The changing relationship between the government and Indigenous people is at the heart of the National Museum's latest exhibition.
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Titled Off the Walls, it showcases art and other objects collected from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs agencies from 1967 to 2005.
Curator Andy Greenslade said the collection was more than just art, with the exhibition providing an insight into the politics behind the organisations.
''It reflects the time capsule of events in Aboriginal affairs,'' she said.
''The artworks were silent witnesses to history in the making ... You travel through these offices and you see the development.'' The exhibition takes visitors back to 1967, when then prime minister Harold Holt established the Council for Aboriginal Affairs and the Office of Aboriginal Affairs.
Ms Greenslade said the collection of more than 2000 pieces could be attributed to the vision of employees in those departments.
''They made the decision early on to only hang Indigenous art on the walls of their offices,'' she said.
''That simple, early decision led to this ...
''The idea was that what people in the offices would see would relate to their work.''
As time passed and governments changed, agencies in charge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs also adapted. In 1973, the Office of Aboriginal Affairs was taken over by the new Department of Aboriginal Affairs, with additional agencies such as the Aboriginal Development Commission and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission forming over the following decades.
Ms Greenslade said as each new agency took over, the collection transferred to its new office.
''When the Howard government decided they would remove ATSIC from the scene, something had to happen with all the assets,'' she said.
''The National Museum was really keen to keep the entire collection together.''
Ms Greenslade said the collection took 10 months for museum staff to describe, photograph and catalogue before being sorted into separate decades for the exhibition.
She said staff had tried to give visitors a sense of stepping back in time by fitting areas with retrofitted computers and newspaper clippings from the decade.
All of the collection's pieces have been recorded and posted online, with the public invited to contribute information on the lesser known works.
''We're hoping that the public and the people involved in the offices can help build up a larger picture of how the collection was acquired,'' Ms Greenslade said.
The exhibition will be officially opened today before being made publicly available tomorrow.
