The National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia is a program to promote and celebrate the nation’s sound heritage.

It has three components:

• National Registry of Recorded Sound
• Thomas Rome Lecture
• NFSA Cochrane Smith Award for Sound Heritage

National Registry of Recorded Sound [edit]

The Registry was launched in February 2007 with a foundation list of ten. Each year, 10 new sound recordings are added to the Registry in recognition of their cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance.

2012 Additions [edit]

• 1903—1910 – The Black Watch^[1] — Percy Herford
• 1927—1932 – Sydney recordings^[2] - Queenie and David Kaili
• 1946—1970 – Grace Gibson Productions’ radio serials^[3] — Various artists
• 1963 – Royal Telephone^[4] — Jimmy Little
• 1963—1997 – The Luise Hercus Collection,^[5] AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive — Dr Luise A Hercus (creator)
• 1966 – Patrol from Da Nang^[6] — Tim Bowden
• 1972 – A Track Winding Back^[7] — Barry Humphries AO CBE and Dick Bentley
• 1975 – It’s A Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)^[8] — AC/DC
• 1988 – Tender Prey^[9] — Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
• 2001 – Aether^[10] — The Necks

2011 Additions [edit]

• 1898 – The Recordings of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits^[11] — Alfred Cort Haddon and others
• 1927 – The Sailors^[12] — Stiffy & Mo
• 1941 – Ken Howard calling the Melbourne Cup^[13] — Ken Howard MBE
• 1943 – The maiden parliamentary speeches of Dame Enid Lyons^[14] and Dame Dorothy Tangney^[15] — Dame Enid Lyons and Dame Dorothy Tangney
• 1960 – The Art of the Prima Donna^[16] — Dame Joan Sutherland
• 1964 – I’ll Never Find Another You^[17] — The Seekers
• 1974 – Living in the 70s^[18] — Skyhooks
• 1974 – Cyclone Tracy, Darwin^[19] — ABC Radio
• 1987 – I Should Be So Lucky^[20] — Kylie Minogue
• 1987 – Voss^[21] — Richard Meale

2010 Additions [edit]

• 1928 – Hinkler’s Message to Australia/Incidents of My Flight^[22] – Bert Hinkler
• 1936 – Wrap Me Up In My Stockwhip and Blanket^[23] – Tex Morton
• 1939 – The announcement of the declaration of World War II^[24] – Prime Minister Hon. Robert Menzies
• 1941 – The announcement of war with Japan^[25] – Prime Minister Hon. John Curtin
• 1959 – Bye Bye Baby^[26] – Col Joye
• 1948–1962 – Pick A Box^[27] – Bob Dyer
• 1971 – Just the Beginning^[28] – Don Burrows Quartet
• 1971 – Eagle Rock^[29] – Daddy Cool
• 1973 – Opening concert of the Sydney Opera House^[30] – Sir Charles Mackerras/Sydney Symphony Orchestra/Birgit Nilsson
• 1980 – The 4×100 Medley Relay Final at the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics^[31] – Norman May
• 1987 – Rebetika Songs^[32] – Apodimi Compania
• 1983 – We Are Going^[33] – Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker)
• 1991 – From Little Things Big Things Grow^[34] – Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody
• 1992 – Paul Keating’s Redfern Park Speech^[35] – Paul Keating

2009 Additions [edit]

• 1924 – London recordings^[36] – Newcastle Steelworks Band, conductor Albert Baile
• 1954 – The Vegemite Jingle^[37]
• 1955 – The Adventure of the Singing Bullet^[38] – Smoky Dawson
• 1958 – My Country^[39] – Dorothea Mackellar
• 1962 – Georgia Lee Sings the Blues Down Under^[40] – Georgia Lee
• 1966 – In the Head the Fire^[41] – Nigel Butterley
• 1968 – Lionel Rose Wins the World Title^[42] – Ron Casey
• 1972 – I Am Woman^[43] – Helen Reddy
• 1973 – The Loner^[44] – Vic Simms
• 1991 – Treaty^[45] – Yothu Yindi

2008 Additions [edit]

• 1919 – Country Gardens^[46] – Percy Grainger
• 1927 – Waltzing Matilda^[47] – John Collinson
• 1930 – The 1930 Australian XI: Winners of the Ashes^[48] – Sir Donald Bradman
• 1938 – The Aeroplane Jelly Song^[49] – Joy King
• 1949 – Theme from Blue Hills^[50] – New Century Orchestra
• 1957 – Pub With No Beer^[51] – Slim Dusty
• 1967 – Irkanda IV^[52] – Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
• 1968 – Bird and Animal Calls of Australia^[53] – Harold J Pollock
• 1972 – Most People I know (Think That I’m Crazy)^[54] – Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs
• 1981 – We Have Survived^[55] – No Fixed Address

2007 Additions [edit]

• 1899 – Fanny Cochrane Smith’s Tasmanian Aboriginal songs^[56] – Horace Watson
• 1910 – My South Polar Expedition^[57] – Ernest Shackleton
• 1937 – Dad and Dave from Snake Gully (Radio Series)^[58] – George Edward Players
• 1943 – The Majestic Fanfare (ABC radio news theme)^[59] – Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra
• 1950 – Maranoa Lullaby^[60] – Harold Blair
• 1950 – Corroboree^[61] – John Antill and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
• 1953 – Jack Luscombe interview^[62] – interviewed by John Meredith
• 1966 – Friday On My Mind^[63] – The Easybeats
• 1976 – (I’m) Stranded^[64] – The Saints
• 1983 – Jailanguru Pakarnu^[65] – The Warumpi Band

2007 Foundation List [edit]

• 1897 – The Hen Convention^[66] – Thomas Rome
• 1904 – Chant Vénitien^[67] – Dame Nellie Melba
• 1915 – The Landing of the Australian Troops in Egypt^[68] – Zonophone
• 1931 – Along the Road to Gundagai^[69] – Peter Dawson
• 1939 – Give A Little Credit to Your Dad; Lonesome For Your Mother Dear^[70] – Buddy Williams
• 1944 – Swanston St Shamble; Two Day Jag^[71] – Graeme Bell
• 1953 – Tribal Music of Australia^[72] – A P Elkin
• 1960 – She’s My Baby^[73] Johnny O’Keefe
• 1975 – 'Kerr’s cur’ speech^[74] – Prime Minister Hon. Gough Whitlam
• 1981 – Down Under^[75] – Men at Work

Selection criteria [edit]

• Recordings must be at least ten years old to be nominated
• Recordings are assessed on their cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance, and how they inform or reflect life in Australia
• For the purposes of the Registry, 'sound recordings’ are defined as works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sound component of a moving image work, unless it is available as a stand alone sound recording or is the only surviving component of the work
• Recordings may be a single item or group of related items; published or unpublished; and may contain music, spoken word, or any other sound
• Recordings do not have to be part of the National Film and Sound Archive’s National Recorded Sound Collection.

Sounds of Australia Patrons [edit]

Each year the NFSA board appoints a highly recognisable public figure with a strong professional and/or personal commitment to Australia’s heritage of recorded sound as Sounds of Australia patron.

2012 - David Bridie, musician and producer.

2011 - Richard Gill, conductor and educator.

2010 - Joy McKean, singer, writer and musician.

2009 - Robyn Archer AO, , singer, writer, artistic director and public advocate for the arts.

2008 - Renée Geyer, ARIA Hall of Fame inductee and iconic 'first lady of soul’.

2007 - Paul Grabowsky, musician and composer and Dr Peter Sculthorpe AO OBE, composer.

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Sounds of Australia Registry on the Museum Metadata Exchange
• “Cooee Sounds of Australia Comes to Coffs” on ABC local Radio
• “Redfern Speech enters ‘Sounds of Australia’” on ABC Radio
• Sounds of Australia Registry on the Australian Media History Database
• Sounds of Australia nomination form.