🔬 Research · Academia · Linguistics

The world's most
culturally governed
linguistic dataset.

Aboriginal oral histories, transcribed, tagged, and made available to researchers — with community consent at every level. This is what ethical linguistics looks like.

Access Tiers

Research access that respects sovereignty

Data access is governed by the community, not by us. We are the infrastructure. The communities are the authority.

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Tier 1
Public Metadata
$0
No application required. Available now.
  • ✓ Story titles and identifiers
  • ✓ Language group names
  • ✓ Geographic coordinates (story location)
  • ✓ AIATSIS language codes
  • ✓ Species mentions (ALA linked)
  • ✓ Access level and consent status
  • — Transcripts
  • — Audio files
  • — Bulk export
Access via API →
🎓
Tier 2
Academic Access
$500/year
Per researcher. Institutional accounts available.
  • ✓ Everything in Tier 1
  • ✓ Full transcripts of public stories
  • ✓ English translations (where provided)
  • ✓ ALA species data with story links
  • ✓ AIATSIS codes + language status data
  • ✓ Seasonal calendar metadata
  • — Bulk export
  • — Darwin Core format
  • — Community-restricted stories
Apply for Access →
🏛️
Tier 3
Institutional Access
$2,000/year
Universities, GLAM institutions, government bodies.
  • ✓ Everything in Tier 2
  • ✓ Bulk data export
  • ✓ Darwin Core biodiversity format
  • ✓ Full REST API access
  • ✓ Rate limits: 10,000 requests/day
  • ✓ Dedicated researcher support
  • ✓ Community liaison facilitation
  • ✓ Up to 10 researcher accounts
Apply for Access →
Requirements

What we ask in return

Access to First Nations cultural data carries responsibilities. These are not bureaucratic hurdles — they are the minimum standard of ethical research practice.

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Ethics Approval
Current ethics approval from a recognised Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) or equivalent. Must cover collection and use of Indigenous cultural materials.
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Community Consent Documentation
Written evidence of community consent for your specific research purpose. Generic consent is not sufficient — purpose-specific consent is required.
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Data Handling Agreement
Agreement to our data sovereignty terms: no on-sharing without community consent, no commercial use without explicit permission, deletion on request.
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Attribution & Return
Research outputs must attribute communities correctly. A copy of any publication using this data must be returned to the community via Songlines.
Apply

Apply for research access

Applications are reviewed within 10 business days. Access is granted subject to ethics and community consent verification.

⚠️ Ethics approval required You must have current HREC ethics approval before applying. Community consent documentation must be provided at the time of application.
✓ Application received. We'll review and respond within 10 business days.