New First Nations metadata standards published
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) and Australian publishing staff have contributed to new international metadata standards designed to make First Nations books and publishing more consistently labelled and more easily located across the industry.
International standards organisation EDItEUR has published up-to-date documents outlining how to highlight First Nations content and contributors using ONIX and Thema metadata standards. The documents have been produced in collaboration with the APA, BookNet Canada and BTLF (La Société de Gestion de la Banque de Titres de Langue Française), building on efforts that began in 2023.
Magabala Books editor Arlie Alizzi, winner of the 2025 Rising Star award, was among the Australian publishing staff to help the APA to draft documents. Alizzi said, “These documents provide some usable and straightforward ways to flag Indigenous content and creators in Australian metadata using ONIX and Thema systems. They outline some important further considerations for the industry and will be a great conversation starter.”
According to the APA, one of the most significant ONIX changes in this project is a new contributor–place relationship, which enables a respectful, structured way for Indigenous contributors to be identified in metadata, when and how they choose to be.
APA head of product and supply chain Cat Colwell, who led the association’s engagement in the project, said, “These documents are a starting point for better representing First Nations participation and values in our book metadata. We believe in evolving standards over time so they remain relevant and reflect the diversity of peoples and cultures, as well as the richness and variety of content in the books that are published.
“I would like to thank the Indigenous publishers and consultants from Australia and around the world who supported us throughout these efforts to decolonise Thema and ONIX and support Indigenous data sovereignty.”
Acknowledging the publication is the beginning of the journey, Colwell said. “It’s really positive that [Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages database] AustLang is now recognised within ONIX as a new classification scheme, creating the capacity for books in First Nations languages to be properly classified and found. This ties into priority areas of national cultural policy Revive and supports wider initiatives across the arts such as Voices of Country.
“But it also presents a challenge – how do we ensure it improves practical discoverability in the supply chain? More work is needed here and will be an ongoing focus for the industry so these identifiers become meaningful tools for cultural recognition, respect and discovery.”
The APA recommended, “As a first step, the industry – particularly publishers, data suppliers and recipients such as bookstores – should use these documents to consider respectful implementation in their workflows and systems.
“These new resources are intended to support discussion and encourage reflection on how metadata is currently used. Publishers and contributors may choose to use the metadata differently from [the process] described, and further consultation with metadata suppliers and consumers is required to aid industry rollout.”
The APA previously collated a set of First Nations publishing resources to support Australian publishers when publishing First Nations stories.
The new best practice documents are available on the APA website.
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