The Federal Government has unveiled more than $10 million worth of new funding to help preserve Indigenous culture and keep Indigenous kids in school.

$5.4 million will be provided to extend the Indigenous Boarding Initiative throughout the 2015 and 2016 school years.

The funding assists non-government boarding schools with large numbers of Indigenous boarding students from remote areas to meet their additional costs.

Twenty-one schools and 1,487 remote and very remote Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander boarding students currently benefit from the programme.

Meanwhile, an additional $5 million has been provided to strengthen the capacity of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) to manage and preserve its collection.

AIATSIS collection is home to Australia’s largest collection of materials relating to Indigenous languages and cultural history.

The archive holds more than a million items within its growing collection, and has earned a global reputation for the way in which it develops and shares its collection of Australia’s Indigenous cultural materials.

“The significance of the Indigenous languages collection is indisputable, which is highlighted by its listing on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register,” Education Minister Christopher Pyne said.

“We are committed to preserving these priceless elements of our national identity.

“This announcement will also benefit local and international researchers as AIATSIS receives hundreds of requests each year for access to its audio and visual archives.”