Celebrations for the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Australian Lesbian & Gay Archives have been given a royal kick-start with a generous and anonymous donation of $10,000. The Archives30 Future Fund campaign is designed to protect the organisation, the only national group that collects and preserves the histories of Australia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities.

Archives treasurer Mark Pendleton said the group is looking at ways to preserve the collection in the longer term.

“These options include looking at digitising portions of the collection and finding larger accommodation space for the Archives so the whole collection can be made accessible,” he said. “This generous donation of $10,000 gives our campaign a great kickstart. We are very grateful to our anonymous donor.”

In a note accompanying their contribution, the donor said they were enthusiastic about the Archives, which is based in South Yarra, and wanted to help maintain it.

“The Archives 30 campaign provided me with a challenge to pay tribute in a practical way to the 1978 few who had the foresight to actively set about preserving our unique history. Maybe a lot of us oldies are thinking of doing something in our wills, and that's fine, but I thought some now would help ensure a future,” the note said.

The donation coincides with the launch of an online donor facility. Pendleton said all donations over $2 to the Archives are tax-deductible, and can be made anonymously or acknowledged publicly. Tours of the Archives' home in South Yarra can be arranged by appointment for interested donors.

by CATHY ANDERSON

Details: www.alga.org.au