The Y2K portal
What was it like to living through the dot-com boom? In the internet’s first flush, Australians sent digital gifts, tried dating on the parallel plane, and clicked through a landscape defined by curiosity.
Eighties Australia in 8-bit
Pixelated outback backdrops, blokey heroes and arcade energy. Early ’80s and ’90s video games exported a stylised vision of Down Under.
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A century, replayed
The sights and sounds that shaped Australia, from the 1890s until now.Hankin Pinball machines at the NFSA
Learn about the five Australian-designed pinball machines housed at the NFSA.Tina Turner meets rugby league
An unlikely love affair between an American music legend and Australian sport.Top dogs
Beloved pups and scene-stealers leave their paw prints across film and television.
See all articles
The Y2K portal
What was it like to living through the dot-com boom? In the internet’s first flush, Australians sent digital gifts, tried dating on the parallel plane, and clicked through a landscape defined by curiosity.
Eighties Australia in 8-bit
6 minute readPixelated outback backdrops, blokey heroes and arcade energy. Early ’80s and ’90s video games exported a stylised vision of Down Under.
You beauty!
Rare AFL footage and legendary plays revisited.
Full steam ahead
Take a spin through Australian travel history.
Rewind and revisit
Spin to win
Classic game shows, where buzzers, brainpower and big prizes ruled.
Retro theme parks
Dinosaurs, roller coasters and tiny towns. Our old amusement parks had abundant thrills.
Fighting for fair work
Safer sites and shorter shifts didn’t happen by accident.
The pleasures of 80s pub rock
Raw guitars. Packed pubs. Jukebox anthems that shook the rafters.
Have a rummage
Search or browse decades of pop culture. We’re made of memories — find yours.
Behind the stories on NFSA Player
Stream stories you might’ve missed but won’t forget — 60+ films, documentaries and real‑life drama from the national collection, curated on NFSA Player.
Program Highlights
A Steam Train Passes
We're marking 50 years of A Steam Train Passes, Australia's most celebrated film dedicated to the age of steam.
Now showing on NFSA Player
Stream 60+ titles on NFSA Player – from explosive docs to uplifting dramas. Discover Australia’s stories, all on-demand in one place.
Stream stories you might’ve missed but won’t forget — 60+ films, documentaries and real‑life drama from the national collection, curated on NFSA Player.
Explore NFSA PlayerDeep dives
Tune in, freak out
Before streaming queues, teens found their music on TV. Countdown, clip shows, chaotic live crosses and tightly choreographed variety hours shaped the mood. Revisit it decade by decade: less definitive history, more VHS mixtape.
Nangamai (Dream) collection
Honouring First Nations trailblazers shaping culture through activism and art.
Muriel's Wedding
Thirty years on, still camp, funny and unexpectedly sharp.
Radio 100
From furniture to cultural force: a century of Australian radio.
LGBTQIA+ stories
LGBTQIA+ voices spanning protest, radio, cinema and celebration.
Audiovisual mosaics
1980s: weddings and walkmans
The 80s turned everything up. Fashion was bright, hair was high and music became big business. Dream weddings – from royalty to Ramsay Street – made audiences swoon. VHS tapes and Walkmans reshaped daily life. And with Matilda the Kangaroo at the Commonwealth Games, Australia stepped onto the world stage.
Viva Brisvegas
Expo 88, trams, floods and Origin nights: a city evolves.
Animation nation
Cartoons, trick films and homegrown heroes bursting off the frame.
The Amazing Winifred Atwell
The Amazing Miss A was one of the best-selling artists of her time.
Pioneers of silence
Cinema begins with bushrangers, daring sisters and hand-cranked cameras.
From the collection
Screen moments, sound bites, ephemera and cultural curveballs.
Web series worth the scroll
Born online, built to binge. Sharp web series that punch above their runtime.
The 2000s, dialled up
Festival wristbands, flip phones and first-season Big Brother. It's the Y2K era, archived and unapologetic.
Weird corner
Blink and you’ll miss it. Objects, broadcasts and beautiful oddities from the stranger edges of the archive.
Get more NFSA in your day
- NFSA Player
Free and on-demand streaming
- Youtube: Film Australia
Documentary highlights from the Film Australia collection
- Youtube: NFSA Online
Collection clips and conversations
- Instagram
Your scroll through screen, sound and culture
- Facebook
Archival discoveries worth sharing
- Email Newsletters
The best of the NFSA in your inbox
Life in Australia in 4K
Geelong
Trips to a local school workshop, a toy store and the Ford factory.
Sydney
An idealised portrait of Sydney during the mid-1960s.
Hobart
Booming industry and leisure in mid-century Hobart.
Adelaide
Beachside horses and festival fun in the South Australian capital.
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