[2] The earliest recording in the archive is "The Hen Convention", a song recorded some time before 15 January 1897, by an amateur sound recordist called Thomas Rome, of Warrnambool, Victoria, who imported the most modern equipment available from the US.

The song features the voice of John James Villiers, also of Warrnambool.

[3][4] Other early sound recordings include Aboriginal Tasmanian women's songs (1899),[5] Spencer and Gillen's 1901 recordings on wax cylinder of Arrernte, Anmatyerr, Kaytetye, Warumungu, Luritja and Arabana peoples of central Australia[6] (added in 2019[7]), and Ernest Shackleton talking about his polar expedition in 1910.

[8] Each year, the Australian public nominates new sounds to be added with final selections determined by a panel of industry experts and NFSA curators.

[2] The criteria for nomination are wide: "they can be popular songs, advertising jingles, famous speeches, radio broadcasts, or any other sound recordings" – but they must be Australian, and they must be more than 10 years old.