Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why is there a warning about the Archive content?
A: Some of the interviews may be distressing to users and family or friends of the persons interviewed. Some content may contain offensive language, depictions of sexual matters or negative stereotypes. There is footage, images, voices and names of people who have died.

The content comprises the memories and reflections of the interviewee. It reflects the culture, language, and individual experience of a place or period of time, including the date of the interview and the date that the events being recalled took place.

The Archive is a repository of memories and experiences, and as such, does not claim to be an accurate historical record. Rather, it is the stories of particular lived experiences, told by the people who were there. We are indebted to each and every veteran who has so generously shared their memories.

The content is presented in good faith. It does not reflect the views of the Department of Veterans' Affairs, the Australians at War Film Archive or the University of New South Wales.

Q: When were the interviews filmed?
A: The first 100 interviews were filmed in 1999-2000 for the ABC TV Australians at War series. The subsequent interviews were filmed from 2002-2004.

For more information on the project history of AAWFA please see 'About'.

Q: Do I need permission to copy or publish materials from the Archive?
A: No, the Australians at War Film Archive is a self-service resource made freely available to all in the public domain. You can use and reproduce content - including publish quotes, extracts, audio, video or photographs in your project - without seeking further permission.

Please acknowledge the Archive as the source of the material:

Transcript of interview with [First name Surname], [DD Month YYYY], Australians at War Film Archive (Archive No […]) http://australiansatwarfilmarchive.unsw.edu.au retrieved [DD Month YYYY]

Q: Can I download a video?
A: Yes each video in an interview can be downloaded. Depending on your browser, either open the menu (the three dots in the bottom right-hand corner of the video) or right-click the video to show the video menu or select the download icon in the video control bar. Interviews were recorded on 40-minute tapes, with a single interview typically being 8-10 tapes (5-9 hours to view). If you wish to download the entire interview, you will need to download each video. We do not provide DVD copies.
Q: Can I save my favourite videos or create a clip from an interview
A: Entire videos can be downloaded or bookmarked in your browser.

To create a clip or reference a point in an interview, first select the tape and scroll the transcript to the part of the interview you want to create a link to. Press the '>' arrow in the left column of the transcript (under the timestamp), and the URL of the page will now contain the link to share.

Q: Can I have a copy of the interview transcript?
A: Yes, you can directly download a PDF copy of a transcript by selecting the option on the left-hand side of the interview or you can select the HTML option and save as a PDF using your browser's 'print to PDF' functionality.
A: The Australians at War Film Archive is a static archive comprehensively compiled between 1999-2004. Photographs of relatives, and new audio-visual content cannot be added. We welcome any monetary contribution that you wish to make to help maintain and further develop this resource. To donate, click here.
A: For Windows PC, Chromebook or Linux users, search functionality is opened by holding down the 'CTRL' key and pressing 'F'. A search bubble will appear in the upper-right corner of the window where you can then proceed to word search the page.

For Mac PC users, search functionality is opened by holding down the 'Command' key and pressing 'F'. Alternatively, you can click the icon with three dots or three lines in the upper-right corner to open the menu. Then click the 'Find' option.

For Safari users, search functionality is opened by clicking 'Edit' followed by the 'Find' menu.

For mobile device users:

If you are using Google Chrome, tap the icon with three dots in the upper-right corner.

If you are using Firefox, tap the icon with three dots in the lower-right corner.

If you are using Safari on iPhone or iPad, tap the blue square icon with an arrow pointing up in the upper-right corner.

If you are using Samsung Internet, tap the icon with three lines in the lower-right corner.

To cycle through the search results, select the arrows pointing up and down next to the Find search bar. The web browser will jump to each highlighted search result in the webpage.

Q: What do the time stamps in the transcript mean?
A: Each interview has been time stamped at approximately 30 second intervals. A time stamp format such as '30:10' indicates time 30 minutes 10 seconds within that tape. By selecting the arrow symbols within the transcript, the video will automatically start to play from the selected time stamp.
Q: I want to correct a transcript, is this possible?
A: To uphold the authenticity of the interviews, the Archive is now a static resource, and transcripts are historical documents not open for editing. If interviewees have added corrections/reflections themselves they will appear at the end of the transcript.
Q: Do you have higher resolution videos, audio or photographs available?
A: No, the Archive has made the highest resolution files available from the original 1999-2004 recordings for direct download from the website and we are unable to offer any enhancement. The image quality is suitable for most small screen or publication uses.
Q: Where do the still photographs come from?
A: Interviewees were asked to provide photographs of their wartime experience. These were photographed by the project team along with a still shot of the interviewee on the interview day and included as footage at the end of the final tape. The interviewee supplied the information provided in the image description and approved the use of the image on the website and in the public domain.
Q: Can you give me the contact details of the interviewee?
A: No. To protect privacy the Australians at War Film Archive does not share contact details from the 1999-2004 period and are unable to pursue personal correspondence or contact tracing on your behalf. It should be noted that contact information collected at the time of interview will now be very out of date.
Q: Why do some transcripts say 'This section of transcript embargoed'?
A: Interviewees were given the opportunity to embargo any part of an interview for any reason. Embargoed sections typically are short periods of average 2 minutes length within the interview, though they vary between a few seconds and 20 minutes. Some interviews contain several embargoed sections. If you are an interviewee and want to discuss embargoes please contact the Archive. Family members and other third parties are not permitted to embargo content. This is to preserve the authenticity of the interviewee's historical account.
Q: I want some content taken down from the website. Is this possible?
A: If you are the interviewee please contact us to discuss. Please note that a takedown request will only be granted for a defined period in order to protect living persons.

To uphold the authenticity of the historic record, we do not accept requests from next of kin, relatives or friends of interviewees, or other third parties, to take down content.

Q: Why do I see colour bars or the wrong person at the start of some videos?
A: This website has digitised the unedited video, including the colour bars leading into each tape. These are of varying length but are typically of 30 seconds duration. The videos are set to play a few seconds before the first timestamped part of the transcript for that tape.
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Last updated: 2020, Version 2.1