In 1993, the Cultural Ministers Council established the Heritage Collections Committee, to develop and implement a range of special programs addressing issues of collection management, access, preservation, conservation, research and documentation.
Over its three-year term the committee established:
- The Conservation Working Party to address preservation and conservation issues
- The Online WOrking Party to establish increased access to heritage collections via new technology applications
Other major achievements of the committee and its working parties included:
- Australian Museums and Galleries Online (now incorporated into the Collections Australia Network), an online service which includes a directory of over 830 museums as well as a broad range of resources for both museums and the wider community
- The National Conservation and Preservation Policy for Movable Cultural Heritage publication
- A national training package of conservation training and resource materials
- The development of a national conservation strategy
- 32 conservation training workshops held throughout Australia
- An internship program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander conservators and people from non-English speaking backgrounds
The committee's membership included representatives from the Australian Government, state and territory governments, and the museum, library and archives sectors.
The work of the committee was continued by the Heritage Collections Council, established by the Cultural Ministers Council in 1996.