KEY POINTS
- AIATSIS is the National Research Institute for Indigenous studies and Indigenous thought.
- 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 the majority of whom are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage.
- AIATSIS plays a unique and irreplaceable role within Australia’s research framework.
- AIATSIS has developed a reputation for scholarly, 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 2007/08 Financial year a total of $11,801 million was appropriated of which $3.577 relates to our digitisation project that expires 2010/11.
AIATSIS is governed by a Council of nine members the majority of whom are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage. Our 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 106 of which 33 (31%) are Indigenous. Of the total staff 59 (56%) are non-ongoing officers, 38 (36%) are females and 5 (5%) over 60.
Research: AIATSIS has developed a reputation for scholarly, 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 ‘Closing the Gap’;
- Early childhood education;
- Indigenous languages;
- Climate change and sustainability (including the River Murray),
- Land management and economic development (including tax incentives);
- Indigenous governance and representation;
- The administration and implementation of Indigenous Affairs;
- International instruments and Australia’s international image; and
- Innovative technologies and economies in Indigenous communities
The Native Title Research Unit (NTRU) provides high quality independent research and policy advice that promotes the recognition and protection of the native title of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Audiovisual Archives (AVA): As caretaker of the world’s greatest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural materials, the Institute maintains a vast archive of film, sound, photographs and print materials. In line with international collecting standards, the Institute is digitising these materials for preservation and access well into the future.
- The collection comprises of 6 ½ million feet of motion picture footage, 45,000 hours of recorded sound; 700,000 photographic images; 6,000 video titles. We also have a collection of around 1,000 artefacts and works of art. In total, the Audiovisual Archive holds almost one million items.
The AVA’s Community Access and Return of Materials Program involve visits to communities to give back materials from the archives and provide training for community members in maintenance of community archives and technologies.
Library: The Library holds 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 CD ROMS.
- The Library’s collections, previously of interest to academic researchers, have over time also become invaluable for Indigenous personal and community use – in family history and native title research, and language renewal.
- The growing numbers of Indigenous researchers, whether formal or personal, are one of the Institute’s target clients.
Aboriginal Studies Press: As Australia’s leading publisher of Indigenous studies, Aboriginal Studies Press (ASP) prints up to ten new titles annually, selecting 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.
They have won a series of awards and short-listings in state Premier’s Literary Awards and other awards (e.g. Cleared Out, Rob Riley, Writing Never Arrives Naked). Its best-selling publication is the Aboriginal Australia wall map, which derives from research undertaken in the publication of the Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia. It has sold more than 60,000 copies.