History Council Annual Report for 2019-2020

Emeritus Professor Jenny Gregory AM FRHS
Retiring President

The 2019/2020 Committee of the History Council of WA was as follows:

President Jenny Gregory, Vice President Bobbie Oliver (Australian Society for Labour History), Secretary Lucy Hair, Membership Secretary Pam Harris (Fremantle History Society), Treasurer Nick Drew (Royal Western Australian Historical Society); Committee members: Bruce Baskerville (Centre for WA History, University of Western Australia), Jean Butler, Kyra Edwards (Indigenous Representative), Deborah Gare (Notre Dame University), Vanessa Kirkham/Sharron Turner (History Teachers Association of WA), Bri McKenzie, Geoff Moor, Helen Munt (Professional Historians Association), Samantha Owen, Cindy Solonec (Indigenous Representative), Pamela Statham Drew (Friends of Battye), John Toohey.

Jenny expressed her gratitude to all Committee members for their contribution of time, knowledge and expertise.

Three members of the Committee, Pamela Statham Drew, Sharron Turner and Jean Butler, did not seek re-election because of other commitments. All have made a valuable contribution, particularly Pamela who has been on the committee for 4 years and whose breadth of expertise has been extremely helpful. We thank them very much for their input.  

Communication is an important part of the History Council’s role. We have continued to post items of interest on the History Council of WA Facebook site, which now has more than 1730 followers. The Quarterly Newsletters continue to be used to update members on matters of interest.  The role of Editor rotates among committee members.  

Since its launch at our last AGM on 22 August 2019, the Value of History Statement has been included with all our correspondence, sent to all members of State Parliament, posted on our Facebook page and shared on other social media pages — libraries, museums and history practitioners, Family History Association, and History at UWA.  It has also been distributed to History departments at each of the universities. The statement can be endorsed on our website.

In her report Jenny outlined the business and other matters undertaken by the Committee and Executive and contribution of members. A full copy of the report is available from the Secretary.  Highlights and major issues included the following: 

Formal submissions lodged:

  • UWA Publishing: a submission was made to The University of WA urging retention of UWA Publishing which is being reviewed.

  • Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 review: having made submissions to Phase 1 and 2 of the review, the History Council is expecting to make a final submission on the Aboriginal Heritage Bill which will be submitted to parliament by the end of 2021.

  • Senate Inquiry into ‘Nationhood, national identity and democracy’: a submission was made to the Senate.

  • Australian War Memorial Proposed Redevelopment: a submission arguing against the development, in line with other History Councils, was made to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works.

Other advocacy:

  • National Archives of Australia, feedback on the new reading room and offices.

  • City of Perth History Centre: Helen Munt represents History Council on the City of Perth Cultural Advisory Committee, City of Perth officers presented to Committee at the March 2020 meeting

  • City of Fremantle History Centre: the History Council has corresponded with the City of Fremantle regarding the establishment of a new home for the collection in the City’s new premises and the level of staffing to support the collection.

  • State Library of WA: Jenny and Bobbie met with Margaret Allen (SLWA) and Damian Shepherd (SRO) and were encouraged to make a submission to the Minister and Director General regarding reductions in SLWA services. Damian also made a presentation to the Committee at their August meeting.

  • Curtin University: wrote expressing support for the contract history lectureship.

  • Discussions with the other History Councils (HCA): SA, Victoria and New South Wales regarding collaboration on national issues.

  • Commonwealth University Funding for History: the Higher Education Support Amendment Bill 2020 doubles the cost of history units for students and reduces the funding available for universities to teach history. HCA issued a media release and made a submission to government.

  • Letter to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and issued a media release expressing our concerns regarding the destruction of Aboriginal heritage listed sites.

  • History in Years 11 and 12: formed a working party (Bri McKenzie, Vanessa Kirkham, Samantha Owens, Kyra Edwards) to assist in promotion of history through HASS.

  • Bicentenary: we wrote again to the Premier and Minister for Local Government, Heritage, Culture and the Arts, requesting information about plans to establish a Committee to plan for 2029 and offered History Council representation on the committee. 

Membership base:

Membership numbers increased slightly in the past year. At the end of June 2020, the History Council had 63 members (24 corporate and 39 individual). However, the numbers over the past five years are generally considerably lower than when the History Council was first established. The reason for this reduction is not clear. It is unlikely that 2019/2020 numbers have been affected by the pandemic as subscriptions are usually received at the beginning of the financial year. Prior to the pandemic, there was an economic downturn with many redundancies and retirements among knowledgeable staff employed in corporate member organisations.  We are also aware of the reduced number of staff in history departments in the state’s five universities and the increasing age of some members. 

Events: several events, when social distancing restrictions allowed, were held in 2019/20

  • AGM and Annual History Council Lecture: the History Council’s 16th Annual Lecture was given by Bill Bunbury OAM, for many years Australia’s best-known oral historian and social history broadcaster, who gave a moving address on the value of oral history.  The Value of History Statement, a joint statement being released at each state AGM by the four History Councils of Australia, was then launched.

  • Ideas Forum: held Sunday 13 October 2019 at RWAHS with representatives from many organisations. The afternoon was divided into two sections to enable us to discuss ideas for History Council action and for 2029 commemorations. It was a very valuable initiative.

  • Truth Telling Forum: the History Council hosted this important event jointly with Reconciliation WA on Sunday afternoon 10 November 2019 in the SLWA Theatre. We are grateful to our sponsors; SLWA who provided the venue gratis, BHP who sponsored the flight and accommodation for our guest speaker Professor John Maynard, University of Newcastle, and Freehills who sponsored the afternoon tea. The History Council funded the Welcome to Country by Sandra Harbin from UWA and contributed to the flight costs of Aileen Walsh from ANU. The event, which was attended by around 200 enthusiastic participants, was recorded and a podcast, now on the History Council website.

  • Christmas Sundowner: on Thursday 5 December 2019, members of the History Council of WA and the Professional Historians Association (WA) attended a Christmas Sundowner at the recently restored National Hotel in Fremantle.

Treasurer’s Report for the 2019-20 financial year showed a balance at 30 June 2019 of $9,124.67. The Treasurer advised that the year was a good year with HC receiving income of $6,242.50 through membership fees and expenses totalling $3,621.77. The final balance as of 30 June 2020 was $11,745.40. 

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