Cultural Ministers Council

In December 1996, the Cultural Ministers Council agreed to establish the Heritage Collections Council to replace and build on the achievements of the Heritage Collections Committee and the Heritage Collections Working Group.

The media release is available here.

The Heritage Collections Council was established for the period 1997 to 2001.

The council's mission was to promote excellence in the management, care and provision of access to Australia's heritage collections so that, together, they reflect Australia's cultural and natural heritage, from Indigenous traditions through to Australia's contemporary cultural and natural diversity.

The council's strategic action plan covered four key areas:

• Identifying Australia's heritage collections
• A plan for their care
• A plan to increase people's use and enjoyment of these heritage collections
• A plan to promote and profile these heritage collections, both within Australia and internationally

The council produced and distributed various publications including:

• National Conservation and Preservation Policy and Strategy: Australia's Heritage Collections (1998)
• Recollections: Caring for Collections Across Australia (1999)
• Attainable and Sustainable: skills gaps in conservation in Australia (2001)
• Be prepared: Guidelines for Small Museums for Writing a Disaster Preparedness Plan (2000)
• Guidelines for Environmental Control of Cultural Institutions (2001)
• Significance: A Guide to Assessing the Significance of Cultural Heritage Objects and Collections (2001)

The council included members representing the Australian Government, state, territory and local governments and the museum industry (with observers from the library and archive sectors). The then Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts chaired the council. The council ceased in 2001.