First Nations Resources

Acknowledgement of Country

ALIA Multicultural acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to lands, waters, cultures and communities. 

We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; and to Elders past and present.

Please visit SBS for Acknowledgement of Country in other languages.

Sharing Knowledge, Building Connections

Libraries are places where cultures meet and stories are shared. Guided by the first principle of the ALIA Principles for Multicultural Collections and Services, ALIA Multicultural commits to sharing respect and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and through local consultation, works to elevate understanding of First Nations ways of being, doing, and knowing with multicultural communities. Building these connections creates spaces for learning, cultural exchange, and mutual respect. These resources help library professionals design inclusive collections and programs that celebrate First Nations knowledge while strengthening ties across diverse communities. This approach is informed by  The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Protocols for Libraries, Archives and Information Services ensuring practices that are culturally safe, ethically sound, collaborative, and community-driven.

ALIA Multicultural is not affiliated with any of these publishers or suppliers. The information has been gathered from the internet and is correct at the time of publication. Please refer to their official websites for the latest updates.

Education Resources
First Nations Language Resources
Key Groups
Library Resources
Translated Resources
Publishers
Suppliers

Education Resources

AIATSIS Code of Ethics

In October 2020 AIATSIS published the AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research (the AIATSIS Code). This document supersedes and replaces the AIATSIS Guidelines for Ethical Research in Australian Indigenous Studies 2012 (GERAIS). All references to GERAIS in Australian research codes and guidance should be taken to refer to this Code.

BlackWords

AustLit is an authoritative database about Australian literature and storytelling, with biographical and bibliographical information, full text, exhibitions and rich online content. Blackwords is hosted by this database.

Reading Australia - First Nations text list by Copyright Agency

A list of curated First Nations books including key details

Indigenous Referencing Guidance for Indigenous Knowledges

Referencing Toolkit authored by Indigenous Archive Collective

Indigenous Knowledges Attribution Toolkit Version 2

This resource was created by the Indigenous Archives Collective (IAC) and funded by CAVAL. It is the second edition of the resource that was previously known as the Indigenous Referencing Guidance for Indigenous Knowledges.

SBS Learn - Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Histories & Cultures

SBS Learn provides Australian Curriculum aligned learning resources for teachers and educators.

First Nations Language Resources

Endangered languages project

The Endangered Languages Project (ELP) is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization supporting the revitalization of Indigenous and endangered languages around the world. ELP brings people together across borders and boundaries to address the urgent issue of language endangerment. 

First Languages Australia

First Languages Australia is the national peak body working to ensure the strength of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. We support a network of language centres, community programs and industry partners covering the whole of Australia, and all of our efforts are designed to have both immediate and longstanding impact on the future of our languages.

Gambay: First Languages Map

First Languages Australia – offers information on Indigenous languages and often links to local language centres as a point of contact for language advice – working with regional language centres nationally to develop a map of Australia’s first languages that reflects the names and groupings favoured by community. Teachers’ notes have been compiled to assist teaching about Australia’s first languages across the curriculum.

Indigenous Languages and Arts program Language centres list

Links to list of government supported network of Indigenous Language Centres through the ILA program

Indigenous Language Data (ILD) Portal

Over 840 Index entries for Indigenous Language Datasets and respositories

Indigeneous Literacy Foundation

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation was founded by Suzy Wilson, owner of Riverbend Books in Brisbane. In 2004, Suzy launched the Riverbend Readers’ Challenge, with the aim of raising funds to improve literacy outcomes in remote Australia.

Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages

The Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages is a digital archive of endangered literature in Australian Indigenous languages of the Northern Territory.

Nyingarn

Nyingarn makes manuscript sources of Australian Indigenous languages available as searchable and reusable text documents to support language revitalisation

Papunya Readers

The Papunya readers were bilingual educational books created by the Papunya community between 1979 and 1990 to share local stories, language, and culture. The National Library of Australia has digitised 350 readers and made them available on Trove.

UOM Research unit of Indigenous Languages

The Research Unit for Indigenous Language (RUIL) work with Indigenous communities across Australia and the region to expand and strengthen Indigenous language research, and to support efforts by communities to maintain their linguistic and cultural heritage.

The Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages

The Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages is the peak body for Aboriginal Languages revitalization in the state of Victoria, leaders in the field of Language Revitalization, Resources Development, Research, and the archival, development, Aboriginal Language Library and Aboriginal languages digital information.

Key Groups

ALIA Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Expert Group

The ALIA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Expert Group (ATSIEG) advises the ALIA Board on matters and engagement relating to Indigenous colleagues in the library and information sector in Australia, and seeks to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices from the sector and across Australia are better heard. 

ALIA The Reparative Description Community of Practice (RDCoP)

The Reparative Description Community of Practice (RDCoP) is an informal group to encourage discussion on technical aspects of reparative description practices in library and archives, and share effective practice on working with Indigenous people and community on reparative description in libraries and archives across Australasia. The role of the CoP may over time move focus to include other groups where updated description practices are required.

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies tell the story of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia and create opportunities for people to encounter, engage and be transformed by that story.

Australian Publishing Association- First Nations Publishing Resources

The Australian Publishing Association (APA) has compiled this collection of resources to help publishers and others engage respectfully with Indigenous creators, communities and stories.

Common Ground

Common Ground builds on existing community power to strengthen the stories we tell ourselves and others, so we can reimagine stronger futures. Futures that are grounded in reciprocity, justice and truth-telling.

Gellung Warl

Gellung Warl includes the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, the democratically-elected group of Traditional Owners representing and making decisions on behalf of First Peoples across Victoria.

Indigenous Archives Collective

Connecting people working with Indigenous knowledge sources in Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums

Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Resources by Terri Janki and Company

A range of written resources related to Intellectual and Cultural Property (ICIP)

Koorie Heritage Trust

The KHT at Federation Square takes Koorie peoples, cultures and communities from the literal and figurative fringes of Melbourne to a place that is a central meeting and gathering place for all Victorians.

NAIDOC

NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920′s which sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Reconciliation Australia

Reconciliation Australia’s vision is for a just, equitable and reconciled Australia. Our purpose is to inspire and enable all Australians to contribute to the reconciliation of the nation.

Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council

As a Council of Traditional Owners, we are committed to strengthening pride and knowledge held by Aboriginal people across Victoria

Yoorook Justice Commission

The Yoorrook Justice Commission was Victoria’s and Australia’s first formal truth-telling inquiry into historic and ongoing systemic injustices perpetrated against First Peoples through colonisation, led by First Peoples.

Library Resources

ATSILIRN Protocols for Libraries, Archives and Information Services

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Protocols for Libraries, Archives and Information Services (hereafter the Protocols) was published in 1995 by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). The Protocols were endorsed by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library, Information and Resource Network (ATSILIRN).

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander biographical index

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Biographical Index (ABI) is compiled by an indexer who reads through books from the AIATSIS collection and creates records for the names of people mentioned in them. The items indexed cover the whole of Australia, including Tasmania and the Torres Strait.

APO - First Peoples and Public Policy

APO is an open access evidence platform – making public policy research and resources accessible and useable.

Austlang

AustLang is an internationally recognised online database of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.

First Australians on Trove

Collection of people and organisations that have been catalogued as relevant to First Australian peoples by Trove Partner organisations across Australia. 

First Nations metadata

This metadata is essential for ensuring books by and about First Nations people are accurately classified, discoverable, and accessible to readers. It plays a key role in the book industry, supporting booksellers, libraries, and publishers in connecting stories to the right audiences. 

Guidelines for First Nations collection description

The Guidelines are intended for a broad range of staff who work in libraries and archives and may include volunteers, client services, metadata specialists, archivists, records managers, librarians, and digital services. The Guidelines are to assist libraries and archives as they transform their approaches towards creating reparative descriptions for materials created by or containing information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.

Indigenous Scholars you should know

The following interviews with Indigenous Scholars You Should Know cast a spotlight on current Australian First Nations scholarship: highlighting emerging methodologies, reflecting upon experiences within academia, and unpacking some of the ideas informing these important projects. The diverse fields and varied career stages of the interviewees echo the breadth of outputs being produced by First Nations academics.

Translated Resources

Acknowledgement of Country in your language

Read and listen to the Acknowledgement of Country in your language on SBS website.

Acknowledgement of Country in 51 languages

Publishers

Aboriginal Studies Press

Aboriginal Studies Press (ASP) aims to be one of Australia’s leading publishers in First Nations non-fiction and children’s picture books. We want to create a place for projects that may not have found a home elsewhere, while supporting authors and narratives that capture and uplift Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories.

Batchelor Institute Press

The teaching and learning resources developed at Batchelor Institute are produced primarily for Indigenous Australian students living in remote communities, the majority of whom have English as a second or third language. The content of these resources has been developed by community elders, students and teaching staff with many years experience in ESL, distance learning and curriculum development.

Black Ink Press

Indigenous community-based publishing venture based in North Queensland, and specialising in illustrated books for young readers.

Bundyi (Simon and Schuster)

Bundyi, a Wiradyuri word meaning ‘to share with me’, will focus on cultivating First Nations talent in the industry by publishing First Nations authors, edited and designed by First Nations people. In her role as Publisher at Large, Anita Heiss will commission across fiction and non-fiction. Bundyi publications will be written, edited and designed by First Nations people.

Freemantle Press - First Nations & Diverse list

Fremantle Press is an independent book publisher, based in Western Australia. Supplier list of First Nations books

Hardie Grant - First Nations inprints

Features works by Indigenous authors that explore culture, history, and contemporary issues, offering readers a deeper understanding of Australia’s First Nations communities.

IAD Press

IAD Press supports the Aboriginal people of central Australia to write, design, produce and publish works on their language, culture, history, land and arts.

Indigneous Literacy Foundation

Bilingual and multilingual books written and illustrated by remote Indigenous Communities, in languages of their choice. Collections relevant from 0+ readers with audio.

Keeaira Press

A distinguished publishing house based in Queensland, Australia. Since its establishment in 1996 by Michael Aird, Keeaira Press has been dedicated to recording and sharing aspects of Aboriginal history and culture. Our publications often feature art, photography and history. Although we are no longer actively publishing new titles, our website offers an extensive range of stock, including a curated selection of rare and hard-to-find books.

Magabala Books

Magabala Books is Australia’s leading Indigenous publishing house. Aboriginal owned and led, we celebrate and nurture the talent and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices.

Monash University Publishing - Indigenous Studies

Monash University Publishing is a leading university publisher that shapes critical conversations across Australia, the Asia-Pacific and beyond. 

Our Yarning

Our Yarning is a free library of books and educational resources created by and for First Nations people. Our Yarning aims to address the disproportionate impact of illiteracy and low education attainment among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

UQP - First Nations publications

UQP is known for publishing literary works, poetry and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories.

UWAP - First Nations list

A division of The University of Western Australia, UWAP has been publishing since 1935

Suppliers

AIATSIS shop

The AIATSIS shop sells books, posters, maps, apps, CDs and DVDs about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, history and cultures

ANTAR shop

ANTAR shop sells books by First Nations authors and illustrators, historical and children’s titles, Land Acknowledgement plaques, T-shirts, stickers and maps.

Blackbooks

BlackBooks is a curated platform dedicated to celebrating and elevating Black literature, thought, and culture. We provide access to a diverse collection of books by Black authors across genres, amplifying voices that have shaped and continue to shape the world.

Dymocks - First Nations Voices

At Dymocks, we love to celebrate and nuture the talent and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices. Recognise and discover the cultural significance and contribution to Australian literature by exploring our range of fiction, children’s, social history and poetry books by new and emerging First Nations writers.

Indigenous Literacy Foundation Shop

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation publishes books written in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Readings - First Nations Children's and YA

Book supplier based in Melbourne – list of First Nations Children’s and YA books

Readings - First Nations Voices

Readings is an independent retailer of books and music, with nine shops operating in Melbourne.

Red Kangaroo Books

An independent bookshop in the remote town of Alice Springs, offers a collection of works in a wide range of Aboriginal languages, including Arrernte, Pitjantjatjara, Pintupi-Luritja, Warlpiri, and more, spanning children’s stories, fiction, and academic texts.