Censorship

Developing our Collections, the State Library's Collection development Policy Framework includes the following overarching collecting principle:

"Our collections reflect a representative balance of views and perspectives. We do not seek to promote or discourage particular viewpoints and do not censor material, although abide by federal and State Government decisions on banned and restricted materials."

This is also reflected in the principles of the Framework Agreement between state and local government for the provision of public library services in Western Australia, specifically the principle stating that : 

"Within legal obligations, universal rights of access to information and ideas, free of censorship and theinfluence of sectional interests apply." (p.4)

These principles are the foundations of libraries and are reflected in the broad coverage of titles selected for and available in public libraries across Western Australia.

The State Library supports intellectual freedom as outlined in the following documents:

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Articles 18 and 19): United Nations
• IFLA Statement on Libraries and Intellectual Freedom: International Federation of Library Associations
• Statement on free access to information: Australian Library and Information Association .