Position statement
AIATSIS is committed to building and preserving a national collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage, and to making that Collection and materials of significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples accessible in culturally appropriate ways.
AIATSIS acts in good faith when making such materials available online. However, despite these best efforts there may be occasions when material made available online is considered to breach copyright or other relevant law or contains information that is culturally sensitive. AIATSIS takes all requests to remove online material seriously.
As a national collecting institution, AIATSIS adheres to the principles set out in the Takedown Position Statement and Guidelines published by the National and State Libraries Australia (NSLA) when assessing takedown requests.
Request removal of content
You may submit a takedown request if you are concerned that you have found material on an AIATSIS website, which:
- you as a copyright owner have not given permission.
- is a serious invasion of your privacy.
- contains content that is defamatory, offensive or objectionable under Australian law.
- breaches protocols regarding the rights of Indigenous peoples to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous cultural expressions, including the right to maintain, control, protect and develop intellectual property over the same.
In writing
In your request please state:
- Your contact details (name, email and phone number).
- Full details of the material (title, description, and any other available information e.g. date, author or creator).
- The exact and full URL at which the material was found.
- Your connection to the material (e.g. copyright holder, Indigenous cultural rights holder, moral rights holder, appearing or being referenced).
- The reason for your request, including but not limited to copyright law, privacy principles, obscenity, defamation, Indigenous protocols.
- The remedy you are seeking (i.e. what you would like to happen to the material of concern).
- If the request relates to copyright, proof that you are the rights holder or an authorised representative.
- If the request relates to Indigenous cultural materials, supporting information of your connection to and representation of the relevant community.
By telephone
If you require assistance with completing your takedown request in writing, or if you are unable to submit your takedown request in writing, please phone (02) 6246 1111 and ask to speak with the Communications, Events and Publishing team in relation to a Takedown Request.
Please be aware that we may need to obtain all the information listed under ‘In Writing’ above in order to respond appropriately. For this reason, and in order to address the request as quickly as possible, we prefer to receive requests in writing.
The ‘By telephone’ option is here to ensure that people who may not have access to email or internet, people who may require assistance to respond to the questions detailed under ‘In writing’ above, and people who may require assistance to submit a request in writing will have the opportunity to express concerns and will still have access to a takedown process.
Response process
Upon receiving a request to takedown material, AIATSIS will acknowledge the takedown request. AIATSIS will advise an outcome of an initial assessment within 5 working days of receipt of the request.
The material may be temporarily removed from the AIATSIS website until a final decision is agreed upon.
AIATSIS will make all possible efforts to resolve takedown requests quickly and to the satisfaction of all parties, with the following possible outcomes:
- The material is kept unchanged on the AIATSIS website.
- The material is kept with changes on the AIATSIS website.
- The material is kept with changes on the AIATSIS website and notification of the change.
- The material is removed from the AIATSIS website.
Reviews of previous takedown decisions may be conducted from time to time. Where the circumstances of the original takedown request have changed, material might sometimes be restored.
AIATSIS will communicate our final decision and reasons to the requestors.
AIATSIS advises, given the complexity of the online environment, that when a valid request results in the takedown of material:
- the processes involved in amending or removing material may take time
- it may be beyond our control to ensure that the removal is comprehensive or permanently successful on platforms other than the AIATSIS website
- when material is altered, blocked or removed on the AIATSIS website, where practicable, we may provide a general statement to explain the removal that ensures privacy of all parties involved.
Assessment criteria
Takedown requests will be assessed according to the following criteria:
- Online access to the material is in breach of protocols regarding the rights of Indigenous peoples to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous cultural expressions, including the right to maintain, control, protect and develop intellectual property over the same.
- Online access to the material is in breach of copyright law.
- Online access to the material contravenes conditions imposed by the depositor or donor.
- The material is defamatory, offensive or objectionable under Australian law.
- The material is a breach of privacy legislation or includes personal information about someone who is still alive and continued online access to it would cause serious invasion of privacy or harm.
- Removal of the work would undermine freedom of speech.
- The material breaches other relevant legislation or related exemptions.
- Relevant legislation or related exemptions.