We welcome donations of unpublished materials relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies, culture, knowledge and experience. We accept photographs, sound recordings, film, video, ephemera and print materials, including manuscripts, personal papers, diaries, field notebooks and theses.

The Collections Development Policy (PDF 173KB) sets out our collecting priorities and preferred formats, and all materials are assessed for suitability against this policy before acceptance.

By lodging your material with us, you will ensure its longevity and accessibility into the future. We regularly receive materials from Indigenous organisations and families, researchers, and the general public. We also occasionally accept offers of published print materials that are otherwise hard to source.

The Guide for Clients provides details on preparing manuscripts for donation.

Making an offer

If you would like to donate material to AIATSIS, please complete an Offer of Material form. Please send this form to our donations@aiatsis.gov.au or post it to:

Registrar
AIATSIS Collections
GPO Box 553
Canberra ACT 2601

If we are unable to make an assessment based on the written description, we may ask you to send the material in.

Sealing the deal

Once your material has been accepted, we will ask you to complete a Deed of Gift. If you would like to transfer copyright to AIATSIS or assign a license for us to use the material in ways normally reserved by the copyright owner, you should also complete a Copyright Deed.

Sensitive content

AIATSIS has a wealth of experience in the ethical management of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections, including secret/sacred material and other sensitive information. We ask all donors to alert us to potentially sensitive content to ensure it is handled appropriately.