The National Library of Australia is asking Australians to donate campaign material from the 2025 federal election.
National Library curator Jennifer Selby said that materials donated will join the growing federal election ephemera collection, which covers Australian political campaigns from 1901.
“Campaign materials are designed to communicate a message and then be thrown away, by collecting them, the National Library is capturing a snapshot of contemporary social and political history,” Ms Selby said.
“From simple flyers and how-to-vote cards to posters, t-shirts, and election night bingo cards, the ephemera we collect also documents how Australians engage with each election,” she said.
“Material the National Library collected during the 2022 federal election documented a national polling day held in the shadow of a global pandemic. In 2025 we’re looking forward to receiving material that highlights the issues that are important to Australians today.”
To capture issues, the National Library is looking for material that covers the cost of living, the housing crisis, healthcare, the economy, crime, the environment and more.
The National Library wants material from everywhere but is particularly interested in donations from marginal electorates, independents including the teals, rural and regional communities, Australian external territories, campaign material targeting culturally and linguistically diverse communities and First Nations communities and candidates.
The National Library has a particular focus on collecting records relating to active citizenship and representative democracy, and according to the organisation, does this without censorship, prejudice or bias.
More information on how to donate to the National Library of Australia’s collection on the 2025 federal election can be found on the National Library’s website.
Details: library.gov.au
