Responding to the increasing cultural and ethnic diversity of Australia's population and to awakening interest in its indigenous minorities, this paper examines problems of acquisition and dissemination of children's literature to preserve the cultural heritage of minority groups. Appendices display population by age groups between 1954 and 1977, populations of urban communities in excess of 100,000 persons, Australian and overseas-born population percentages 1954-76, aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations by state, and an analysis by age group of children of non-English speaking origin. (RAA)