Nine pieces of standout audio illustrating Australia’s cultural and political life and environment have been added to the Sounds of Australia collection as the National Film and Sound Archive launches a new website for national audiences.
The NFSA has added Rosie Batty’s 2015 Australian of the Year Speech, Scar By Missy Higgins and Joe Dolce’s comedic Shaddap You Face to its capsule of significant Australian sounds.
2026 additions also include pioneering world music collaboration Tabaran by Not Drowning, Waving and the musicians of Rabaul featuring Telek, the Federal Court’s Native Title Determination at Noonkanbah Station, and the jingle from the Reading Writing Hotline.
The Sounds of Australia are available on the NFSA’s relaunched website, the new online home for Australian audiovisual culture. It now contains more than 5500 highlights from the national collection, with more added as material is preserved and digitised.
Established in 2007, the Sounds of Australia is the NFSA’s capsule collection of sound recordings with cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance, and which inform or reflect life in Australia. A panel of industry and NFSA sound experts vote on public nominations of recordings more than 10 years old.
“The Sounds of Australia capture audio moments of creativity, Australian identity and everyday life that resonate across generations,” said Patrick McIntyre, the CEO of the NFSA.
“Presenting these recordings within the rich digital environment of our new online home means you can not only listen to them but discover the context around them. You can follow connections to other works and explore Australia’s sonic heritage in ways that haven’t been possible before. The doors to the national audiovisual collection are now open wider than ever.”
Marcia Hines signature song ‘You’ is added to the archive
Marcia Hines 1977 hit You has also been added to the register. The song was written by US songwriter Tom Snow who recorded a version of the track in 1975. It became a huge hit for Marcia Hines when she added it to her third album, Ladies and Gentleman.
The song nearly passed Hines by. Producer Robbie Porter had discarded the song but took as second look at it when drummer Mark Kennedy pushed for it to be reconsidered.
“It’s a special thing because it was recorded in 1977 and and we honestly had no idea that this song would stick around for twenty-five weeks on the charts.” Hines said on learning that the song was being preserved in the national records.
“To have you recognise this, it really means a lot to me and it touches me greatly.” the singer said.
The sound we hear when crossing the road is also being saved in the archive
David Wood, Louis Challis and Frank Hulscher designed Australian’s distinctive crossing sound that assists people who are vision impaired.
The device’s success led to its adoption in other countries such as New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore, and parts of the USA, and its cultural resonance was further cemented when the distinctive tick was sampled in Billie Eilish’s 2019 hit Bad Guy.
