The Northern Territory Government is supporting the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) to establish a presence in Alice Springs that includes a partnership with First Nations Media Australia (FNMA).
Two vacant retail premises in the Todd Mall are set to be transformed into an access and community engagement office that will include an exhibition space to make collections held by AIATSIS more widely accessible to the public.
The centre will also feature an area dedicated to the protection and preservation of historical collections. State-of-the-art electronic digitisation and information storage equipment will enable the compilation of a cultural heritage compendium.
Based in Canberra, AIATSIS houses a collection of films, photographs, audio recordings, art, artefacts, and resource materials that tell the story of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Visitors to the Alice Springs centre will be able to access the same digitised collections that are currently exclusively available at the AIATSIS Reading Room in the ACT.
Central Australian locals employed at the centre will receive archives and records management training.
The Government is contributing $250,000 per annum for five years towards the facility. AIATSIS has committed $14 million over five years, including establishment, capital investment, and operations while Yeperenye, the owner of the building on the corner of Parsons Street and the Todd Mall, has planned a $1 million capital spend to refurbish and refit the space.
