Mission

To lead the way in encouraging the emergence of a new relationship between global consumer culture and the Aboriginal custodians of the instrument in northern Australia, through a combination of advocacy, promotion, education, and ethical trade.

Objectives

As Australia's premier institution for all things relating to the didgeridoo, iDIDJ Australia seeks to offer a central point for stakeholders and interested parties to coordinate efforts aimed at preserving the cultural integrity of one of Australia's most unique offerings to the world.

Advocacy

• To advance legislative reform to protect indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights.
• To encourage the industry-wide adoption of an authentication and labelling system for didgeridoos.
• To advocate for the establishment of an independent authority responsible for monitoring the illegal harvesting of Australian native trees for didgeridoo production and for ensuring the sustainability of both non-indigenous and indigenous harvesting practices.

Promotion

• To nurture new talent and support established didgeridoo craftsmen from remote 'Top End' indigenous communities by promoting their work to Australian and overseas audiences.
• To collaborate with the didgeridoo-producing communities of the 'Top End' and their arts and craft centres to identify and expand target markets.
• To enhance the touring opportunities for indigenous performers from the 'Top End' in accessing local and international audiences.
  

Education

• To develop innovative programs aimed at raising public awareness of, and respect for, the cultural heritage roots of the didgeridoo and the Aboriginal customary laws that govern its production and use.
• To educate consumers on issues pertaining to the cultural integrity, quality, and authenticity of didgeridoos offered by merchants worldwide.
• To engage audiences with Australian indigenous cultures through small-scale eco-cultural partnership programs on Aboriginal lands.

Ethical trade

• To offer for sale a selection of documented and authenticated specimen instruments of premium-quality sourced from Aboriginal communities in northern Australia.
• To ensure the highest cultural integrity of all stock.

Values

Critical issues

On a global scale, the didgeridoo has been embraced by a large audience intrigued by its mystique and captivated by its uniqueness. There are now a multitude of performers and makers of the instrument on all the major continents who share a profound attachment to this Australian Aboriginal musical instrument. Yet an understanding of the true nature of the didgeridoo, as an exemplar of Aboriginal artistic, musical and creative expression, is patently deficient. Within this knowledge vacuum, a number of developments - invariably movements away from the cultural roots of the instrument - are apparent.