Public nominations open for NFSA’s 2023 Sounds of Australia

Public nominations have officially opened for the National Film and Sound Archive’s (NFSA) 2023 Sounds of Australia registry. 

Ten new sounds will be inducted this year that reflect the power of audio to shape Australian culture. Successful nominations will live on through NFSA for future generations to discover. 

Eligible nominations can include music, ads, spoken word, radio broadcasts and any sound recordings, as long as they’re Australian and more than ten years old. 

Established in 2007, previous sounds included in the NFSA’s Sounds of Australia registry have included early recordings by Dame Nellie Melba, The Easybeats, and The Saints, Kevin Rudd’s Apology to the Stolen Generations, the ‘Louie the Fly’ Mortein jingle, Gough Whitlam’s 1975 dismissal speech, Took The Children Away by Archie Roach and more.

“We want to hear from everyone about the sounds that they think will last the test of time,’ said the NFSA’s Sounds of Australia curator Nick Henderson. 

“Which sounds speak to Australian history, to our culture and to our diversity? We can’t wait to find out what Australians think.”

Nominations will close on July 17 and nominations can be submitted by heading to nfsa.gov.au.

The 2022 Sounds of Australia were: 

1. Farewell address, Hallam Lord Tennyson – 1904
2. Digger, Jack Lumsdaine – 1942
3. Horrie Dargie Concert, The Horrie Dargie Harlequintet – 1952 
4. The Drover’s Dream, The Bullockies’ Ball, The Bushwhackers – 1956
5. Out with the old and in with the new [decimal currency jingle], Ted Roberts (lyricist) – 1965
6. The Lord’s Prayer, Sister Janet Mead – 1973
7. Stayin’ Alive, The Bee Gees – 1977  
8. Neighbours theme song, Barry Crocker (Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent) – 1987
9. Bicentenary protest coverage, Radio Redfern – 1988
10. The Misogyny speech, Julia Gillard – 2012