The Foley Collection is a selection of digital works from a major historic archive collected over the past 45 years by Aboriginal activist/academic Gary Foley. It is part of a large scale archive of print, audio visual and digital material currently housed at the Victoria University Moondani Balluk Academic Unit.

In 2014 a project was commenced to make a portion of the archive Open Access. This project is supported by the Australian National Data Service (ANDS). ANDS is supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy Program. A selection of significant documents from the collection have been made available open access through the Victoria University Research Repository.

Significance of the collection

Our understanding of Australia’s contemporary Aboriginal political history relies upon access to a full range of archival data and primary historical sources. These historical perspectives underpin the development of government policies that shape the environment in which Aboriginal people now live. They are also of significant value to the research of Aboriginal health services, education movements, art programs and protest events.

The Foley Collection reveals the strong and active record of Aboriginal self-determination and the active and engaged role played by Aboriginal people in shaping contemporary Australia. This provides a resource to build resilience, pride and leadership capabilities within Indigenous communities.

What's in the collection

The complete Foley Collection includes a broad range of primary source materials in a variety of formats. It covers the history of the Aboriginal self-determination and land rights movements, the development of Aboriginal community survival programs plus an extensive range of unique materials produced and collected by Gary Foley and allied organisations.

The archive material includes correspondence, manuscripts, press clippings, photo collections, video recordings of Foley productions, radio programs and campaign ephemera and significant artifacts.

Among the open access collection are:

  • A selection of Gary Foley’s personal papers including essays, speeches (public and conferences) and papers written by Gary Foley – from 2006 onwards.
  • A selection of correspondence covering Gary Foley’s engagement with major issues in the history of the aboriginal self-determination.
  • Papers and administrative documents of committees and organisations chaired by Gary Foley who have significance for the history of Koori activism, health services, art programs and education.
  • A set of unique video records made by Gary Foley from political rallies and public events.

Access to the collection

The Foley Collection can be accessed through the Victoria University Research Repository. For more information about the collection and options for re-using collection material in derivative works please contact vuir@vu.edu.au.

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