The Oral History Association of Australia

The OHAA is a non-profit body formed in 1978 with Branches in all states.  The aims of the Oral History Association of Australia are:.

  • to promote ethical practice and methods of oral history
  • to educate in the use of oral history methods
  • to encourage discussions on all aspects of oral history
  • to foster the preservation of oral history records

National conferences are held biennially which include discussions about oral history projects and issues such as ethics and copyright.  The OHAA Journal is published annually.


OHAA NSW (Inc) welcomes applications for membership from those living in NSW and ACT.

Click here for details of Membership and Activities.

What is Oral History?

  • Oral History is the recording of memories of people's unique life experiences. Often the only way to find out about the past is to ask someone who knows about it.
  • Oral history creates a record or supplements existing ones. Through oral history the past comes alive. People can be much more interesting than documents.
  • Oral history preserves the past for now and for the future.
    The recording of oral history is a two-way process in which someone shares memories with an interviewer who has carefully planned an interview.
  • Oral history preserves voices, accents and vocabularies of individuals
    interviewed.

How may Oral History be used?

  • for the life histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other groups who may be poorly represented in written sources
  • to trace the history of a local community
  • for family history
  • to encourage children to treat people as living history books, at the same time increasing understanding between generations
  • for research purposes in tertiary education studies
  • in corporate and institutional histories
  • in museums to enliven displays
  • in publications to capture reader's imaginations
  • in radio, television and plays to promote authentic voices of the past.
Melissa Edwards SL NSW
Melissa Jackson, interviewer
photographed by Scott Wajon
State Library of NSW

Latest News

SATURDAY JULY 31 ORAL HISTORY GOING TO PRESS: HOW TO PUBLISH FROM THE INTERVIEWS Don't miss our two excellent presenters LAILA ELLMOOS, "ISLAND OF PETER PAN or ISLAND OF THE DAMNED?" Writing a history of people with an intellectual disability resident on Peat Island, NSW & DR JO KIJAS, "LIGHTHOUSE KEEPING : A Partnership" Click here


MARK YOUR DIARY NOW FOR THIS SPECIAL EVENT :   OHAA NSW Annual Meeting Tuesday 17th August,  5.30 pm.  Friends Room, Mitchell Wing. Our guest  will be Paul Brunton, Senior Curator, Mitchell Library, speaking on David Mitchell, his Library and its centenary.  Click here for details    

2010 INTERNATIONAL ORAL HISTORY CONFERENCE - "Between Past and Future - Oral History, Memory and Meaning" July 7-11 Prague Click Here

CALL FOR PAPERS FOR OHAA BIENNIAL CONFERENCE 2011  - Communities of Memory, Melbourne 30 Sept-2 Oct .  We invite proposals for individual presentations, workshops and thematic pannels.  CLOSING DATE FOR PROPOSALS  31 October 2010.   Click here for details

CHECK OUT THESE TWO INTERESTING EVENTS : Sat. July 24 - HISTORY, MEMORY, TRUTH and Tues.Aug.24 IN DEFENCE OF GOSSIP

Sponsored by the NSW Chapter of the  Independent Scholars Assoc. - all welcome. Click here

WE'VE BROKEN THE SOUND BARRIER!! OUR FIRST PAPER WITH AUDIO CONTENT "Recorded memories of my family from Bohemia to Batemans Bay... Whose Story is it? George Imashev gave this interesting and informative paper in July 2009 - a must for all oral historians

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO DENISE PHILLIPS & BARBARA KARPINSKI OHAA SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS to attend the International Oral History Conference in Prague. They will be speaking at the Nov 6 Seminar.

WANTING TO HIRE DIGITAL RECORDING EQUIPMENT? Click here