Australian Sesquicentennial Gift Trust for Awards in Oral History

The Awards are funded from the Australian Sesquicentennial Gift Trust for Awards in Oral History. This is based on a gift of $1 million given by Australia to the people of New Zealand in 1990 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. About $75,000 is available for distribution each year.

The Awards in Oral History provide financial help for the recording of interviews for oral history projects relating to the history of New Zealand/Aotearoa and New Zealand's close connections with the Pacific. Preference will be given to projects that will significantly improve understanding of New Zealand.

Projects on the history of Maori or Pacific Island people in New Zealand and those projects that have community support are especially welcome. However, if you are a trust or an incorporated society, you may wish to explore applying instead for a Lotteries Environment and Heritage grant – information on the Department of Internal Affairs site.

Eligibility

Awards may be made to individuals, groups, communities or institutions.
Assistance is not available for projects that are eligible for funding from tertiary institutions, nor for university theses.
Video recording is eligible for funding as a component of a project, but neither video nor film projects, in themselves, are eligible for these awards.
Applicants must normally be resident in New Zealand.

Conditions for successful applicants

You are expected to complete the project within twelve months of receiving the grant. (See Information for Applicants below.)
The original recordings must be deposited at the Oral History Centre, Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington.
For each interview you must provide an oral history recording Agreement Form signed by the person interviewed.
A detailed contents summary for each interview must accompany recordings in the Oral History Centre archive.
You will be required to send to the History Group, when requested, regular progress reports until the project is completed.

Information for Applicants

When preparing your application, you should note:

Awards are given for the recording of interviews for oral history projects. This can include money for training, travel and other expenses and buying good quality recording equipment.
The Award will be paid in two stages.
Half the amount granted will be paid at the time of the announcement of successful applicants (unless training is required – see below). The second half of the award will be paid on completion and delivery of the project within one year – this includes all required paperwork.
If the project is not completed at the end of one year, the remainder of the grant will be forfeited and the money will return to the Oral History Trust Fund.
If a project is partially complete, a portion of the money may be paid.
Applicants with no previous experience in oral history should include in their budget a portion for training, to be based on fees charged for a course plus reasonable travel/accommodation, up to a maximum of $500.
This proportion of the grant will be paid when successful applicants are announced. When training is completed, the first half of the remainder of the grant will be paid to begin the interview process – and the one-year deadline for project completion will begin.

Please also view our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Applications

Applications close on 30 April each year. To apply for an award please fill out our online Application form for Awards in Oral History. If you have any problems with this form please contact us – see details at end of page. If you email your application, it is strongly advised that you also send a hard copy of your application through the post. (This is because some electronic formatting can make applications difficult to read.)

Awards in Oral History for 2008

A wide range of communities and aspects of life in New Zealand will be explored by this year’s recipients of Awards in Oral History. A total of $60,500 has granted been to the following groups and individuals:

Arts Foundation of New Zealand, $ 6500
Arts Foundation of New Zealand Heritage Project Interviews with eight recipients of the Icon Awards – including Diggerress Te Kanawa, Maurice Gee, Margaret Mahy and Ans Westra.
Otaki Bank Heritage Preservation Trust, $ 2000
The Changing Face of Te Horo
Roger Smith, $11000
Composing New Zealand – life histories of six senior composers in Aotearoa/New Zealand – including Jenny McLeod, Jack Body and Gillian Whitehead
AC Productions (Anna Cottrell), $12000
Facing the Future – stories of new New Zealanders Histories of refugees from Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq and Burma.
Damian Skinner, Tairarwhiti Museum of Art and History, $ 3700
Watersheds: Nga Wai Pupu – an oral history of the Tairawhiti Region
Megan Hutching, $12000
Bridge 4232: and oral history of Auckland Harbour Bridge 1959-2009
Margaret McClure, $ 5800
‘When a happy marriage turns to custard’ Women’s divorce stories form the 1950s and 1960s
Shona McCahon, $ 7500
The founding of landscape architecture in New Zealand

Awards in Oral History 1991—2007

Enquiries

Before contacting us, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Any enquiries should be addressed to Alison Parr, Senior Oral Historian.

E-mail: oralhistory@mch.govt.nz
Telephone: (04) 496 6331
Fax: (04) 499 4490
Postal Address:
History Group
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
P O Box 5364
Wellington
New Zealand