Archiving First Nations Media: the race to save community media and cultural collections

Abstract

Since the 1970s First Nations media organisations have been established across remote, regional and urban Australia, and have been broadcasting and producing media in and for their local communities. Many of the resulting community-managed audiovisual collections have yet to be digitised or archived and are often stored in substandard conditions. With UNESCO's deadline of 2025 for digitisation of analogue media rapidly approaching, these rich social and cultural heritage collections are at high risk of being lost. Since 2013 First Nations Media Australia (FNMA, formerly Indigenous Remote Communications Association) has worked closely with member organisations and national collection agencies to develop a First Nations Media Archiving Strategy and to support community organisations develop the capacity to manage their collections according to best practice. FNMA is committed to keeping strong community control of media collections and recordings, and believes that the relationship between media production and access to archived recordings is intrinsically linked to the processes of self-determination and to social, cultural and economic sustainability and benefit. This paper explores the ways in which on-country archiving work enables local decision-making processes, which are considered critical to future collection access and use. The paper discusses how First Nations media organisations are often hampered by a lack of funding for the equipment, software and training needed for preservation work and ongoing management of community collections.