A Committee of the Federal Parliament has completed a review of Canberra’s national institutions, calling on them to work closely together, digitise their holdings urgently and ensure they are adequately funded.
Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories, Ben Morton MP said that while Canberra’s national institutions were worthy of continued support and patronage, they needed to do more to recognise their shared value to the nation as a cohesive group, rather than as individual entities.
“A shared narrative should directly connect national institutions with Australia’s story, and should underpin all the work they do,” Mr Morton said.
Outlining some of the report’s 20 recommendations, Mr Morton said the Committee was keen to see various measures taken to enhance the national institutions’ engagement with the public.
“These include encouraging new migrants to visit national institutions, reviewing and improving access to educational programs for the more than 165,000 school students who visit Canberra each year, and promoting the science education offered by some institutions,” Mr Morton said.
“The Committee particularly welcomed Australians’ genuine interest in being informed about their democracy through visiting and accessing Canberra’s national institutions.”
As a result, he said, one of the Committee’s recommendations was a review to enhance and better align the work of institutions, as well as offering more parliamentary and electoral education programs to the general public.
Mr Morton highlighted the Committee’s recommendation to relocate and expand the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), effectively creating a new national institution focused on the history, culture and heritage of Australia’s first peoples.
“A major national institution focused on positive and comprehensive recognition of Australia’s rich Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is long overdue,” Mr Morton said.
“An expanded AIATSIS, located within the Parliamentary Zone, would include public exhibition facilities to tell this important Australian story in a bigger way, to more people.”
It would also be home to a national resting place for repatriated ancestral remains that could not immediately be returned to country, he said.
The Committee’s 137-page Telling Australia’s Story – and why it’s important report can be accessed at this PS News link.
