National Family History Month is held in Australia every August, but at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) we have visitors that research their own family history nearly every day.
Some of these visitors have been disconnected from their community and many are affected by the Stolen Generations. AIATSIS can help the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to research their Indigenous family history.
Our collections have information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families, communities and places. We can also show you how to use other sources of information to find your family.
To celebrate the month, AIATSIS will hold three Indigenous family history research sessions to help you with your research:
Wednesday 9th August from 9.30am-11am in the AIATSIS Reading Room
Thursday 10th August from 6pm-8.15pm at the Queanbeyan Library
Wednesday 16th August from 9.30am-11am in the AIATSIS Reading Room
Bookings are essential for all sessions.
Please register your interest for sessions at AIATSIS by contacting the Family History Unit or via phone on 1800 352 553. For the Finding your Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestors in Queanbeyan contact 6285 6256.
You don’t need to be in Canberra to take advantage of some of the resources available through AIATSIS. We have a wealth of resources available through the Finding your family section of our website, including a step-by-step guide on how to do Indigenous family history research.
We’ve also provided:
A toolkit with worksheets and checklists
A list of resources that help identify where to find different types of information
A comprehensive contact list for state based resources
Our own Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Biographical Index (ABI) and Mura catalogue.
Media enquiries
Commsmedia@aiatsis.gov.au or 02 6246 1605