This follows years of funding cuts to the institutionwhich is struggling to protect 384 kilometres of records that are growing rapidly every year.
At the same time,eight other national institutions received a collective $85.4 million extra.
The Archives has turned to crowdsourcing money,taking public donations for the first timevia its website.
It has also launched a membership program,asking for $40 a person or $60 a household. So far,the program has 117 members.
“We need Australia’s help to preserve and digitise precious Australian records before they’re lost forever,” an Archives spokeswoman said. “We need at least $67 million to digitise the most at-risk records and we simply don’t have the resources nor the funding.”
Its patron is the Governor-General’s wife,Linda Hurley. She declined to comment on funding decisions but said at the membership program’s launch the Archives played an essential role in Australia’s democracy by keeping its records safe.
“This alone is vital but they do so much more – they keep our stories and connect us with our history,” she said.