Policies and guidelines
Guidelines for Accessing Sensitive Collections – State Library of New South Wales (2021)
"It is important for the Library to help people access information about themselves and their cultural heritage. At the same time we need to ensure that we have guidelines to protect personal information and culturally sensitive information. These guidelines include information on how to identify these collections and how to go about seeking access."
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections commitments – State Library of Queensland (2019)
These commitments provide a foundation for State Library to appropriately enable greater access and use of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections.
Working with Indigenous data – ANDS
Data that pertains to Indigenous peoples is a complex legal and ethical terrain. Whether it is cultural, linguistic, medical or otherwise, such data usually needs to be managed and shared with care. Data may need to have access mediated under specific conditions relating, but this should not be a barrier to the proper handling and care.
National Museum of Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander secret/sacred and private material policy (v2.3, 2019)
Words Matter: An unfinished guide to word choices in the cultural sector – Wayne Modest and Robin Lelijveld (Research Center for Material Culture, 2018)
"Words and the norms around language are constantly changing. Being aware of why and how these changes come about is important if we are to be inclusive institutions." This guide includes a list of words, an explanation of why a particular word is considered sensitive or contested, and alternative terms that may be used.
Articles and presentations
The management of restricted Aboriginal objects by the National Museum of Australia – Davis Kaus (reCollections journal, 2008)
The National Museum of Australia holds a sizeable collection of Aboriginal ethnographic objects that cannot be placed in the public domain because of strong cultural proscriptions on their use, display and viewing. This article outlines how the museum manages its restricted collections and the mechanics of their management and repatriation.
Aboriginal histories in Australian government archives: Working with records of trauma by Kirsten Thorpe and Cassandra Willis (Los Angeles Archivists Collective, 2020)
This article shares the authors' experiences of using government records that were "deeply racist and often contained within them atrocities and crimes against humanity" in their work with the New South Wales Aboriginal Trust Fund Repayment Scheme from 2005–2011.
List of statements on bias in library and archives description – Cataloging Lab (2020)
A compilation of statements from libraries and archives on harmful or offensive language in description and bias in cataloging.