Australia's largest digitised archive, Trove, has been promised millions in funding in the upcoming May budget. 

The move comes after months of calls from the National Library of Australia (NLA) for more financial support. 

Tony Burke, Minister for the Arts, announced $33 million in new funding as part of Revive, the government's National Cultural Policy to “maintain our strong cultural infrastructure”. 

Burke referred to Trove as “Australia's digital memory” and noted that it is an “incredibly important part of our national cultural institutions”.

The government's statement indicated that the essential services, such as Trove, had been neglected in previous budgets and that the funding announcement takes them a step closer to ending the budget cuts and culture wars of the previous government.

The NGA, which was also waiting for funding, expressed its worries in a letter to Mr Burke, obtained by reporters under freedom of information laws. 

In the letter, the NGA's chair foreshadowed money-saving measures that the gallery might have had to take, including charging entry and letting staff go. 

The NLA also asked for more funding as repairs continue on its heritage copper roof, damaged during a devastating hailstorm in 2020.

The funding announcement is seen as a relief for Australians, with Senator Katy Gallagher saying; “Trove and the National Library can now keep doing what they do best”.

Trove boasts a collection of more than 14 billion digitised records and is regularly utilised by academic institutions, researchers, and "ordinary Australians keen to understand the history of their families or their communities".