AustLang

The AustLang database is maintained by AIATSIS - The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, and provides information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages which has been assembled from a number of referenced sources.

AustLang provides a controlled vocabulary of persistent identifiers, a thesaurus of languages and peoples and information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages which has been assembled from referenced sources.

The alpha-numeric codes function as persistent identifiers, followed by a 'string of changeable text'. This allows changes to the name or spelling of a language variety, according to community preference. In cases where there is more than one preference, two or three versions of the name are included, e.g. E6: Dhanggati / Dunghutti^.

This vocabulary of persistent identifiers supports archives, libraries, galleries and other agencies to identify materials or projects in or about Indigenous Australian languages and peoples, without the confusion of a multitude of language names and spellings. The codes maintain an identity if a change is made to the spelling or the name.

AustLang can be searched with language names (including a range of spellings); the codes, for example E6; placenames and via the map. AustLang has links to MURA the AIATSIS catalogue and other online resources.

Search the AustLang Catalogue