Sounds of Australia
How it Works
10 recordings will be added to the Registry each year, selected by a panel of experts from the recorded sound industry and cultural institutions. The panel is established by the NFSA and chaired by the NFSA's Director.
Paolo Cherchi Usai - Director, NFSA
2008 selection panel
- Paolo Cherchi Usai - Director, NFSA (Chair)
- Matthew Davies – Senior Curator, Recorded Sound, NFSA (Dep Chair)
- Kevin Bradley, National Library of Australia
- David Rentz, broadcaster and field recordist
- John Spence, ABC Radio Archives
- Grace Koch, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Studies
- Les Gock, musician
- Belinda Webster, Tall Poppies Records
- Kavisha Mazzella, musician
- Stuart Waters, Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR)
Nomination process
Public nominations will be accepted throughout each year for consideration in that year's selection process. Nominations are not automatically carried over from previous years but can be re-nominated.
Public nominations must be submitted on the prescribed Nomination Form, available from the NFSA and on its website. Individuals may submit up to three nominations per year.
Panel members may also nominate recordings.
Nominations should include enough information to enable identification and location of the recording, including artist(s) where relevant, and record label name/number for published recordings.
Nominations should consider the selection criteria below and include a brief justification.
Selection process
From the nominations, the panel will recommend ten recordings to the Chair of the Panel, NFSA Director Paolo Cherchi Usai, for inclusion in the 2008 Registry. The panel also has the option of recommending that nominated recordings be held over for consideration the following year.
Selection criteria
Recordings selected are those that are culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in Australia.
For the purposes of the Registry, 'sound recordings' are defined as works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sound component of a moving image work, unless it is available as an autonomous sound recording or is the only extant component of the work.
Recordings may be a single item or group of related items; published or unpublished; and may contain music, spoken word, or any other sound.
No recording is eligible for inclusion in Sounds of Australia until 20 years after the recording's creation.
Recordings do not have to be part of the NFSA's National Recorded Sound Collection.
