up caseworkers in family tracing and reunion for members of the Stolen Generations. The Unit also assist anyone of Indigenous heritage with their family history research and maintains an Indigenous family history website regarded as the 'starting point' in research.
The Library has developed many online resources covering major events in Indigenous history, knowledge, family history - of interest to all Australians, and in particular to teachers and students.
Aboriginal Studies Press
The publishing arm of AIATSIS is Aboriginal Studies Press (ASP), which publishes up to ten new titles annually and selects outstanding writing that promotes an understanding of Australian Indigenous cultures. These range across several academic disciplines (history, anthropology, archaeology, native title, cultural studies) as well as general-interest books in the areas of children’s, community and family histories, biography and autobiography.
A number of books published by ASP for AIATSIS have won awards and short-listings in state Premier’s Literary Awards (e.g. Cleared Out, Rob Riley, Writing Never Arrives Naked, Fight for Liberty and Freedom). Traditionally its best-selling publication has been the Aboriginal Australia wall map, which derives from research undertaken in the publication of the Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia. Over its life it has sold more than 60,000 copies. With 26,000 copies in print nine months post-publication, The Little Red Yellow Black Book, published in October 2009 is an accessible and informative introduction to Indigenous Australia. A companion website, http://lryb.aiatsis.gov.au contains detailed teachers’ notes, and sales of the book and use of the site have quickly established these resources as powerful tools for government departments, teachers, cross-cultural trainers, parents and students.