by Terry Kass The year 2010 marked 25 years of the PHA, a remarkable achievement for a small professional organisation run solely by its members on a voluntary basis with little or no paid staff. Yet I have heard that some younger members or potential members have been asking ‘What use is the PHA?’ Though … Read more

The photo shows one of the prize winners,  Sarah Gregory, with judge Bruce Pennay at the 2013 History in July in Sydney. Laila Ellmoos, PHA NSW President and Bruce Pennay, OAM report on the 2012 public history prize, a prize introduced by the PHA NSW five years ago to recognise and reward the work done by … Read more

History in July was held on 24 July at History House in Sydney. Emma Dortins reports. About forty PHA NSW members attended. that it was thoroughly enjoyable to catch up with old friends and colleagues, and to meet some of our newer members. We celebrated history with delicious food (from Miss Chu) and wine, and … Read more

Rosemary Kerr reports on the recent Australian Historical Association (AHA) conference in Wollongong, where members of the Professional Historians Association NSW spoke about their experiences working in the public sector at Commonwealth, state and local levels. The roundtable discussion, chaired by PHA NSW President, Laila Ellmoos, highlighted opportunities and challenges for raising the voice of … Read more

Historians need to become more sophisticated about their audiences. This was the clarion call from the final session of the 2013 Australian Historical Association conference. City of Sydney historian, Lisa Murray, declared herself a strumpet for history – prepared to do whatever it takes to promote history. That ‘whatever’ includes better segmentation of audiences and … Read more

Emma Dortins introduces her topic for the PHA NSW roundtable at the Australian Historical Association conference on 10 July (see http://www.ahaconference.com.au/?pgid=250 for the conference program)…I’m working in the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) in a small research section located in the Heritage Division. The section is made up of historians and archaeologists (known as … Read more

Ian Hoskins explains the value of local history, through the lens of his work in North Sydney. In 1981 North Sydney Council was the first local council in NSW to commission a heritage study in the wake of the state’s Heritage Act 1977 and Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. That positive attitude to history and … Read more

Mark Dunn reports on the PHA NSW CPD event for May, Social Media for the Cautious Historian, conducted by Yvonne Perkins. This was a welcome, hand-holding guide through the world of social media and what it offers to historians, many of whom have been a bit slow on the uptake of these new means of communication.  … Read more

by Francesca Beddie. I believe professional historians can play a more active role in the public policy debate. Many PHA NSW members are working on issues of public interest, for example: social inclusion; migration; native title. Their challenge, along with that of academic historians and those working in the public sector, is to encourage decision … Read more

Debate in the United States over immigration has hotted up as the Senate prepares to debate a new bill, which includes a proposal to caps the number of foreign workers businesses can hire and to introduce requirements for certain wage levels. Sound familar? To inject an historical perspective into the debate the American Historical Association sponsored … Read more