Search

This policy ensures ALIA personnel identify, disclose and manage conflicts of interest to protect integrity and fairness. It outlines responsibilities, disclosure processes, and record-keeping requirements for directors, executives, officials and others involved in ALIA’s governance and decision-making.

The fundamental principles according to which the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, is to be governed, as amended on 23 May 2025.

By-Laws of the Australian Library and Information Association as amended to May 2025.

This document has been prepared by a National RFID Data Profile (NRDP) working group established under the auspices of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). The working group was established to consider issues relating to information elements that might be placed on RFID tags by Australian libraries and the extent to which such information might have an impact on future interoperability and the leverage to be gained through RFID technology. More broadly, the working group also looked at a number of other related issues that could potentially limit interoperability as RFID systems are progressively rolled out across the country.

This Statement provides guidance on the formal qualifications required to lead, manage, and work in a school library and to describe and promote the roles of school library staff.

Replaces: ALIA ASLA Statement on Teacher Librarian Qualifications (2016) and ALIA ASLA Statement on Teacher Librarians in Australia (2016)

The ALIA Board Charter sets out the roles of the Board, the President, the Chief Executive Officer, the Directors, the Board Committees and the Company Secretary, in order to facilitate Board and management accountability for ALIA’s performance and strategic direction.

Contents: President’s Report -- Chief Executive Officer’s Report -- Chief Operating Officer’s Report -- About ALIA -- Our performance against the Strategic Plan -- Our structure and governance -- Advisory Committees -- Sector Committees -- Awards Groups -- Financials

ALIA's consultation paper reviewing ALIA institutional membership. 

The purpose of the review is to:

• identify improvements to enhance institutional benefits
• understand the interplay between institutional membership and personal membership
• make structural adjustments as required

The paper outlines proposed changes to the institutional membership model. 

This document lists the recipients of the F A Sharr Award from 1976 - 2024.

The Australian Public Libraries Statistical Report is an annual project by the Australian Library and Information Association Australian Public Libraries Alliance (ALIA APLA) and National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) that identifies and measures usage and activities of Australia's public library services over the financial year. This report covers the statistics in the financial year 1 July 2021 – 30 June 2022. 

This report contains some updated national totals figures. 

In 2020 an Australian Research Council (ARC) funded research project was launched, looking into the ecosystem of eBooks, eLending and copyright in Australia. ALIA was among several industry partners on the project.  

Their final industry partner report condenses the methodology, findings and discoveries of the extensive research project. These include:

• An inflexible and unresponsive market: where our librarians told us they wanted different terms so as to make best use of their budgets and meet reader needs, in fact 97% of titles were available under only one kind of licence.
• Patchy availability: Australia and New Zealand were missing 21% of titles; Canada and the US were missing 12%. When we looked at a subset of titles of most interest to Australians, we found 24% of the 546 titles tested were not available for elending (only 6% were not available as physical books).
• Little evidence of a ‘market’: the terms offered for titles have nearly nothing to do with the characteristics of the individual titles (such as their age, or popularity) — what seems to determine the price is the identity of the publisher.
• Licence terms interfere with libraries’ role in offering variety: increasingly, ebooks are available only on metered and time-limited licences: licences which expire after a certain number of terms or a certain period — whichever expires first. To justify the expenditure, libraries must be confident that there is sufficient demand for the book within the duration of the licence. This makes it more likely libraries will focus on new, popular titles at the expense of older titles. In our survey, librarians expressed interest in per loan or simultaneous use licences (like those available in some European countries), but we found no evidence of these being offered in Australia.
• A positive impact when books enter the public domain: public domain titles were more available for elending, and at a lower price, refuting claims sometimes made that publishers will not invest in making public domain titles available.
• In one key positive message, no evidence of embargos on new titles: new titles were made available for elending at the same time as titles launching for sale. 

This Statement provides guidance on the role of information literacy in a school’s teaching and learning program.

Revised: August 2024 (previously ALIA ASLA Statement on Information Literacy)

This Statement provides guidance on the development of effective policy and practice in relation to school libraries supporting digitally literate school communities.

Replaces: ALIA ASLA Statement on School Libraries and ICT (2016)

This Statement provides guidance on the provision of school library funding and resources incorporating staff expertise, facilities, programs and services for the delivery of a quality education.

Replaces: ALIA ASLA Statement on School Library Resource Provision (2016) and ALIA ASLA Statement on School Library Resource Centre Funding (2016)

This report examines adult media literacy abilities, needs and experiences in Australia. Between January and April 2024 a representative sample of 3,852 adult Australians were surveyed alongside additional booster samples for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) Australians and First Nations Australians. This survey repeated questions asked in our inaugural 2021 Adult Media Literacy survey to produce longitudinal data, while also introducing new questions that respond to pressing issues and new digital media developments.

Survey findings show that most adult Australians use different types of digital media on a regular basis, but their overall confidence in their digital media abilities is quite low, with very little change since 2021. For example, most adult Australians are not confident about their ability to identify false and misleading information online, create a video and post it online, edit a digital photo, change social media privacy settings, or seek help from relevant authorities if they are being harassed online.

The report finds that there is overwhelming demand among Australians for adult and school-based media literacy education. However, many Australians have not received any form of media literacy education or they don’t have access to support when they need it.

The report was attached to ALIA's submission for the Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence

The ALIA Code of Ethics for the Australian Library and Information Services Workforce provides a shared reference point for professional conduct, policies, and day-to-day decision making. Use this fillable template to customise the Code of Ethics for your library and information services workplace or network by filling in action examples for each clause.

By-Law 1 of the Australian Library and Information Association as amended to August 2024, with amendments in mark up, followed by the clean updated copy.

Good Things Australia, in collaboration with Microsoft and Telstra, is proud to present the research, and consultation findings of our pioneering digital inclusion project, Digital Sisters: AI for Good. This initiative focuses on enhancing AI literacy among women, particularly those from migrant and refugee backgrounds, to build their skills and confidence in using emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The report was attached to ALIA's submission for the Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence

The Australian Public Libraries Statistical Report is an annual project by the Australian Library and Information Association Australian Public Libraries Alliance (ALIA APLA) and National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) that identifies and measures usage and activities of Australia's public library services over the financial year. This report covers the statistics in the financial year 1 July 2022 – 30 June 2023.

The ALIA Code of Ethics for the Australian LIS Workforce shows how the core values of the library and information profession can be applied in practice. Action examples can be customised to suit library and information services environments and contexts.

The ALIA Code of Ethics for the Australian LIS Workforce shows how the core values of the library and information profession can be applied in practice. Action examples can be customised to suit library and information services environments and contexts.

ALIA Health Libraries Australia (HLA) made a submisison to the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) consultation on the draft Good Institutional Practice Guide to highlight and promote hospital librarians' contributions to research culture and research quality. 

Following ALIA's submission on the importance of AI inclusion and AI literacy, two further reports have been released which were brought to the committee’s attention. From the library perspective, these reports highlight current trends, where AI is increasingly integrated into daily life, and yet there continue to be deep divides within the general population in awareness, understanding and skills.  

The two reports submitted to the Committee are the Digital Sisters AI for Good Report and Adult Media Literacy in 2024: Australian attitudes, experiences and needs, both are linked below under 'Relation'.

Public libraries play a vital role in local communities. They ensure that every Australian, no matter their economic means, is able to access information, assistance, education, community engagement and at a very basic level, a temperature controlled safe space. They support social cohesion, community wellbeing local history, the arts, culture and literacy. The submission notes the funding streams that public libraries receive from local governments, which has declined in per capita funding in the last five year period, while demands on public libraries have increased around support for federal government service delivery. 

ALIA APLA's submission made the following recommendations:

1. ALIA APLA supports the Australian Local Government Association’s (ALGA) call to increase Federal Assistance Grants to local councils. 

2. Library experts are invited to participate in relevant intergovernmental committees and policy networks, and grants are revised to ensure that public library services are eligible. 

3. Federal government departments proactively contact and collaborate with ALIA APLA when the delivery of government programs will impact/rely on public library services. 

4. Federal government departments explore ways to partner with public libraries to deliver and fund national projects. 

5. A scholarship program for regional skills shortages is established to upskill people already working in local councils, including library staff. 

6. The federal government provides funding for national support programs for public libraries through ALIA APLA. 

ALIA's public submission to Department of Industry, Science and Resources' consultation on the introduction of mandatory guardrails for AI in high-risk settings.

ALIA strongly recommends that explicit reference to ICIP, traditional knowledge and Indigenous data are included in the principles. This principle should make it clear that the use of ICIP, traditional knowledge and Indigenous data are in and of themselves high risk uses, not dependent on the intended use of these materials. ALIA also recommends that the guidelines should be strengthened to ensure that any use of ICIP, traditional knowledge and Indigenous data are done appropriately as befits the communities, materials and uses.

The Australian Library and Information Association's submission to the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian society places a central focus on digital and media literacy skills and abilities of Australians to effectively understand and use social media applications. It addresses the issue of the disparity of skill levels across different demographic and regional groups and the role of libraries to help address these gaps and provide digital access and literacy support.

The submission makes the following recommendations:

1. The government implements a national approach to media literacy and media literacy education, with appropriate funding and support.

2. The Department of Industry, Regional Development, Transport, Communications and the Arts (DIRDTCA) and the Office of the eSafety Commissioner work with the Australian Library and Information Association and the Australian Media Literacy Alliance to support up-to-date materials and training options for library staff and education professionals in areas of digital and media literacy.

3. The government explores opportunities to work with the Australian Library and Information Association and partners to update and expand evidence-based media literacy programs, with emphasis on segments of the community with the highest needs.

By-Laws of the Australian Library and Information Association as amended to August 2024.