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
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
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