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
Treasures’ sums it up well. Intriguing clusters of objects become treasures in this exhibition curated by PHA member Dr Birgit Heilmann and team of the Hurstville City Museum and Gallery. The objects introduce the visitor to Hurstville locals of several generations. They also explain how the locals’ involvement in business, leisure and home life was … Read more
By Yvonne Perkins The issue of open access has grown from a fringe movement led by a few mathematicians and scientists to an issue that is being debated in academia throughout the western world. Governments are taking notice and the United Kingdom is in the process of seeing a significant change in the manner in … Read more
More and more Government information is now available online. OpenGov NSW (www.opengov.nsw.gov.au), which is hosted by State Records NSW, provides free online access to information published by NSW Government agencies, including Annual Reports and open access information released under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act). OpenGov NSW provides a simple and easily … Read more
By Ian Willis Local studies have an important place in the history landscape in Australia. Local history is incredibly popular amongst thousands of amateur practitioners, yet only a relative handful of academic historians take an interest in it. Both groups appear to have dug themselves into trenches on either side of a no-man’s land of … Read more
A good crowd turned out at Sydney’s Mitchell Library on Saturday 23 March  to hear a morning of fascinating talks and discussion about the Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants National Oral History Project, conducted by the National Library of Australia between 2009 and 2012. The project was funded by the Australian Government through the … Read more
by Patricia Hale PHA NSW’s March CPD session on Researching the Lands Department Records was attended by a capacity audience of over 30 people. The purpose of the workshop was to provide researchers with the tools to locate information in the records of the NSW Lands Department held by State Records at Kingswood. The workshop … Read more
Until now it has been relatively easy to regard Newcastle as a place where heavy industry shaped the city’s history and the artistic and cultural heritage was much less important. Similarly, the achievements of Newcastle’s colonial era have been overshadowed by the harsh conditions of the penal colony and its isolation from Sydney. On Saturday … Read more
PHA NSW CPD February 2013 at Surry Hills Library (Photograph: Pauline Curby) About a dozen of us gathered at Surry Hills Library on Saturday 16 February 2013 to hear Kate Waters’ presentation on doing oral histories with Aboriginal people. Kate is a professional historian of long standing and has been a member of the PHA NSW, … Read more