On March 27, AustLit was one of 9 national collections inscribed in UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register at the 2025 ceremony held in the Menzies Library at Australian National University, in recognition of its national significance. AustLit’s Director, Associate Professor Maggie Nolan was proud and happy to accept the award on behalf of the AustLit team and all the many people who have worked on and partnered with AustLit over decades. This is such a testament to the importance of the work AustLit does and why it matters. AustLit enables us to discover and understand the significance of Australia’s literary heritage and the strength and diversity of its storytelling. As Roxanne Missingham OM said in her opening remarks, ‘AustLit is more than a national bibliography of Australian literature - it has created a whole knowledge infrastructure.’
UNESCO Australian Memory of the honours documentary heritage of signifi
cance for Australia and the world and advocates for its preservation. It is one of over 60 MoW programmes internationally and lists materials including the Mabo case files and the manuscript of Dorothea Mackellar’s ‘My Country.’ AustLit is grateful to Roslyn Russell, the Chair of the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Committee members for the vital work they do advocating for Australia's cultural heritage.
