The University of Melbourne has significant Indigenous Collections within its care, including important art and cultural material from many communities of origin across Australia. These include the Donald Thomson Collection, the Leonhard Adam Collection, the Woodward Collection, and the Nancy Williams Library.
The University is bringing these collections together in one home in the heart of the Parkville campus in Melbourne – The Place for Indigenous Art and Culture.
Care for Collections
The Indigenous Collections team is responsible for the care of the Indigenous Collections held by the University of Melbourne. We are informed by cultural, ethical, and contemporary practice relating to the careful management and cultural care of collections.
We acknowledge the right of Indigenous peoples to determine the representation of their cultures and to determine the appropriate care of their cultural material.
We aim to restore meaningful connection and access to communities of origin represented in the collections and to enhance Indigenous Collection knowledge through rematriation practices for future generations.
Access to Collections
Our priority is to ensure collection access to Indigenous Australians with relational connections to the cultural material and those seeking to learn more. We are working to make cultural collections findable, accessible, interpretable and wherever possible usable.
We ask individuals who access or use the collections to act with good intention, be culturally and ethically informed and to support good governance in carrying out the storage and sharing of information with others (practice collection knowledge rematriation for the benefit of represented communities), with respect to the Indigenous Australians of whom this information may be about.
Collection Access Service Charter
This service charter describes the values that guide the Place’s activities, services we provide, what you can expect from us, what we expect from people wanting to engage with the collections and how you can assist us to improve the delivery of our services and values.
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Best Practice Framework
The Place is guided by the following best practice protocols surrounding the ethical use and interaction with Indigenous cultural material.
- The University of Melbourne Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Policy.
- The University of Melbourne Intellectual Property Policy.
- The University of Melbourne Charter for Research with Indigenous Knowledge Holders.
- The University of Melbourne Murmuk Djerring Indigenous Strategy 2023-2027.
- United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007.
- International Council of Museums Code of Ethics 2004.
- AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
- Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 (VIC).
- UNESCO – Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970.
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Our Services/ Commitment
We aim to support physical and/or digital access where appropriate to Indigenous Collections held by the University of Melbourne. This includes access for research, teaching and publication. All decisions made regarding access will be made with the communities of origin at the forefront, adhering to cultural protocols. We strive to enhance collection knowledge for the communities represented.
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What you can expect from us
- We will treat people with respect and courtesy.
- We will communicate all necessary information with honesty and transparency.
- We will respond to all access requests promptly and respectfully.
- Where appropriate, we will provide physical or digital access to collections for communities of origin and individuals with approved access requests.
- Please note that whilst we can provide access to collections, we do not have the resources or capacity to assist on research projects.
Timelines and Correspondence
- You will receive an email confirmation of your access request submission, which includes a summary of the data you provided for your records.
- You will be notified of the outcome of your access request within 90 working days of your submission. This allows for your request to be tabled at our monthly access committee meetings.
Please note that currently there is moratorium on access to Indigenous Collections, due to the transfer of the Donald Thomson Collection from Museums Victoria to the University of Melbourne (August 2023 – December 2024). This is to ensure the safe and careful relocation of items to the University’s collection store facilities.
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What we expect from you
- To act with respect and professionalism towards the cultural material, communities of origin and collections staff.
- To adhere to The Place’s Values and the University of Melbourne’s Appropriate Workplace Behaviour Policy.
- You have read and understood The Place’s Conditions of Access.
- An understanding that the collections we hold in our care represent a wide range of communities of origin which often have many stakeholders, engagement may be complex and require sensitivity and patience.
- An acknowledgement that communities of origin represented in the collection have authority over the use of their cultural material and can negotiate its use.