There is provided a highly wear-resistant and durable sliding contact material applicable to a commutator of a motor used for high-capacity applications in which the initial starting current (IS) is 1 ampere or higher. The present invention provides a sliding contact material in which metal oxide particles are dispersed in an Ag alloy matrix, wherein the Ag alloy matrix is an Ag alloy containing 0.01 to 10.0 wt % of at least one kind of Fe, Co, Ni and Cu in Ag, and 0.1 to 3.0 wt % of a Ta oxide is dispersed as the metal oxide. In the present invention, 0.1 to 10.0 wt % of metal oxide particles of one kind or two or more kinds of Mg, Fe, Co, Ni and Zn may further be dispersed. The sliding contact material is used in a mode of clad composite material formed by embedding the sliding contact material in a part of a base material consisting of Cu or Cu alloy.