The University of Melbourne has significant Indigenous Collections within its care, including important art and cultural material from many communities of origin across Australia.
Collection Access
Complete the Access Request Form to visit the collection, ask a question, or request a digital reproduction.
We are committed to providing access to the Indigenous Collections with respect for the rights and interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to determine the representation of their culture. This commitment includes building sustainable, open and reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities, artists and cultural practitioners to implement culturally appropriate care, interpretation and rematriation of collections.
To preserve the collections and respect the authority of communities over their cultural material, it may not be suitable to access or digitise some collection items. A fee may apply to recover costs associated with images requested for publication or commercial use. In these circumstances, we will send a quote at the time of the request. Costs do not apply to communities of origin or individuals with cultural ties to the collection.
Request Access to the Indigenous Collections: Access Request Form.
Search the Indigenous Collections Catalogue
The University Art Collection also features important work by Indigenous artists.
Gift of the Donald Thomson Ethnohistory Collection
The family of Donald Thomson donates one of the largest collections of Aboriginal cultural heritage to the University of Melbourne.
Donald Thomson Collection
The Donald Thomson Collection reflects the social and cultural life of Aboriginal people from Cape York, Arnhem Land, and the Central and Gibson Deserts and includes material from Papua, Solomon Islands and West Papua. Collected by Professor Donald Thomson OBE (1901 – 1970) while undertaking anthropological research, and field collecting in botany, herpetology, mammalogy and ornithology between 1928 and 1965. The Donald Thomson Collection holds deep significance for the diverse peoples and communities represented and for the continuation of culture and belonging.
Often described as one of the most important anthropological collections in the world, in 2008, the Ethnohistory component of the Donald Thomson Collection was inscribed onto the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. The Ethnohistory Collection comprises Thomson’s original and significant field notes, journals, manuscripts, photographs, maps, prints, audio-visual material, and related ephemera. It also contains original unregistered material and supplementary formats created by Museums Victoria (c. 1970 – 1990) for access and collection management purposes, including photographic reproductions, typed transcripts, copy prints, and compilation films. The Donald Thomson Collection is enhanced by vast amounts of electronic data of significant interest and importance for accessing, preserving, and discovering the Collection.
In 2024, Ms Elaine Thomson and Dorita Louise Fergusson Officer gifted the Ethnohistory component of the Donald Thomson Collection to the University on behalf of Professor Thomson and Mrs Dorita Thomson through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program. This generous gift effects the unification of the Donald Thomson Collection for the first time, representing unprecedented opportunities for knowledge generation, two-way learning, and the return of cultural materials and ancestral remains to communities of origin.
The Relocation
The Donald Thomson Collection was on long-term loan to Museums Victoria for over 50 years (1973 – 2024), where it was cared for, managed and made accessible.
The University undertook a review of the Donald Thomson Collection which concluded in 2019. The review explored the governance, management and engagement with communities of origin for the collection.
In 2023, a dedicated team from the University, with colleagues from the First Peoples and Natural Sciences Collection Departments at Museums Victoria collaborated to transfer the Donald Thomson Collection into the care and stewardship of the University. Completed at the end of 2024, the successful relocation and unification of the Donald Thomson Collection represents a major milestone for the University and the establishment of the Place for Indigenous Art and Culture.
Woodward Gift
In 1972 at Yirrkala in northeast Arnhem Land, Yolŋu Leaders presented ten sacred bark paintings to Sir Albert Edward Woodward OBE, Chair of the Aboriginal Land Rights Commission of Inquiry.
The designs express the life, history and sacred narratives of the land and sea, highlighting the legal ownership of Yolŋu estates.
The collection was gifted to The University of Melbourne by Sir Woodward in 2003. Since this time, Yolŋu have visited the collection and remarked on its continued importance to descendant Clan Leaders, cultural practitioners, emerging artists and the broader Yolŋu community.
Leonhard Adam Collection of Indigenous Cultures
The Leonhard Adam Collection of International Indigenous Culture was formed from 1942 to 1960 by Dr Leonhard Adam. It comprises significant items from the Indigenous cultures of North and South America, Africa, Melanesia, Asia and Australia.
Prominent examples include 36 bark paintings by Anindilyakwa artists from Groote Eylandt. Distinguished by finely silhouetted depictions of land, rivers, animals and people, their iconography also features contact imagery, such as the early Dutch sea vessels and Macassan trepangers who visited the island in 1623 from southern Sulawesi.