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Taking account of our cultural heritage
by Michelle Manly
Recent news stories about the return to Australia of a 25kg Western Australian gold nugget, the King of the West, drew attention to the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act. In this case the nugget was returned to Australia after the prospector inadvertently exported it to the US without a permit.
The case highlighted the Act and how it aims to keep objects significant to Australia in the country for current and future generations.
The establishment of the National Cultural Heritage Fund (renamed the National Cultural Heritage Account) will help achieve this aim, and is good news for owners, collectors, collecting institutions and the public.
Current changes to the Act will enable the operation of the Account to assist collecting institutions acquire protected heritage objects.
The Government made an election commitment to provide $500 000 to the Account as part of the Cultural Development Program. This amount is intended to be maintained on an annual basis by top-ups as necessary.
So how will it work? The primary aim of the Account is to preserve Australia's most significant cultural heritage objects for future generations and make them accessible to the public. The Account will therefore be used to provide top-up funding for cultural organisations wishing to acquire either Class A objects (which cannot be exported) or significant Class B objects denied export permits.
This will result in greater public access to significant cultural items and should also create more opportunities for owners to sell within Australia at a fair market price.
The Account will not be available for general acquisition purposes, rather the main consideration will be that funds allocated are used to retain objects of special archaeological, ethnographic, artistic, scientific, or historical significance to Australia.
Allocations will be made by Ministerial approval on the recommendation of the National Cultural Heritage Committee.
It is expected that funding would usually only be granted to cultural organisations with permanent collections, including museums, art galleries, libraries, archives, and historic buildings. It may also encompass organisations with special collections that can only be accessed by a particular group, such as sacred/secret material held in Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander keeping places.
The amount contributed towards the cost of any item will be decided on a case-by-case basis, but, it is anticipated, would not normally exceed 30 per cent of the total.
Fulfilling this provision in the Act will provide more opportunities for more Australians to experience and learn about our movable cultural heritage - anything from artworks, fossils and historic manuscripts to steam engines and Don Bradman's cricket bat.
Contact
Lois Wishart Lindsay, Cultural Property and Institutions on 02 6271 1632 or email lois.wishart-lindsay@dcita.gov.au