National Library of Australia
The experiences, images and voices of Chinese Australians are the subject of a collecting project by the National Library throughout 2021 and 2022.
Australia has benefited enormously from the contributions made by Chinese migrants, who began arriving in Australia in significant numbers from the 1840s. After the abandonment of the restrictive White Australia Policy in the 1970s, and in recent decades, Australia has experienced greater levels of migration from individuals with Chinese ethnic origins.
In order to achieve our aim, the Library is conducting collecting activities with selected communities. One of these activities is focused on Australians with Chinese heritage. While the Library has a large collection relating to Australians with Chinese heritage, especially in its printed collection and oral history collections, it now seeks to better document the experience of individuals and families to reflect an understanding of what it means to be an Australian with
Chinese heritage.
We hope to document this experience across many formats including oral history interviews, manuscript collections, published and ephemeral material and a series of commissioned photographs documenting events within various communities across Australia.
An online expression of interest form is available for distribution to individuals who wish to be considered for an oral history interview as part of the project. The interviews will be recorded by the National Library of Australia and retained as part of its permanent collection with access conditions being set by the interviewee.