What does the Heritage Council do? The Heritage Council provides advice to the Minister responsible for heritage matters in New South Wales, the Hon. Craig Knowles, MP, Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning. It also provides expert advice to frame the future directions of heritage management for the Heritage Office. The Heritage Council does this principally through a system of committees or panels, each of which has responsibility for different aspects of heritage. The panels and Heritage Office contacts include: Heritage Assistance Advisory Committee Provides advice on heritage funding in New South Wales, specifically projects to be supported by the Heritage Assistance Program and the Heritage 2001 Program. Dennis McManus, Heritage Office. History Advisory Panel Provides advice on the role of history in identifying, assessing and conserving heritage. Provides a link between professional historians and community groups with an interest in history. Tony Prescott, Heritage Office. Maritime Archaeology Advisory Panel Promotes an awareness of historic shipwrecks, identifies areas for funding and research and initiates measures to protect shipwreck sites. David Nutley, Heritage Office. Fire, Access & Services Advisory Panel Provides advice on fire protection, access and service issues in heritage buildings, promotes research into the use of fire-resistant building materials and reviews existing fire regulations. Paul Dignam, Heritage Office. Aboriginal Heritage Committee Provides advice on the appropriate role for the Heritage Council in developing responsibilities towards the protection and management of Aboriginal heritage and provides a link between government, the Aboriginal people and the general community in promoting Aboriginal heritage. Vince Scarcella, Heritage Office. Religious Property Advisory Panel Provides advice on the protection and management of religious heritage property, assists with assessments of grant applications affecting religious heritage and acts as a liaison for religious organisations on heritage issues. Cameron White, Heritage. Archaeology Advisory Panel Provides advice on significant archaeological sites and promotes accountability in their management, formulates policy on archaeological issues and promotes awareness of archaeological resources. Caitlin Allen, Heritage Office.

A message from Hazel Hawke Chair of the Heritage Council Our community heritage The theme of Heritage Week this year, "Our community heritage", I think, sums up what heritage should be all about. Many people have asked me since I became Chair of the Heritage Council, what the word "heritage" means to me. My answer to them is simple - heritage is whatever the community considers important in making the link between the past, the present and the future. Heritage is not about lofty monuments outside the scope and experience of most people. Now, more than ever before, heritage is about cataloguing and preserving the seemingly ordinary places, objects and keepsakes which can tell the tale of a past way of life so powerfully. Heritage Week this year also reminds us that it is at the grassroots level of a community where action to conserve heritage really begins. We can all get involved in identifying and caring for heritage. For our part, the Heritage Office and Heritage Council are determined to open up the processes and technical knowledge surrounding heritage conservation. We acknowledge that these can in themselves prove daunting to people who care about heritage but who are not professionals in the field. Initiatives such as this newsletter, which for the first time will provide a forum for your views on heritage and the State Heritage Inventory, which gives anyone in New South Wales instant computer-based information on heritage, show that we are serious about making heritage relevant to everyone. Heritage Council meets in the Riverina For its second meeting of the year the Heritage Council toured four centres in the south of the State - Albury, Deniliquin, Mathoura and Corowa - with a formal meeting held at the final stopover, Corowa. The Chair of the Heritage Council, Hazel Hawke was accompanied by other Heritage Council members and staff from the Heritage Office, including Director Rosalind Strong. The Heritage Council's decision to hold their meeting in Corowa was a tribute to a momentous meeting which took place in the town over 100 years ago. In 1893 delegates from all over NSW and Victoria converged on the town to promote the cause of joining the then six separate colonies into an Australian Federation. Mrs Hawke acknowledged Corowa's reputation as "the birthplace of the nation' in her speech to guests at a lunch hosted by the town's Mayor, Councillor Poidevin. She also told guests that the Heritage Office had given over $700,000 in heritage grants to the four main local government areas of the Riverina, in recognition of its rural heritage and the need to keep it for future generations. In Mathoura Mrs Hawke handed over two funding cheques for heritage projects in the town provided through the Heritage Council. Mrs Hawke also spoke to school children at Mathoura Public School about their role in identifying and protecting the heritage of their area. The tour of the Riverina also took in visits to Albury and Deniliquin, where Heritage Council members toured local heritage sites and buildings. Special thanks for the hospitality and goodwill extended to the Heritage Council must go to the Councillors, staff and people of the Albury, Deniliquin, Mathoura and Corowa communities.