The registry is unique because it is a collaborative project with the Australian public. Each year, we invite people to nominate recordings that they believe define the Australian experience. A panel of industry experts and NFSA curators then selects the final 10 additions. To be eligible, a recording must be at least 10 years old, ensuring we have the historical distance to judge its lasting impact.

Our curatorial approach is intentionally broad, reflecting the staggering diversity of the Australian soundscape. We look for everything from the sounds of our natural environment to the voices of our most influential leaders. To date, the registry features nearly 200 recordings, spanning more than a century of audio history.

Milestones, music and daily life

The collection highlights our commitment to representing the full breadth of the Australian identity:

• Political and social milestones: We preserve the voices that defined our national character across the political spectrum and from diverse perspectives. This includes Sir Robert Menzies’ 1939 Declaration of War and Julia Gillard’s 2012 'Misogyny Speech', a moment that sparked a global conversation about gender and power. The 2024 additions included Nova Peris's 2013 maiden parliamentary speech, the first by an Aboriginal woman elected to Federal Parliament.
• Scientific and natural history: The registry captures the unique sounds of our environment, such as a 1987 recording of a lyrebird. A poignant addition in 2024 is the last known call of the Christmas Island Pipistrelle (2009). This tiny microbat was declared extinct in 2017; its ultrasonic echolocation, adjusted by our engineers to be audible to human ears, serves as a haunting scientific record of a lost species.
• Musical innovation and diversity: Sounds of Australia includes the Easybeats’ 'Friday on My Mind' (1966)  – an early international breakthrough for Australian pop, the groundbreaking First Nations rock of Yothu Yindi’s 'Treaty' (1991), and global pop phenomena like Kylie Minogue’s 'I Should Be So Lucky' (1987) or Tina Arena’s 'Chains' (1994).
• The sounds of daily life: We even preserve the ephemeral audio of our shared environment, such as the Speaking Clock (1954), and the familiar ABC News Theme (1943).

By formalising these sounds into a permanent registry, the NFSA ensures that the sonic textures of our past remain audible to our future.