Discovering Our Past

Aboriginal Services

On This Page

• Records and Aboriginal History
• Bringing Them Home - Report
• Access to Records
• Aboriginal Access Team
• Other Aboriginal Services
• Aboriginal Information Management System
• Cultural Sensitivity Warning
• Australian Society of Archivists - Statement

State Records of South Australia provides services to Aboriginal people in the spirit of Reconciliation and in recognition of their rights to access personal information held in government records.

The records of government hold much of the written history and experience of Aboriginal people because both State and Commonwealth Governments were responsible for the day-to-day administration of the affairs of Aboriginal people.

State Records holds many records that relate to Aboriginal people - see Records and Aboriginal History. These records can be used in relation to land claims and to trace family members.

The Aboriginal Access Team provides a number of services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities including personalised research assistance.

State Records has produced a brochure, Services to Aboriginal People, that outlines the services available to Aboriginal People, including contact details for the Aboriginal Access Team. This brochure can be downloaded using the link below.

Brochure on the services provided by State Records to Aboriginal people in the spirit of Reconciliation and in recognition of their rights to access personal information held in government records. Services to Aboriginal People (61 KB PDF File)

Records and Aboriginal History

Government records offer extensive information on the history and experience of Aboriginal and Islander people since European settlement. Awareness of Australia's history and recognition of our cultural diversity is essential to the process of reconciliation.

State Records of South Australia supports Indigenous people in the assertion of their rights to access records related to their history. This is necessary in order to preserve Aboriginal identity and survival. To facilitate identification and access to records State Records has developed indexes and other finding aids.

Related Information:

• Guides and Indexes for Aboriginal History

Bringing Them Home - Report

The Bringing Them Home - Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families recognised the crucial role records play in the process of reconciliation.

The 1997 report made a number of recommendations, some of which dealt with the treatment of records relating to Aboriginal people. The recommendations provided a way forward for Government and non-government agencies to improve access to records relating to Aboriginal people. State Records is committed to meeting all the relevant recommendations of the Bringing Them Home Report.

Key recommendations in the Report include:

Recommendation 21

That no records relating to Aboriginal individuals, families or community or to children, Aboriginal or otherwise, removed from their families for any reason, whether held by Government or non-Government agencies, be destroyed.

Recommendation 22a

That all Government record agencies be funded as a matter of urgency by the relevant Government to preserve and index records relating to Aboriginal individuals, families, and/or communities and records relating to all children, Aboriginal or otherwise, removed from their families for any reason.

Recommendation 22b

That indexes and other finding aids be developed and managed in a way that protects the privacy of individuals and, in particular, prevents the compilation of dossiers.

Recommendation 23

That the Commonwealth and each State and Territory Government establish and fund a Records Task Force constituted by representatives from Government and Church and other non-government agencies and Aboriginal user services.

Access to Records

The Aboriginal Access Team provides access to information where the information requested is located in an open or unrestricted record in State Records custody.

State Records is able to provide copies of records to individuals who are unable to visit one of our Research Centres. Research fees and copying fees will be waived for Aboriginal people who are seeking information for family re-unification purposes.

Access to the records is provided in the spirit of Reconciliation and in recognition of the rights of Aboriginal people to access personal information held in government records.

Related Information:

• Access to Official Records
• Visit a Research Centre
• Gepps Cross Research Centre
• City Research Centre and Training Facility

Aboriginal Access Team

The Aboriginal Access Team is able to assist you to access personal information contained in the records. The Aboriginal Access Team is committed to meeting all the relevant recommendations of the Bringing Them Home Report.

Members of the State Records Aboriginal Access Team:

• make themselves available to clients to discuss their research needs.
• conduct research on behalf of Aboriginal clients. Information requests may be made via phone, email, fax, SA Link-up, or in-person.
• assist with the sourcing of information for individuals researching Aboriginal family history.
• work closely with the SA Link-Up Program. The Link-up Program provides family tracing and reunion services to members of the 'stolen generation'.
• provide information on the process required to obtain access to restricted records.
• develop resources, including indexes, to make it quicker and easier to access records relating to Aboriginal people.
• promote the use of records of the South Australian Government relating to Aboriginal people.

Information provided by a client when consulting a member of State Records Aboriginal Access Team will be treated as confidential.

For further information please contact the Aboriginal Access Team.

Other Aboriginal Services

The role of the Aboriginal Access Team also includes:

• co-ordinating visits by Aboriginal groups to our Research Centres (by appointment)
• encouraging and assisting Aboriginal people to use State Records facilities for research purposes
• referring Aboriginal people to other sources of records relating to Aboriginal people
• liaising with similar institutions and community groups
• assisting researchers in such areas of Aboriginal interest as: Aboriginal Studies, Anthropology, Social and Political Studies, State History, Family History

An Aboriginal Access Officer is available at both our Research Centres.

For more details please contact the Aboriginal Access Team.

Related Information:

• Gepps Cross Research Centre
• City Research Centre and Training Facility

Aboriginal Information Management System

The Aboriginal Information Management System (AIMS) is a searchable database of names of Aboriginal people identified in South Australian Government records. The database is an important resource for Aboriginal people researching their personal, family and community histories.

The database includes tribal names, nicknames, age, sex, location, description of record, and the State Records' reference number. Every effort is being taken to protect sensitive information about individuals.

The earliest South Australian record references date from 1836. The database also identifies relevant references in Northern Territory Records to c.1911.

References for records in which individual Aboriginal people are named continue to be added to the database. The database currently holds over 100,000 entries.

A search of the AIMS database is available as a service via the Aboriginal Access Team.

The records relating to Aboriginal people held by State Records complement the South Australian Museum's Norman Tindale genealogical records and other records useful to Aboriginal people for family history research. Visit South Australian Museum Indigenous Information Centre for the Museum's Indigenous Information Centre and Aboriginal Family History Officer.

Cultural Sensitivity Warning

It is a condition of use of the State Records collection that researchers ensure any disclosure of information contained in the records is consistent with the views and sensitivities of Aboriginal people.

We warn that there may be words and descriptions that may be culturally sensitive and which might not normally be used in certain public or community contexts. Terms and annotations that reflect the attitude of the author or the period in which the item was written, may be considered inappropriate today.

Please be aware that in some Aboriginal communities, hearing or seeing names or seeing images of deceased persons might cause sadness or distress, particularly to the relatives of these people. Aboriginal people may also have prohibitions on who may see certain records based on the age, or sacred or sensitive status of information in them, as it may relate to individuals of any particular Aboriginal group.

Records in the State Records collection may be subject to access conditions imposed by Aboriginal communities and/or depositors. As a result, access to some records may be subject to terms and conditions that State Records is required to maintain.

Australian Society of Archivists - Statement

The following is an excerpt from the Australian Society of Archivists Policy Statement on Archival Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples:

'Archives and Archivists have a vital role to play in assisting the process of reconciliation...

Archives in Australia contain a storehouse of recorded knowledge relating to such matters as Aboriginal customs, traditions, genealogies, the experience of European invasion, and the imposition of foreign laws and administrative systems.

Archives have the opportunity and a responsibility to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to make maximum use of archival holdings and services.

The ASA [Australian Society Archivists] believes....we need to establish meaningful links with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This should be done by the use of consultative and liaison mechanisms.....and by facilitating the active participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in archival planning, decision making processes and in the operation of archival institutions.

Archives and Archivists....should be encouraged to employ, train and educate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.'

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