In the global archival sector, "co-design" is frequently discussed but rarely interrogated as a force for institutional change. For the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), the journey toward a First Nations-led collaborative model began with a profound challenge: the preservation and repatriation of the Strehlow Collection. Containing highly sensitive, men’s-only sacred ceremonies recorded in Central Australia between 1932 and 1975, the collection’s preservation was a technical necessity but a cultural challenge.
This paper argues that the Strehlow project served as the pivotal milestone that transformed the NFSA’s own professional practice. By moving beyond the traditional model of "custodianship," the NFSA worked with the Traditional Owners to build a truly collaborative framework to appropriately preserve, digitise and repatriate the material on Country. Embedded in the process was deep respect and observation of cultural protocols, governed by a dedicated Men’s Working Group. The work was centred around strict, community-guided cultural protocols, and culminated in the deployment of a "Digital Access Studio" in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) to ensure on-Country control.
Critically, this model has not remained static. Drawing on the FIAT/IFTA theme of mutual learning, the NFSA iteratively evolved its approach—from the early lessons of the Strehlow project to further collaborations with First Nations communities across Australia. This includes a multi-year project to digitise and repatriate the archive of the Torres Strait Islander Media Association – a collection that holds decades of audiovisual material of significance to communities across the Torres Strait.
By analysing this evolution, the paper demonstrates how audiovisual archives can become true spaces of exchange, where institutional technical expertise and ancient cultural authority meet to create a more ethical, resilient, and collaborative archival future.
