The National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) has commended the Federal Government for renewing the funding of Australia’s cultural institutions, which it says will “turbocharge” discoverability and access to the national collection.
The NFSA is one of nine institutions that will share $535.3 million across four years in a commitment that will form part of the upcoming budget.
It comes nearly two years after the previous government announced $79.9 million of additional support across eight cultural institutions as part of the 2021 Budget.
In that same year, an additional $41.9 million was allocated to the NFSA across four years to assist with video and audio digitisation efforts.
CEO Patrick McIntyre said the increased funding would allow the NFSA to realise its vision as a “contemporary digital institution connecting all Australians to the national story through the objects in our collection”.
“We are currently ramping up the digitisation of the collection for long-term preservation, especially those items on obsolete and deteriorating formats,” he said.
“We can now proceed with the next phases of our strategic plan, which are firstly to create tools that make this increasingly digital collection searchable for all Australians, and then to make it more accessible through new online and offline services, such as streaming.
“The NFSA is complementing its traditional strengths in heritage forms with a full engagement with the digital culture of today, including videogames and social media.
“The new funding will allow us to keep pace with the increased costs of doing business, but also – and most importantly – it will address the very real decline in resources that has taken place over a decade or more.”
The other institutions to benefit from the funding include the Australian National Maritime Museum, Bundanon Trust, Museum of Australian Democracy (Old Parliament House), National Archives of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, National Museum of Australia, and the National Portrait Gallery of Australia.
The government is also acting to secure the future of the National Library’s digital archive Trove with $33 million over four years.
Arts Minister Tony Burke said the funding would get the institutions “back to where they should be”, in terms of the government delivering strong core funding and philanthropists taking them to the next level.
“This funding means people will be able to go to places like the National Gallery of Australia and enjoy the exhibits without worrying about the physical integrity of the building that’s housing them,” he said.