The Wentworth Lectures honour the contribution of Sir William (Bill) Wentworth to the creation of AIATSIS in 1964; now a world-renowned research, collecting and publishing organisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander cultures, traditions, languages and stories. 

This collection reflects the changing values in society and the evolution of ethical research in Australia. They are a fitting symbol of Australia’s maturing nationhood and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the first peoples of the land, of their resilience and journey to reclaim and preserve their identity, their histories, their cultural heritage - their stories.

In the thirty-six years since the first lecture, there have been eighteen Wenthworth lecturers, all of whom were given full rein as to the topic and content. To some extent all deal with wider political, social and economic, and in some cases, religious, factors. Taken together, they are a veritable who’s who of the leading intellectuals in the field.