Return of Materials to Indigenous Communities (ROMTIC)

For many years the AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive has provided free copies of audio recordings, video recordings and photographs to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients through its ROMTIC (Return of Material to Indigenous Clients) program.

We are pleased to announce an increasing amount of material is now available through ROMTIC in digital form.

Contact the AIATSIS Audiovisual Access Unit to see if we have material that relates to your family, language or country. You can obtain up to 20 items for personal use free of charge.

The material

The AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive holds photographs and 'rough' unpublished sound and video recordings of languages, songs, ceremonies and oral histories submitted by academics, families and Indigenous organisations from all over the country. While the quality of the material is variable, most of it is unique and irreplaceable, and the copies you obtain may become an important and treasured part of your family collection.

The Audiovisual Access Unit can prepare a list of relevant items for you—just let us know what kind of material you are looking for. You can also search the Mura catalogue to see what is available.

Copyright, privacy and cultural ownership

A lot of the material held by the AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive carries personal, ceremonial or copyright restrictions and can only be copied once permissions have been obtained. We will prepare a complete list of relevant material for you and provide advice about obtaining permissions.

More information

AIATSIS recognises the importance of providing copies of audiovisual material to the communities from which they originated. However, we are unable to provide free copies of large amounts of archival material to every client due to limited financial and human resources. In an attempt to address this, Indigenous clients may obtain copies of up to 20 items that relate specifically to their language group or their family, free of charge. This applies to digital audio recordings, digital scans of photographic items and digital video.  Above this cap, normal access processing costs apply. Clients may decide to stay below the 20 item quota to avoid paying any fees.

Some materials are not available through ROMTIC, specifically audio, film and video materials which have not been copied to a preservation medium.