Thieberger, NickAird, MichaelBracknell, ClintGibson, JasonHarris, AmandaLangton, MarciaSculthorpe, GayeSimpson, Jane2025-05-312025-05-310157-6895ORCID:/0000-0002-7487-1234/work/180805174http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=86000789524&partnerID=8YFLogxKhttps://hdl.handle.net/1885/733756144This article discusses the problems encountered in accessing archival Indigenous language records, both by Indigenous people looking for information on their own languages and by non-Indigenous researchers supporting language work. It is motivated by Indigenous people not being able to access materials in archives, libraries, and museums that they need for heritage reasons, for personal reasons, or for revitalisation of language or cultural performance. For some of the authors, the experience of using Nyingarn, which aims to make manuscript language material available for re-use today, has been dispiriting, with what we term the ‘new protectionism’ preventing use of these materials.The authors would like to thank Linda Barwick, Sophie Lewincamp, Amanda Lourie, Stephen Morey, David Nash, Joanna Sassoon, and referees for information that has improved this article. Funding for work referred to in this article came from: ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF), \u2018Modularised cultural heritage archives future-proofing PARADISEC\u2019, (LE220100010); ARDC HASS Research Data Commons and Indigenous Research Capability Program, \u2018Developing the Linguistics Data Commons of Australia\u2019, 2022\u201324; Nyingarn: a platform for primary sources in Australian Indigenous languages (ARC LIEF grant no. LE210100013). We declare that we have no conflicts of interest.20enPublisher Copyright: © 2023 Thieberger et al.Access blockageAustralian Indigenous LanguagesICIP202310.37683/asa.v51.1097186000789524