The Australian Government is encouraging people involved in the collections and cultural heritage sector to have their say on an update to Significance 2.0: a guide to assessing the significance of collections. Refreshing this guide is an action under National Cultural Policy, Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place.
Significance 2.0 aims to help collecting organisations, collections professionals and the broader public to determine the significance of cultural and heritage objects.
It is widely used in Australia to guide policies and processes in the Gallery, Library, Archive and Museum sectors; as a teaching tool in university courses related to collections and cultural heritage management; and as the basis for some grant programs and decisions related to the management of our national cultural heritage. It was the basis for the United Kingdom’s 2018 Reviewing Significance 3.0 guide and there are Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese and Swedish versions in use today.
Produced in 2009, the guide needs to be refreshed to reflect changes in collecting attitudes and procedures that have emerged over the past 15 years. We want to hear your views on how best to achieve this.
Feedback gathered through the consultation process will inform the development of a new and valuable contemporary guide to assessing the significance of the cultural objects held in collections in Australia and around the world.
It will help private and institutional collectors meet international best practice standards in the management of collections and cultural heritage and the principles of our National Cultural Policy, Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place.
You can provide your input to this process by submitting a written submission here by 18 August 2024. Alternatively, you can email your feedback to significance@arts.gov.au.
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