LibGuides: Australian Indigenous Studies: Resources

Key Databases

Searching in databases is a great way to ensure you're getting the best possible search results. Try these databases to find resources that are most relevant to your discipline.

Informit Indigenous collection This link opens in a new window
This collection contains specialist journals, conference papers, reports, magazines, eBooks and grey literature on Indigenous Australian people and issues unavailable elsewhere online. Some full-text.
Warning: The records in this database may contain names and/or images of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
BlackWords This link opens in a new window
Indigenous creative writing, film, television, criticism and scholarly work by and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers, and literary and storytelling cultures.
Learning Ground Indigenous Education Research Database This link opens in a new window
Database of national and international publications focusing on Indigenous education. Encompasses areas such as cultural diversity, parent and community engagement, wellbeing, identity and oral language.
Sociology Source Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Subjects include gender identity, marriage and family, to demographics, political sociology, religion and socio-cultural anthropology. Some full text.
Social science journals (Proquest) This link opens in a new window
Access to journal articles covering a range of topics including gender, minority studies and activism.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Archival access to scholarly journals published in the Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences.

Click here to access all databases the University of Newcastle subscribes to.

History, news and culture

Companion to Australian Aboriginal Literature
Australian Aboriginal literature, once relegated to the margins of Australian literary studies, now receives both national and international attention.
Aboriginal placenames naming and re-naming the Australian landscape
The 19 studies brought together in this book present an overview of current issues involving Indigenous placenames across the whole of Australia, drawing on the disciplines of geography, linguistics, history, and anthropology. They include meticulous studies of historical records, and perspectives stemming from contemporary Indigenous communities.

Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Collection of reference material including encyclopaedia, dictionaries and other reference books.

Aboriginal Dreamtime of the Hunter Region
Guide to the Aboriginal Collections held in Cultural Collections UON. Records of local Koori or Goori culture and traditions, Hunter Valley rock art and weapons from the estate of the late Percy Haslam.
Virtual Sourcebook for Aboriginal Studies in the Hunter Region
Guide created to assist the Awaba project, a collaborative venture by the University of Newcastle's School of Liberal Arts and the Wollotuka School of Aboriginal Studies.

ClickView This link opens in a new window
Streaming video solution offering access to thousands of educational videos and resources covering a broad range of topics, as well as TV programs recorded in the last 14 days from free-to-air digital channels.
Kanopy Video Streaming This link opens in a new window
Streaming films, documentaries and training videos. New releases daily.

First Nations Speaker Series
Listen to, and engage with, a range of presenters who will discuss First Nations heritage, history and culture and issues affecting people today. Presented by GML Heritage, Sydney Living Museums and the Research Centre for Deep History at the Australian National University.
Bush School
The gold mine has closed and Warrego has become a ghost town so the local primary school will have to close. To keep his school going the principal, Colin Baker, has found that the way to encourage children from a remote Aboriginal community to come to the school is by agreeing to teach them to ride horses. Warning: this program may cause distress to members of the Aboriginal community as it may contain images or voices of deceased persons.
"The First Australians" SBS
Chronicles the birth of contemporary Australia as never told before, from the perspective of its first people.

National Archives of Australia
Responsible for caring for the most significant records received, created or kept by government agencies.
Australian Historic Newspapers (Trove)
Australian newspaper archives 1803 - 2007
NSW State Archives and Records
The State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales (NSW State Archives and Records) is one of Australia’s pre-eminent Archives and Records Authorities with a vast collection of historical records and archives dating back to the European settlement of Australia in 1788.
National Film and Sound Archive
Australia’s audiovisual archive, collecting, preserving and sharing film, documentaries and oral histories
Indigenous Archives Collective
The Indigenous Archives Collective connects people working with Indigenous knowledge sources in galleries, libraries, archives and museums.

ACER - Indigenous Education
An independent body that works collaboratively with Indigenous learners and communities undertaking research to inform policy, programs and practices to support improved outcomes for Indigenous learners.
Aussie Educator: Indigenous Education
Provides information and links to a range of education resources related to Indigenous education in Australian states and territories.

AIHW - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - Indigenous Australians
Authoritative information and statistics to promote better Indigenous health and wellbeing.
Lowitja Institute
Australia’s national institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research

Aboriginal Languages of Australia - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages
Provides links to 370 resources for 128 Indigenous Australian languages.
AUSTLANG - Australian Indigenous Languages Database
Information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages including: alternative/variant names and spellings, history of the number of speakers, geographical distribution, resources and documentation.
Australian Society for Indigenous Languages
Online access to dictionaries in Aboriginal languages developed to document and preserve Australian languages for future generations.
Aussie Educator: Indigenous Languages
This page gives access to information about Indigenous languages, resources, curriculum offerings, community sites, government sites and studies.

Koori mail : the fortnightly national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander newspaper
Print copies of the Koori Mail are held for the current year.
Koori Mail Online
Free online archive of the Koori Mail, Australia’s fortnightly national Indigenous newspaper. Full-text issues of this newspaper may be downloaded in pdf format from 1991 to 9 months ago.
National Indigenous Television Service (NITV)
National Indigenous Television (NITV) is a channel made by, for and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
ABC Indigenous News
Up to date news stories from the ABC website on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues.

ANZ Newsstand (Proquest) This link opens in a new window
Full text of major Australian and New Zealand newspapers. Includes regional and rural radio transcripts and news from current affairs television programs such as the ABC 7.30 Report.
Capital Monitor This link opens in a new window
Provides Australian parliamentary, political, legislative, regulatory and judicial news and information.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
Australian statistics and census data.
ABS: Sources about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Analysed data and publications from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
ABS: Historical Publications
Historical census and statistics data and publications.
Historical and Colonial Census Data Archive (HCCDA)
A searchable archive of Australian Colonial census publications and reports. It is a sub-archive of the Australian Data Archive (ADA). Please note that the archive contains colonial census reports and not the raw census data.
Early Australian Census Records - State Library of Victoria
Australian census records from 1788 to 1901.

Let us know what you want

Is there anything more you would like us to include in this guide? Let us know by going to our Feedback page and we will do our very best to add the resources you want.

Did you know that there are many great textbooks and resources that are available for free?

Open Educational Resources (OER) are defined by UNESCO as

“… teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions....”

The following textbooks are examples of resources suited for Australian Indigenous studies that are 100% free and available for you to use during your degree and beyond!

Community-Led Research: Walking New Pathways Together by Victoria Rawlings, James Flexner and Lynette Riley
ISBN: 9781743327579
Publication Date: 2021
On Aboriginal Religion by W.E.H. Stanner
ISBN: 9781743323885
Publication Date: 2014
For the Sake of a Song: Wangga Songmen and their Repertories by Allan Marett, Linda Barwick, and Lysbeth Ford
ISBN: 9781920899752
Publication Date: 2013

For information about OER's, please see our guide.

Merlot
Includes a range of freely available courses, texts and learning exercises. Search by discipline to find relevant resources.
edX
Includes courses from Australian and international universities, plus lecture notes, reading lists, open access textbooks and other related course materials.
Academic Earth
Academic Earth was launched on the premise that everyone deserves access to a world-class education. It includes links to a range of freely available tertiary level courses.

eBook and reference works

Aboriginal Australians: A History since 1788 by Richard Broome
Publication Date: 2010
The Languages and Linguistics of Australia by Harold Koch (Editor); Rachel Nordlinger (Editor)
Publication Date: 2014
Indigenous self-determination in Australia: histories and historiography by Laura Rademaker and Tim Rowse
Publication Date: 2020

Other Library Collections

Use these links to access free resources from the NSW State Library and the Australia National Library.

State Library of NSW
Free registration for NSW residents. Provides access to Journal and Newspaper Databases.
National Library of Australia
Free registration for Australian residents. Provides access to Journals and Newspaper Databases.