First Australian Songs Honoured in New National Songbook

A new digital archive has launched to celebrate and preserve tracks that shaped the cultural identity of the country, reflecting how the first Australians and subsequent generations expressed their stories through music. Midnight Oil’s Beds Are Burning, Yothu Yindi’s Treaty, and Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman are among the inaugural ten tracks inducted into the National Songbook.

The project is a joint initiative between the National Film and Sound Archive and Apra Amcos, launched at the NFSA in Canberra. An expert panel of eleven music figures selected the initial tracks following discussions facilitated by industry chairs. The archive intends to grow annually, appointing a new panel each year to choose ten additional entries.

## Selecting the First Ten Tracks

The oldest track on the inaugural list is Andrew Banjo Paterson’s bush ballad Waltzing Matilda, written in 1895 and recorded in 1927. The selection also includes The Easybeats’ 1966 track Friday on My Mind, Helen Reddy’s feminist anthem I Am Woman, and Neil Murray’s My Island Home, originally released by the Warumpi Band and later covered by Christine Anu.

Protest songs and politically charged tracks feature heavily in the first wave of inductions. Yothu Yindi’s Treaty was recognised as a landmark protest anthem born around a campfire in East Arnhem Land. Similarly, the 2008 electronic track My People by The Presets was honoured for its focus on the treatment of asylum seekers. Ruby Hunter’s Down City Streets and non-commercial works, such as film scores and orchestral pieces, also made the list.

Ten landmark tracks form the first wave of a growing national music archive.

Why it matters

The creation of the National Songbook establishes an official digital archive to document music that has defined national history and cultural identity. By setting eligibility criteria requiring tracks to be at least a decade old and created by an Australian Apra member, the initiative provides a structured way to evaluate and preserve significant artistic works for future generations.