On 8 February 2007 the NFSA launched an exciting new project, Sounds of Australia, where Australians nominate classic sound recordings to be included in The National Registry of Recorded Sound. Each year ten important recordings, selected from public nominations, will be added to the Registry. Criteria for selection include artistic excellence, historic relevance, technical or scientific achievement, and prominence in shaping Australia's culture and identity. To be eligible for inclusion in the Registry, sound recordings must have been made in Australia, or by Australians, at least 20 years prior to each year's announcement.

To get the ball rolling, an initial list of ten recordings has been made by the NFSA. Selected from the Archive's huge collection, the recordings are: the first known Australian recording - a Warnambool shop assistant imitating a chook in 1896!; Dame Nellie Melba's first commercial recording in 1904; Australian troops landing in Egypt in 1915; Peter Dawson's On the Road to Gundagai (1931); country singer Buddy Williams's 1939 recording of Give a Little Credit to Your Dad and Lonesome for You, Mother; Graham Bell's Dixieland Band's first recording from 1944; Tribal Sounds of Australia, the first available recording of traditional Aboriginal music from 1953; Johnny O'Keefe's She's My Baby (1960); Gough Whitlam's 1975 dismissal speech on the steps of Parliament House; and Men at Work's classic song, Downunder (1981).

People can nominate for the next ten recordings until 31 March 2007. Nomination forms are available on the NFSA website and can also be posted out if requested. Call 02 6248 2000.

The selections will be made by a panel of sound experts, drawn from the recording and broadcasting industries and institutions such as the National Library of Australia, the National Archives, the ABC Radio Archives, and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. The project has the support of industry associations such as the Association of Independent Record Companies, the Australian Record Industry Association and the Australian Performing Rights Association. The panel will be chaired by the Director of the NFSA, Paolo Cherchi Usai.