Australia ICOMOS National Conference 2025
Sovereign Hill. Photo © Medadesignau
GML Principal Lynette Gurr shares her highlights from the Australia ICOMOS National Conference held on 17-19 November in Ballarat on Wadawurrung Country.
The Australia ICOMOS National Conference, “Un-Settling Ground, Our Shared Heritage” on the Traditional Country of the Wadawurrung Peoples in the Victorian Goldfields, was action packed. Almost 300 delegates gathered at the Goods Yard Ballarat on 17-19 November.
The conference commenced on a high note with Damien Bell’s keynote address. This address was the culmination of the November 13 announcement that the Statewide Treaty Act 2025 had become law. The treaty will be signed in Melbourne’s Federation Square on 12 December. Recommendations followed, including proposed changes in Indigenous place naming to include waterways, parks, public spaces and memorials associated with historic injustice and massacre sites.
The Victorian Goldfields Cultural Heritage which is on the tentative list for nomination to the World heritage list was a focus. Some of us were able to attend the day tour of the Victorian Goldfields and experience this cultural landscape. This included participating in a smoking ceremony at Mt Franklin and hearing Traditional Owners talk about the Franklinford Protectorate School site. On board our coach was Barry Gamble, a geologist, geographer, and mining heritage specialist. Barry is a strategic advisor to the Victorian Goldfields World Heritage Bid and provided a wealth of information about the outstanding qualities of the historic mining area.
The GML team at the National Conference in Ballarat. Photo: GML
Damien Bell, CEO of First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria presenting the keynote address. Photo © Medadesignau
Delelgates could also take a tour of the Victorian Goldfields. Photo: GML
Thought provoking papers on diverse topics including Statues and Truth Telling; contested histories in public spaces; Unsettling Colonial Heritage such as the Crowther Statue in Franklin Square, Tasmania; Hauntings in the landscape, GeoHeritage and GeoTourims; a social media analysis of Pop-culture tourism at Grayfrairs Kirkyard in Edinburgh, a graveyard that inspired Harry Potter; cautionary tales about AI and its impact on heritage researchers and data scientists (“…AI is not going to replace embodied knowledge of humans… there needs to be a human in the loop”); a community saving Berrima Gaol; Kate Clarke’s discussion about cultural heritage being holistic and embedded in wellbeing, values and community; interpretations of the Eureka flag; Dark Tourism of Jan Pieterszoon Coen in Indonesia; and… so much more.
The conference dinner at Sovereign Hill, lunches and the coffee cart, as well as the various historic tours of the township, museums, gold rush collections and craft centres around Ballarat provided opportunities for conversations.
Not even rain could dampen enthusiasm—the Ballarat Self-Guided Night walk through the town centre went ahead—stopping to hear a local band entertain us from the Titanic Memorial bandstand, while we took refuge in the Ballarat Mechanical Institute before being refreshed at the Hop Temple networking event.
Now for the many GMLer’s that attended, Briannon Dudek, Christina Dyson, Edwina Jans, Emma Moore, Helen Doyle, Hendry Wan, Lynette Gurr and Rachel Jackson, its sharing their learnings and putting it into practice.
GML Associate Dr Helen Doyle presenting at the conference. Photo © Medadesignau
Tours and the conference dinner were held at Sovereign Hill. Photo: GML
