APRA and NFSA Induct First 10 Songs

The inaugural National Songbook selections, chosen by a panel of 10 experts, span almost a century of Australian recorded music.

Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Country

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The Australasian Performing Right Association and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia inducted the first 10 songs into The National Songbook at a gala event in Canberra on Wednesday. The NFSA confirmed that more songs will be added each year.

Why it matters

The inductions establish a formal national canon of Australian music, with selections to be preserved in the NFSA national collection. More than half of the selections nod to Indigenous culture.

The inaugural list comprises 10 songs, with the earliest, Waltzing Matilda, written in 1927 and the most recent, The Presets' My People, released in 2007. The extraction does not detail commercial performance or chart data for the inductees beyond Friday On My Mind's No.16 US chart position.

The players

Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)

APRA is the collecting society representing Australian songwriters, composers and music publishers, and co-led the National Songbook initiative.

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA)

The NFSA is the national institution responsible for preserving Australia's audiovisual heritage, and will hold the inducted selections in its national collection.

The details

Eligible songs must have been written or co-written by an Australian APRA member, released at least a decade ago, and demonstrate significant cultural impact within Australia. The Presets' My People is the only inductee from outside the 20th century.

Waltzing Matilda was written in 1927.
Friday On My Mind was released in 1966.
I Am Woman was released in 1971.
My People was released in 2007.
The first 10 songs were inducted at a gala in Canberra on 4 November 2026.

Roadmap

The National Songbook places Australian recorded music within the NFSA's national collection, formalising a canon that extends its existing preservation role. The first batch draws on almost a century of recordings and spans both mainstream and Indigenous-influenced works.

Listeners can find the inaugural selections preserved in the NFSA national collection, which the archive will continue to expand each year. The extraction does not specify streaming availability or public access arrangements.

The takeaway

The first National Songbook selections show that Australian recorded music is being formally recognised across generations and cultures. Readers interested in the canon can follow the annual additions as they are announced.