Curated collections

Gaywaves, Sydney’s first gay and lesbian radio program, first went to air at a time when homosexuality was still illegal for men in NSW.

Dubbed 'the mother of rock', Lillian Roxon was the most influential rock journalist in the world from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s.

On 27 February 1979, one of Australia’s most addictive soap operas debuted on Network Ten.

It finally came to an end after nearly eight years and 692 episodes, on 11 December 1986.

From Broken Hill to Broome, Townsville to Tasmania, our regional TV networks have been capturing the essence of Australia for decades.

It's a tradition that long predates the world wide web... cats in costume making us laugh out loud.

Singer-songwriter Jack O'Hagan wrote over 600 songs, including 'Along the Road to Gundagai' and 'Our Don Bradman'.

Ten sound recordings with cultural, historical and aesthetic significance have been added to Sounds of Australia for 2018. 

The Sydney Opera House was officially opened on 20 October 1973 – 14 years after construction began.

The list of Annette Kellerman's achievements is extraordinary: champion swimmer and diver, vaudeville performer, international silent film star, stunt performer and entrepreneur.

This collection celebrates Australia's rich history of circus and carnival performers.

This collection features some of Australia's most infamous crimes from the 20th century, showing how they were investigated by authorities and reported in the media at the time.

Heath Ledger’s movie and television career as curated by the NFSA. Featuring his posthumous Oscar win for The Dark Night and his early career in Australia.

According to prolific cult director Brian Trenchard-Smith, Ozploitation is 'genre homage through an Australian lens: boisterous, anti-authoritarian, wide angle'.

Celebrating the black and deadly women of Australian music, from Fanny Cochrane Smith in the 1890s to Jessica Mauboy in the 21st century.

Australia's Working Class Man, Jimmy Barnes, has been performing in front of audiences for more than four decades as a solo artist and with Cold Chisel, and he shows no signs of slowing down. 

For a generation of Australian music fans, Cold Chisel are the Aussie pub rock band who broke the mould and whose songs are celebrated as anthems.

Who could have guessed that a suburban housewife from Moonee Ponds would become the gigastar Dame Edna Everage?

'There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around | That the colt from old Regret had got away...'

The feats of the daredevil early aviators pushed the boundaries of flight and brought Australia closer to the world.

The Salvation Army's pioneering multimedia work Soldiers of the Cross premiered at the Melbourne Town Hall on 13 September 1900.

This collection contains portraits and recordings of 15 pioneering Australian opera singers, music-hall performers, jazz vocalists and instrumentalists.

See the funniest, most splendiferous and bizarre moments on a show that had five million Aussies a week turning on their TV sets in the 1970s and 80s.

Winifred Atwell - 'The Amazing Miss A' - was one of the most popular ragtime musicians and best-selling artists of her time.

Cute and cuddly, furry or feathered, slippery or scaly; our collection of Australian native animals - both real and imagined - will charm and delight you.