The project team

Reference group

Beginning in 2011, a high-level reference committee, chaired by Project Patron Mick Gooda (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission), has provided guidance and advice to the project to ensure best practice cultural protocol has been continuously adhered to.

Professor Michael Walsh, Senior Research Fellow at AIATSIS (The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies), a pre-eminent linguist of Aboriginal languages, undertook research with the Library from July 2011 to December 2012 to identify indigenous language collections that were previously inaccessible within our collections. Over 200 listings relating to 100 languages were identified by Professor Walsh, which now make up the basis for this project.

The State Library Indigenous Services Team

The State Library of New South Wales established its own Indigenous Services team in March 2013. The team, which reports to the Mitchell Librarian, has been driving this project with their expertise of language materials through research and collaboration with Indigenous communities around Australia.  

The State Library

The State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW) is the premier library for the people of NSW. The Library’s extraordinary collections document the heritage of Australia and Oceania and are one of the State’s most valuable assets. By building preserving and delivering its collections, the Library enables Australians to interrogate our past and imagine our future.

Rio Tinto

Without the financial support of Rio Tinto, this project would not have been possible. Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group and, in Australia, is the largest private employer of Indigenous people in the nation as well as being involved with numerous Indigenous projects across the country. Rio Tinto recognises that Indigenous Australians hold a unique place in the history and culture of this continent.