Media Releases

MEDIA RELEASE - Wednesday, 17 November 2004

Western Australian communities preserve their documentary heritage

Nine community groups in Western Australia today received funding to preserve their documentary heritage collections with the assistance of the 2004 Community Heritage Grants Program.

The program is jointly funded and supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, the National Library of Australia, the National Archives of Australia, the Australian Film Commission and the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs.

The grants were announced by Federal Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp at a presentation ceremony held at the National Library.

Senator Kemp said, “All over Australia, community organisations such as local historical societies, public libraries and archives and Indigenous and migrant community groups hold vital documentary heritage collections of photographs, sound recordings, books, letters, posters, maps and manuscripts.

“This material is irreplaceable and in some cases deteriorating quickly. The Community Heritage Grants Program ensures that significant accounts of the nation’s history will be preserved and made accessible for future generations.

“2004 marks the 11th anniversary of the program. In that time 350 projects across Australia have received more than $1.2 million in funding,” he said.

Grants of up to $8 000 are awarded annually to community organisations to preserve locally owned, but nationally significant, documentary heritage materials.

The grants can be used by the groups to meet the particular needs of their collections such as collection assessments, preservation surveys, conservation treatments, preservation training, digitisation, and purchasing quality storage material or environmental monitoring equipment.

Jan Fullerton, Director-General National Library of Australia said,” The Community Heritage Grants program is one of the most important community-based initiatives that the Library is involved in each year.

“Together with our partners we are able to assist communities to collect, preserve and provide access to heritage materials so they can define their unique part in Australian history .”

Media contact:

Yvonne Kennedy
Director Communications and Marketing
Telephone: 02 6262 1353 or 0411 753 891
Email: ykennedy@nla.gov.au

Julia Dean
Media Officer
Telephone: 02 6262 1571
Email: jdean@nla.gov.au


Western Australia

 

City of Albany received $5000 to digitise the Albany Collection that consists of approximately 5000 prints, negatives and slides that document the first European settlement on the western side of the Australian continent. The collection covers urban and surrounding areas of Albany reflecting the region’s strong maritime heritage and features individuals, council groups, sporting teams, school classes, weddings and other significant events dating from 1858 to the present day.

City of Melville received $3000 to undertake a preservation survey for the Melville Discovery Centre and Museum which holds a significant collection of material representing the social history of the area. It consists of 2600 photographs/negatives, many artworks, documentation, oral histories and other significant ephemera. The photographs include the site where the first contact between the local Indigenous people, and Captain James Stirling occurred and the Wireless Hill Telecommunications Station – the only outlet for relaying communication between ships and the mainland.

Western Australian Medical Museum received $3190 for preservation training for its staff and volunteers. The museum, which officially opened in 1986, collects, identifies, preserves and displays items of historical interest relating to medical, nursing and allied health in Western Australia . The comprehensive collection contains more than 10,000 items including photographs documenting the early days of doctors in the gold mining towns, early hospitals, the government leprosarium at Derby, early dentists in the State’s Royal Flying Doctor Service, public health programs and typhoid epidemics.

Trustees of the Christian Brothers in Western Australian Inc . received $3,135 to undertake a preservation survey of its archive which contains material documenting the Christian Brothers activities in Western Australia and South Australia from 1878. This includes child migration, agricultural schemes, educational institutions and refugee and Indigenous welfare support and education. The archives also administer a computerised index detailing the location of records held in Australia for former child migrants to Catholic Homes between 1938 and 1965.

Shire of Lake Grace received $3,300 to preserve, transcribe and make available 21 oral history interviews of senior community members, thus recording the early European history of the Shire. Central to the collection are unique stories relating to the Lake Grace Australian Inland Mission Hospital , one of three remaining in Australia .

Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Board Inc received $5,500 to continue to digitise its photographic collection. The organisation was founded in 1942 to provide physical and emotional support for Indigenous people in Australia . The collection is a permanent record of the Indigenous families, children and communities associated with the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission between 1942 and 1986.

Katanning Historical Society received $4000 for a preservation survey of its collection which provides a record of life in rural Western Australia from European settlement to the present day. The collection consists of documents, photographs and artefacts relating to life in the unique Katanning district.

Royal Western Australian Historical Society Inc received $2,530 for the purchase of archival storage materials. The society, which commenced in 1926, was established to collect, classify and preserve records relating to the history of Western Australia . The collection contains approximately 4,000 books, including rare books; important pamphlets, articles, and souvenir programs such as the opening of the Trans Australian Railway in 1917; colonists’ letters, documents and diaries; maps and journals; and more than 14,000 photographs.

Broome Historical Society and Museum received $5,500 for the purchase of archival storage materials. The collection includes pearling documents, photographs and diving suits, and is an important reflection of Australia ’s multicultural society.

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