Oxford University Press has an unrivalled reputation for publishing dictionaries of authority and excellence throughout the English-speaking world. This long-standing commitment to the English language is reflected notably in the world’s most famous dictionary, The Oxford English Dictionary or OED as it’s widely referred to. It remains the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. The OED is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past.

Since 1976 and the publication of the first edition of the Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary, Oxford Australia has been equally serious in our commitment to Australian English.  Instrumental to this process was the establishment in 1988 of the Australian National Dictionary Centre, a jointly funded partnership between Oxford Australia and Australia’s foremost research university, the Australian National University in Canberra.

Celebrating its 20^th anniversary in 2008, the Centre has the twin purposes of conducting research into Australian English past and present as well as providing Oxford Australia with the editorial expertise for our extensive range of Australian dictionaries.

W.S. Ramson was director of the Centre from 1988 to 1994. Dr Bruce Moore has been director since 1994. The Centre took its name from Australia’s very own version of the OED, The Australian National Dictionary: A Dictionary of Australianisms on Historical Principles, ed. W.S. Ramson. This work was published by Oxford Australia in 1988 as part of this country’s Bicentennial celebrations.  

Now in 2008, as part of Oxford Australia’s Centenary celebrations, all Australians can freely access this truly unique record and document of our language by visiting this marvellous resource online. Simply click on the relevant link below.

Today, Oxford Australia’s now extensive range of primary, secondary, trade and adult dictionaries are all living reflection of this ongoing commitment to Australian English with the express aim of making products of quality and authority suitable for all Australian’s needs.

We take pride in our catch-cry ‘Australia’s Most Trusted Dictionaries’.