Australia’s community heritage sector plays a vital role in preserving the country’s past
Australia’s community heritage sector is comprised of volunteer-managed galleries, libraries, archives, museums and historical societies. It serves important functions in shaping public history through the collection, preservation and display of tangible and intangible heritage.
However, the sector faces a sustainability crisis. Mounting pressures (e.g. related to funding, staffing, technology) pose a threat to the long-term futures of volunteer-run heritage institutions, putting at risk the diversity and accessibility of the nation’s historical record.
Our project
Over the next three years (2025–2028), we will be collaborating with representatives from 30 community heritage institutions across Australia to identify indicators of organisational sustainability in the community heritage sector and co-develop strategies for recognising value, measuring organisational sustainability and creating benchmarks for sustainable practice.
The major public output of the project will be the Community Heritage Sector Sustainability Toolkit, which will assist volunteers in the sector to work toward organisational sustainability goals. We will also be publishing a series of creative booklets called ‘zines’ and a range of scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles, as well as contributing to parliamentary inquiries on sector-related topics.
Co-creating a sustainable future for the community heritage sector 