RAHS Presidential Address 2012

At the RAHS Annual General Meeting, the President, Emeritus Professor David Carment AM, spoke on "Local History and Local Historical Societies in Twenty First Century".

Following are some extracts from his address with a link to the full text at the bottom.

The Royal Australian Historical Society has long regarded its outreach role with local societies as being one of its  principal functions. I briefly want to reflect on local history in Australia and the roles and future of local historical societies.

The publication of local histories in Australia rarely occurred before the gold rushes of the 1850s. After them, as what was known as the gold generation aged, pioneers wrote their reminiscences and journalists compiled substantial histories of the gold towns. They tended to be stories of material and social progress. They had long lists of firsts – the first European ‘discovery’, the first river crossing, the first school and so on. In doing so, they established a record for communities still in the process of being formed. They also often ignored or said little about Aboriginal people both before and after the first white settlers came.

The publication of local histories in Australia rarely occurred before the gold rushes of the 1850s. After them, as what was known as the gold generation aged, pioneers wrote their reminiscences and journalists compiled substantial histories of the gold towns. By the late nineteenth century, Australian local histories were becoming more common. They tended to be stories of material and social progress. They had long lists of firsts – the first European ‘discovery’, the first river crossing, the first school and so on. In doing so, they established a record for communities still in the process of being formed. They also often ignored or said little about Aboriginal people both before and after the first white settlers came. Many of these histories were anecdotal and badly organised but the best of them include powerful evocations of past events.

Historical societies set up museums and resource centres that provided those interested in conserving the physical elements of the past with the essential information that they needed to do so.

Download/save full text of Prof David Carment's Address

Volunteer Grants 2012

The Volunteer Grants 2012 Call for Applications period opened on Friday 1 June 2012 and closes on Wednesday 25 July 2012 at 5pm AEST.

Volunteer Grants 2012 recognises the valuable work of Australia’s volunteers. This initiative forms part of the Australian Government’s ongoing commitment to organisations whose volunteers assist disadvantaged communities and encourage inclusion of vulnerable people in community life.  Funding is available to eligible not-for-profit community organisations to help their volunteers and encourage volunteering. 

Volunteer Grants 2012 provides funding to purchase small equipment items to assist volunteers and contribute towards reimbursement of fuel costs, transport costs incurred by volunteers with disability who are unable to drive, training courses and background screening checks for volunteers. 

Volunteer Grants 2012 recognises the valuable work of Australia’s volunteers.  This initiative forms part of the Australian Government’s ongoing commitment to organisations whose volunteers assist disadvantaged communities and encourage inclusion of vulnerable people in community life. 

Funding of $16 million is available to support and encourage volunteering.  Eligible not-for-profit community organisations can apply for grants between $1,000 and $5,000 to:

• Purchase portable, tangible, small equipment items to help their volunteers
• Contribute to the reimbursement of fuel costs for their volunteers who use their own car to transport others to activities, to deliver food, assist with medical appointments or help people in need
• Contribute to the reimbursement of transport costs incurred by volunteers with disability, who are unable to drive
• Contribute to the costs of training courses and/or undertake background screening checks for their volunteers.

For more information, click here.