President's Report | Secretary's Report | Management Committee | PHA Services
This year has been like riding the crest of a wave for PHA NSW. The emergence of the national process full-on has brought, and continues to bring, radical change to our fundamental structures and outward presentation. We have now, with other Australian state PHAs, a common national accreditation standard and soon we will have a common Code of Ethics, recommended scale of fees and numerous other guidelines and Web publications.
Looking back over our eventful 15 years (and 20 years for the South Australians), I would observe that it is remarkable how a fully-organised profession in history has emerged so cohesively on this continent (and including New Zealand) and nowhere else on earth. To us it is an entirely natural phenomenon because other professions do the same thing all around the world but for some reason Australasia has led the way in history. Is it, ironically, because history is so often threatened or ignored here? It is obvious from usage of our Web sites that we are closely observed with great interest overseas and no doubt this will germinate into similar organisation elsewhere. This is something of which we can be immensely proud.
The current 'surge' is also generating good benefits for us. Our membership reached a remarkable 93 during the year and there are about 400 members of PHAs around Australia (including a new association just forming in the Northern Territory). There seem to be more job opportunities emerging, though not enough to sustain every member, and, thanks to our publicity and the electronic Register, potential clients are coming directly to us rather than finding us by accident (or us finding them) as in the past. However, in the midst of all this, the down side of the year has been the wretchedness of some of the repositories upon whom we rely for the resources to perform our work. With impeccable timing they have chosen to make access more difficult just when there is an upsurge in an interest in history and in history work.
All of what we achieve in the Association is accomplished under a crushing workload on top of our normal employment or studies. And, as you can see from the review of our first three-year Strategic Plan elsewhere in this Annual Report, some things we are not able to achieve. It goes without saying that it has been an enormous relief to have been able to appoint Annette Salt as Executive Officer of the Association. We look forward to extending the scope of this paid assistance because the Association can no longer function properly without it. I hope members will appreciate that the membership fees may need to rise as time goes on to maintain our ability to run the Association. Electronic technology is also certainly serving us very handsomely, not only by attracting attention to us and automating tasks, but also by opening up lines of communication. In this regard, Nicole Secomb is to be congratulated for her brilliant initiative with the email circuit.
I would like to thank all members of the Management Committee, all office-bearers (including Annette Salt) and Phanfare collective members who served during the year. PHA NSW members should also bear in mind that members of other state associations working with ACPHA have contributed enormously to tasks which have taken a load off PHA NSW. For example, Cathie Clement (PHA (WA)) is the author of the accreditation standard and guidelines under which we now operate; PHA (SA) members have worked on the Code of Ethics and the membership certificates which you will soon see; and Mary Sheehan (PHA (Vic)) as ACPHA President has held it all together with hard work and consummate diplomatic skill. We are now part of something bigger and I know this will benefit us all.
Tony Prescott, President
It’s that time of the year again – annual reporting time. What to say … where to begin? As usual, the reporting year has been hectic as our profession has continued to grow and consolidate. At the same time the Sydney Olympics and the Centenary of Federation celebrations have provided a sometimes nationalistic context for this growth. One hundred years ago the first history organisation was formed in Australia, and this year celebrates its centenary as the Royal Australian Historical Society. I remain confident that, like our sibling organisation, PHA NSW will also go from strength to strength. The highlights touched upon below give some illustration of this vitality.
Federalising
This year has been one of coming together for the PHAs around the country. Common membership criteria, fee scales, code of ethics and accreditation standards have been agreed upon. All PHAs have committed to the ACPHA processes. From my observations it is probable that ACPHA will become a federal, rather than unitary, organisation although at this point in time it is probably only at the ‘common market’ stage. It has been interesting to note that, while one could expect some PHAs to be more conscious of their state identity than others, New South Wales has so far been within the former group. Who knows, one day we may yet see an Australasian Commonwealth of PHAs!
Executive Officer
It has been with a great sense of relief that the Management Committee appointed the Association’s first Executive Officer (part time), Annette Salt. Annette has already made sense of our once organised but recently chaotic filing system, and through her efficiency has begun to ensure that all office bearers are more acutely aware of their responsibilities and need for timeliness. PHA NSW is only the second PHA to reach the stage of needing to employ an executive officer (the first being Victoria), and this can be taken as yet another sign of the continuing growth of our public profession.
Register of Historic Places & Objects
The $15 000 in grant funding provided by the NSW Heritage Office for this project has now been acquitted. Sue Rosen & Associates have developed an electronic Register with guidelines for assessing nominations. Fourteen model entries were also developed for a diverse range of items. The Association now needs to develop a process for soliciting and assessing nominations, entering them in the Register, and making the Register accessible through our Web site. The fourteen model entries have now been transferred to the State Heritage Inventory database where they will be considered for listing on the State Heritage Register. These types of projects are sure to increase the profile of professional historians within the heritage field and ultimately lead to more work opportunities for members.
Web site
The Association's Web site was formally launched in February 1999. The site includes all the published brochures of the Association, as well as the Consultants' Register. From a quiet beginning the site rapidly rose to prominence. We have now recorded an annual average of over 45,000 (compared to 36,000 by 2000) visits to all site pages, averaging about 120 (100 in 2000) visits a day. Visits through the Consultants' Register front page averaged 4000 (500 in 2000) per annum, with the most visited consulting member's page averaging about 700 (200 in 2000) visits per annum.
These figures alone indicate the value of the Web site to consulting members. The site has dramatically reduced the time and financial resources previously devoted to responding to general inquiries to the Association. The quality of the materials on the site has been evidenced by their adaptation for national usage by ACPHA. Links to Continuing Professional Development sites have been made during the year, and will continue as more such sites are located. Thanks to Tony Prescott and Christine de Matos for constructing and maintaining the site.
PHAnet
Nicole Secomb has created an electronic network for members during the year which has now become well and truly established. The Management Committee has formally appointed Nicole as Co-ordinator of the e-network, and the first protocol has been developed to provide guidance on who may advertise on the network. Members are reminded that access to the advertising of employment opportunities on the e-network is one of the benefits of membership and that to pass these opportunities on to non-members is, effectively, to undermine the standing of your fellow members who have obtained their membership by proof of their academic and work experience.
Public History Review
Public History Review has been in production since 1992. Negotiations continued during the year with Halstead Press, publisher of several scholarly journals such as Southerly and UTS Law Review, to publish Public History Review. These negotiations are expected to be finalised early in the new reporting year.
Phanfare
Phanfare continues its long and unique publication, with four collectives of members currently responsible for producing each successive edition. Beverley Johnson, as Phanfare Coordinator, has been the central hub around which the collectives have revolved. Thanks are due to the Central Coast collective (Christine Cheater, Grace Karskens and Tony Prescott), the harbourside collective (Rosemary Broomham, Rosemary Kerr, Christa Ludlow and Terri McCormack), the Cumberland collective (Beverley Johnson, Terry Kass and Carol Liston) and the three birds collective (Bruce Baskerville, Alison Comrie and Nicole Secomb).
Membership applications
A total of twenty membership applications were received during the year. Nineteen new members (9 Professional, 8 Associate, 3 Graduate) were accepted during the year, and one application was refused (for lack of minimum academic qualification). The number of applications received this year was seven more than those received last year, and included our first overseas application (from India). Provision of electronic membership applications via the Web site has greatly reduced the time taken to assess and inform other committee members of applications.
Committee meetings
The Management Committee continued to meet at the Hero of Waterloo Hotel in Millers Point on Tuesday evenings, and met six times on a formal basis (one less than last year).
The genuine article
As the Association grows and develops it may well become an important focus for future Management Committees to better explain the benefits of membership to members. Membership is not obtained easily or automatically, and is something to be valued. Benefits of membership, such as access to the e-network, should not be taken lightly. Similarly, claims being made by non-members on their CVs that they are members should not be taken lightly. Members who have had to work hard to obtain academic qualifications and work experience in order to position themselves within an often voracious marketplace for historians, in which PHA membership is increasingly accepted as an indication of value, should not be undermined by non-members and even non-historians claiming to be of a similar standing. While it is sometimes said that imitation is a sincere form of flattery, and that it indicates the value of what is being imitated, members need to remain aware that they, and only they, are the genuine article and bring to the Committee’s attention any other examples of such misleading practises that they become aware of.
Thanks to…
As I have now reached the constitutional term-limit for an office bearer of three years this will be my last report as Secretary. I leave the office with some regrets that some things could have been done better, but also confident that I have made some small contribution to the development of the Association and of our profession. Thanks go to all my fellow Committee members for their support and advice. Like all committees, it is the collective effort by all members that ensures success rather than one of person or another. Best wishes to my successor as Secretary and to all the incoming Committee members.
Bruce Baskerville, Secretary
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE:
SUB-COMMITTEES, DELEGATES AND WORKING PARTIES
The Association's Management Committee sets up standing advisory sub-committees and appoints delegates to assist it in its work. These appointments are on an annual basis. Temporary working parties are also set up from time-to-time to advise the Committee on specific issues. There were no sub-committees or working parties during the year.
DELEGATES OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPRESENTING THE ASSOCIATION ON OUTSIDE BODIES
Australian Council of Professional Historians Associations
PHA Representative: Tony Prescott
Alternate: Nicole Secomb
The year saw major activity at the national level as ACPHA's planning strategy moved into top gear. The year opened with the ACPHA Annual General Meeting in Adelaide in July 2000. This meeting set in motion a timetable with goals in the areas of organisation, accreditation, the Web site, and standards, publications and services. A new national accreditation standard came into effect across Australia and was adopted into the PHA NSW Constitution in August 2000. A new national Web site, designed by our Publications Unit, was established in late 2000, and by the time of ACPHA's July 2001 AGM in Melbourne, other national material such as a Code of Ethics, a scale of fees and membership certificates had been prepared for consideration by the state associations. These are expected to be in use during the coming year.
History Council of NSW
PHA Representative: Bruce Baskerville (observer pro tem. to February
2001);
John Petersen (since February 2001)
The History Council of NSW functions as the peak body representing history and historians in NSW. In addition to PHA NSW, members include the State Library, Australian Archives, RAHS, the National Trust, university history departments, local government and a myriad of professional and community groups. John Petersen, an historian working on the NSW Heritage Office and Ministry for the Arts Movable Heritage Project, has served as the PHA representative since February 2001.
The History Council held its Regional History Fair in Wollongong on the South Coast from 11 to 19 November 2000 and is organising a History Week program for September 2001 with the theme of “Journeys and Pathways”. A successful Heritage Forum was held in April based on the theme “Public Heritage, Who Cares?”.
2001 saw the commencement of a project designing a History Council Web page to link the history community through the whole state and serve regional as well as metropolitan-based historians. “State of History” was distributed to members in March and a second issue is being published based on the Heritage Forum.
As well as campaigning on the Noel Butlin Archives, the Council has lobbied the NSW Government on the conservation and interpretation of the Eveleigh Railway Yards, the State Records Act and privacy legislation. It has campaigned against the centralising and rationalising of certain classes of Australian Archives records from other States to NSW affecting researchers’ access. It has also supported the “Vote yes” campaign for the 2001 census and opposed the Coalition’s proposed changes to environmental heritage legislation which limits the Australian Heritage Commission’s role to places of national significance. An informal network has been established with the Sydney Foreshores Committee on indigenous heritage and culture.
To expand membership of the History Council and encourage the greater use of history in regional volunteer run museums, the History Council has approached Museums Australia to encourage better promotion of history and museum events to members, and partnerships between historians and community museums in preparing thematic studies.
The History Council has also nominated judges for NSW History Prizes and the Max Kelly Medal and has representatives on the Heritage Council of NSW History Advisory Panel, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Cultural Heritage Committee and mentors for the Indigenous History Fellowship.
History Advisory Panel (NSW Heritage Council)
PHA Representative: Joan Kent (to December 2000); Sue Rosen (since
December 2000)
Alternate: Sue Rosen (to December 2000); Nicole Secomb (since December
2000)
Joan Kent finished a term of several years representing the Association on the History Advisory Panel at the end of 2000. Her position has been filled by her alternate, Sue Rosen, on a temporary basis pending the outcome of a reconstitution of the membership of the Panel by the Heritage Council. The Association has nominated Sue Rosen as a member with Nicole Secomb as her alternate. Many thanks go to Joan for her service on the Panel, and to Sue and Nicole for taking up the baton.
The History Advisory Panel has engaged in several activities during the year to which the Association's members have made a substantial contribution. Most notable has been the review of the State historical themes. Any member who has undertaken any heritage work will be familiar with these themes. Originally adopted c1992, the themes were due for review to take account of comments from historians and other heritage practitioners over the years, and to correlate the State themes with the new national historical themes prepared by the Australian Heritage Commission. Several of the existing themes have been modified or revised, and a new theme of ‘domestic life’ has been created. The Panel will now be working on a guideline for State Heritage Register criterion A ‘the course or pattern of history’ that will involve preparing thematic histories using the new themes. The guideline and the finalised themes will be available on the Heritage Council’s Web site.
PHA representatives also had significant input into discussions between the History Advisory Panel and the Archaeology Advisory Panel. The importance of engaging a historian in archaeological research and assessment processes was emphasised, as was the need for archaeologists and historians to work together for their mutual benefit.
The History Advisory Panel produced the first guideline for using any of the new State Heritage Register criteria. Criterion B ‘historical association’ was the subject of the guideline, and again PHA representatives had significant input into producing the guideline and selecting the worked examples, which cover a former prime minister’s boyhood home, a nurses quarters, a public park and a hall important in Aboriginal civil rights history. The guideline is available on the Heritage Council’s Web site.
The PHA members of the History Advisory Panel have made a substantial contribution to the meetings of the Panel, and have attended all quarterly meetings for the 2000/01 year. The coming year should also be an interesting experience for all members of the Panel.
State Records Community Advisory Committee
PHA Representative: Baiba Berzins
The PHA continued its representation on the NSW State records Community Advisory Committee. During the year a sub-committee was established (on which the Association was represented) to examine State Records guides and finding aids as a whole. The sub-committee’s recommendations included:
A survey of Reading Room users found that family history researchers remain the biggest group of users and that a high percentage of users have Internet access. In this respect State Records will address strategies for developing on-line resources and services.
The Association's organisation consists of three divisions: Administration Services, Professional Services and Information Services. Within each division are a number of business units responsible for the Association's services.
ADMINISTRATION SERVICES
Secretariat
Executive Officer:
Bruce Baskerville (as Secretary, to May 2001); Annette Salt (from
May 2001)
Finance Officer: Alison Comrie (as Treasurer)
Database Officer: Beverley Johnson
The major event in the Association's administration was the appointment of Annette Salt as Executive Officer on a part-time contract basis late in the year. Her appointment has freed the Association's volunteer office-bearers from much routine administrative work and has led to review of administration systems with view to increasing their efficiency.
Public Relations
Public Relations Officer (Acting): Tony Prescott
Media contact: the President
Public relations activity during the year continued to focus on use of the Web site and regular updating of directory entries.
PHA Internal Network
Co-ordinator: Nicole Secomb (appointed June 2001)
During the year the Management Committee, on Nicole Secomb's initiative, set up a contact network with the majority of members with email addresses. The primary purpose of the network is to internally disseminate employment opportunities which come to the attention of the Association. The network has rapidly become one of the Association's most effective member services.
Social Activities
Co-ordinator: Pauline Curby
Alternate: Nicole Secomb
Social functions for members were organised at the AGM and at Christmas and these were well-attended, the AGM function representing the largest turnout for some years. The opportunity for regular dinner and drinks after Management Committee meetings continued but was not often taken up by members.
PHA Collection - Mitchell Library
Co-ordinator: Sue Rosen
The Association’s collection of members’ unpublished work in the State Library of NSW was maintained and augmented with some new accessions.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Professional Advisory Service
Professional Adviser: Sue Rosen
There was minor usage of the PHA’s Professional Advisory Service during the year.
Library
Librarian: Terri McCormack
Alternate: Eve Stenning
The Librarian’s monthly summary of incoming material in Phanfare continued together with the usual regular acquisitions.
Professional Development
Co-ordinator: Grace Karskens
During the year the Management Committee looked at options for improving professional development information for members. As a result, information was placed on the Web site.
The Association's CPD guidelines and recording sheet were modified for use at a national level through the ACPHA Web site. It is expected that they will be endorsed for national use in the coming year.
INFORMATION SERVICES
PHA Publications
Co-ordinator: Tony Prescott
Alternate: Paul Ashton
Web site Manager: Christine de Matos
Project Manager, Heritage Register: Joan Kent
The Association's digitally-based publishing has continued to attract a huge audience. Usage of the Association's Web site, (www.phansw.org.au) continues its relentless upward trend in spite of major features such as the Links and What's On pages being transferred to the ACPHA national site. Visits to all pages of the site now average about 45,000 per year and rising, with users coming from all parts of the world, particularly North America and Europe. The Register of Consulting Historians pages are heavily used - most individual entrants now attracting 500-700 hits a year. It would assist the Association if members were to provide feedback on the number of enquiries and jobs which result from these visits to their Register pages.
During the year, as part of its participation in the national process led by ACPHA, PHA NSW contributed the expertise of its Publications Unit to designing and managing the new ACPHA Web site (www.historians.org.au) and other state association pages, notably the PHA (Victoria) site. In the process, major components of the PHA NSW site have been transformed into national resources and placed on the ACPHA Web site. These include our most visited pages, Internet History Links and What's On in History. What's On, after a 15-year life as a NSW events feature in Phanfare, has been transformed by Christine de Matos into a history events page for the Pacific region and is increasingly receiving input from other states. Also transferred to the national site is our expertise in designing electronic membership forms, the former NSW forms now providing the basis for the standardised national application forms. Other pages such as History as a Career are in the process of being prepared for transition to the national site. Relevant pages are now also being digitised in .pdf (Adobe) format to improve their presentation as hard-copy print-outs. The benefit of all this work is now clearly showing in the national site, the use of which has surged to an average of about 24,000 visits a year to all of its pages.
The Association's other electronic publishing project is the heritage database, the Register of Historic Places and Objects (ROHPO) which was completed during the year, funded by a grant from the NSW Heritage Office. The work was undertaken on a contract basis by members working for Sue Rosen & Associates. The data has been transferred to the NSW Heritage Office's database, following which, in coming months, it will be prepared for publishing in edited form on the Association's Web site. In the meantime, members wishing to view the database may do so by contacting the Secretary or Publications Co-ordinator. Members are invited to contribute new items to the Register on an ongoing basis.
In the 'hard' publishing area, the major event of the year was the release of Monograph No. 3, Historians and Native Title, edited by member Christine Cheater, in December 2000. This important work is attracting increasing interest and orders around Australia. Also released during the year was a single brochure, A Guide to the PHA NSW Web Site, designed to replace our General Information brochure and to focus attention on our extensive digitally-published information. This is likely to be our last hard-published brochure in the light of the overwhelming demand for information in a digital format (which can, of course, be printed in hard copy as required).
Generally, the Publications Unit is both heartened and astonished by the success of its work and particularly proud to have helped place PHA NSW in a clear position of leadership in the provision of electronic history information in Australia.
Phanfare
Co-ordinator: Beverley Johnson
Editorial Collectives: Rosemary Broomham, Rosemary Kerr, Christa
Ludlow, Terri McCormack; Bruce Baskerville, Alison Comrie, Nicole Secomb;
Grace Karskens, Christine Cheater, Tony Prescott; Terry Kass, Beverley
Johnson, Carol Liston. Feature writers: Christine de Matos (What's On);
Terri McCormack (Library Report)
Phanfare continues to make its way into our mail boxes and those of a number of institutions eleven months of the year. This is in spite of the commitments and responsibilities of the members of the Phanfare Collectives.
The reader never knows what to expect but is always engrossed by an issue. It might feature The Phanfare Game (with tokens) joyously taking the player across the front cover of the issue or an intriguing explanation of how Phanfare came into being. At other times there are less pleasurable articles about proposed changes within the institutions holding the resources we use and value. And always, there are the pages informing us of what is happening around town.
Thank you, members of the Collectives, for your persistence, creativity and presentation.
Public History Review
PHA Editor: Paul Ashton
Volume 8 of Public History Review was produced at the close of 2000 by Halstead Press. The new-look publication has increased distribution and the editors look forward to developing the relationship with Halstead. Public History Review has been generously supported by grants from the NSW Ministry for the Arts since 1993 and the Association wishes to express its thanks for this continued assistance.
Copyright PHA NSW 2001
Web version
Site URL: www.phansw.org.au
Last updated 2 August 2001