Manifesto

We must approach the 2029 Bicentenary with a focus on unlocking all our histories – positive and painful.

We must begin with the stories of Aboriginal people, whose sovereignty, knowledge, and care for Country long preceded colonisation and continue today.

Through telling of all stories and full recognition of our diversity we aim to build a foundation for social unity for the next 50 years.

All Western Australians, no matter where they live, should be able to discover their State, local and family stories.

To achieve this, the Western Australian Government must commit to:

• Support for collections and archives to be made more accessible to people across Western Australia and the wider research community;
• A well-funded, systematic and ongoing digitisation program to increase online access by the public and scholars to records and objects;
• A well-funded and co-ordinated indigenous-led truth telling program to recognise the experiences of the First Nations people of Western Australia;
• Indigenous-led Preservation of Western Australia’s many Aboriginal languages – our great cultural legacy;
• Building the capacity and capability of those who collect, preserve, maintain and share our history – both Government and non-Government;
• Educating Western Australians about the diversity of our cultural inheritance;
• Investing in the preservation and interpretation of historic buildings and places.

The Unlock our History campaign is a broad coalition of community history and heritage organisations, researchers, academics and individuals from across Western Australia.