Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, publishing, and research institute and is considered to be Australia's premier resource for information about the cultures and societies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Established
The institute is a leader in ethical research and the handling of culturally sensitive material. The collection at AIATSIS has been built through over 50 years of research and engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and is now a source of language and culture revitalisation, native title research, and Indigenous family and community history. AIATSIS is located on Acton Peninsula in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
History[edit]
The proposal and interim council (1959–1964)[edit]
In the late 1950s, there was an increasing focus on the global need for anthropological research into 'disappearing cultures'.[2][3] This trend was also emerging in Australia in the work of researchers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,[4][5] leading to a proposal by W.C. Wentworth MP for the conception of an Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1959.[6]
The proposal was made as a submission to Cabinet,[7] and argued for a more comprehensive approach by the Australian Government to the recording of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures.[8]
In 1960, a Cabinet sub-committee assessed the proposal[9] and formed a working party at the Australian National University (ANU) to consider the viability of the proposal. One of their first actions was to appoint W.E.H. Stanner to organise a conference on the state of Aboriginal Studies in Australia,[7] to be held in 1961 at the ANU.
Academics and anthropologists in the field of Aboriginal Studies attended the conference,[7] and contributed research papers published in a conference report in 1963.[10] No Aboriginal people were present at the conference.[6]
The Prime Minister at the time, Robert Menzies, appointed an Interim Council in 1961. The role of the Interim Council was to plan for a national Aboriginal research organisation and establish how this organisation would interact with existing research and scientific bodies.[6] The Interim Council was also tasked with immediately developing a programme that would identify and address urgent research needs.[11]
The Interim Council consisted of 16 members and was chaired by Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the ANU, Professor A. D. Trendall,[6] officially recognised as the first chair of the institute now known as AIATSIS.[12]
In August 1962, a draft constitution for the institute was submitted to the Menzies government, and rejected. The Interim Council completed a revised constitution in July 1963. Amendments to the document included the change from the title 'director' to 'principal' of the institute.
This version of the constitution would go on to form the basis for the creation of the new Australian Institute for Aboriginal Studies the following year.[6]
AIAS early years (1964–1970)[edit]
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies was established as a statutory authority[7][13] under an Act of Parliament in June 1964.[14][15] The mission of the Institute at that time has been described as "to record language, song, art, material culture, ceremonial life and social structure before those traditions perished in the face of European ways".[16]
This notion is also reflected in the Institute's official functions, as recorded in the Reading of the Bill in Parliament. These were:
Governance[edit]
Acts of parliament[edit]
AIATSIS is an Australian Government statutory authority established under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. As of 2024 it is under the portfolio of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Hon Linda Burney, Minister for Indigenous Australians, is the responsible minister.[67]
The organisation operates under several acts of parliament, the most important of which are the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Act 1989, which established the purpose and functions of AIATSIS, and a 2016 amendment, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Amendment Act 2016.[67][68]
The main functions of AIATSIS under the Act are:[69]
Research[edit]
Overview[edit]
The AIATSIS Act sets the organisation the task of conducting, facilitating and promoting research in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and training Indigenous researchers.[69] For over 50 years, AIATSIS has conducted research across a range of areas of study relevant to Indigenous peoples, culture, heritage, knowledge and experiences.[83][84] This has led to a diverse research history; from languages and archaeological research, land rights, and political engagement, to contemporary topics in health and commerce.[85][86]
The AIATSIS collections not only contain priceless records of Australia's Indigenous cultural heritage,[87][88] but provide a significant national and international research infrastructure for research by, for and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.[89][90]
AIATSIS is one of Australia's Publicly Funded Research Agencies (PFRA), alongside organisations such as CSIRO and the Australian Institute of Marine Science. AIATSIS is Australia's only non-science PFRA.[91]
Currently AIATSIS undertakes research in six priority areas.