Dr Vanessa Whittington | Western Sydney University (original) (raw)

Papers by Dr Vanessa Whittington

Research paper thumbnail of Changing the Collective Narratives of Nation and Self? Explorer and Massacre Memorials in Twenty-First Century Australia

RaumFragen: Stadt - Region - Landschaft, 2024

Research paper thumbnail of Memorialisation, Reconciliation and Truth-Speaking: The Role of Explorer and Massacre Memorials in Settler-Colonial Australia

Journal of Australian Studies, Oct 5, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Decolonising the museum?

Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research, Feb 8, 2022

As institutions that arose during the European age of imperial expansion to glorify and display t... more As institutions that arose during the European age of imperial expansion to glorify and display the achievements of empire, museums have historically been deeply implicated in the colonial enterprise. However if we understand coloniality not as a residue of the age of imperialism, but rather an ongoing structural feature of global dynamics, the challenge faced by museums in decolonising their practice must be viewed as ongoing. This is the case not just in former centres of empire, but in settler-colonial nations such as Australia, where "the colonisers did not go home" (Moreton-Robinson 2015: 10). As a white, Western institution, a number of arguably intrinsic features of the museum represent a significant challenge to decolonisation, including the traditional museum practices and values evinced by the universal museum. Using a number of case studies, this paper considers the extent to which mainstream museums in Australia, Britain and Europe have been able to change their practices to become more consultative and inclusive of Black and Indigenous peoples. Not only this, it discusses approaches that extend beyond a politics of inclusion to ask whether museums have been prepared to hand over representational power, by giving control of exhibitions to Black and Indigenous communities. Given the challenges posed by traditional museum values and practices, such as the strong preference of the universal museum to maintain intact collections, this paper asks whether community museums and cultural centres located within Indigenous communities may represent viable alternative models. The role of the Uluru Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre in Australia's Northern Territory is considered in this light, including whether Traditional Custodians are able to exert control over visitor interpretation offered by this jointly managed centre to ensure that contentious aspects of Australian history are included within the interpretation.

Research paper thumbnail of Gender and Human Rights Within UNESCO’s International Heritage Discourse: A Case Study of the Convention for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage

Research paper thumbnail of Heritage from above, below or somewhere in-between? A review of ‘After Heritage: Critical perspectives on heritage from below’

Tourism Geographies, Mar 7, 2021

Although carrying a 2020 publication date, this book is a paperback reprint of an earlier version... more Although carrying a 2020 publication date, this book is a paperback reprint of an earlier version, also published by Edward Elgar in 2018. It seeks to engage with the idea of ‘heritage from below’,...

Research paper thumbnail of Bicentenaries and belonging: Public heritage of the lower Blue Mountains and the politics of place attachment

Journal of community archaeology & heritage, Nov 6, 2019

This photo essay explores some of the meanings of belonging, place attachment, community and heri... more This photo essay explores some of the meanings of belonging, place attachment, community and heritage within my local community of the lower Blue Mountains, on the urban fringe to the west of Sydney, Australia. I argue that there is a prevailing version of heritage in this locality that constructs belonging in certain ways, excluding and marginalizing some on the basis of 'social locations' such as gender and race (Yuval-Davis 2006, 199). I identify this as a local manifestation of what is known as the 'authorized heritage discourse' (AHD) (Smith 2006), through which hegemonic concepts prevalent at state and national levels such as commemorations of white colonization, play out at the local level. I explore how this dominant discourse creates an ambiguity and dissonance in my attachment to place, further problematized by my status as a white Australian, making me a reluctant beneficiary of the colonial enterprise.

Research paper thumbnail of To "reclaim the contours of wildness" : a consideration of the issue of identity in the fiction of Jean Rhys, Michelle Cliff and Joan Riley

Research paper thumbnail of Community Health and Medical Practitioners Scheme: providers evaluate a pilot program of integration of services

Medical Journal of Australia, 1993

To set up and evaluate a pilot scheme integrating salaried community health centre staff and fee-... more To set up and evaluate a pilot scheme integrating salaried community health centre staff and fee-for-service medical practitioner services (CHAMPS). Preliminary interviews with both groups established the aims, logistics and financial arrangements of the project. The community health centre provided staff and the general practitioners provided premises and administrative services. Follow-up interviews evaluated the scheme and made recommendations. A New South Wales country town, population 24,000, with 25 general practitioners and 23 community health centre professionals. Six general practitioners and 23 community health professionals determined the aims to be: improved access for patients to community health services; improved liaison between the two groups of providers; and a broadening of services offered at general practice locations. Two dietitians and three mental health workers were rostered for half a day per week in four general practices for six months. The dietitians continued after the project finished, but the mental health workers did not. The five community health staff, five of the general practitioners originally interviewed and six other general practitioner participants cited the major benefits as increased communication between providers and improved access for patients, and the major difficulties as lack of appropriate equipment and organisational logistics. The providers believe that the project succeeded in improving access to community health services and liaison between professionals. For future projects they recommended better communication, firmer role delineation and better planning for space and equipment.

Research paper thumbnail of Gender and Human Rights Within UNESCO s International Heritage Discourse

Heritage and Society, 2021

Human rights discourses have significant relevance to contemporary understandings of heritage and... more Human rights discourses have significant relevance to
contemporary understandings of heritage and its conservation,
particularly in the context of the key international conventions for
safeguarding the world’s cultural heritage promulgated by
UNESCO. The right to heritage is recognized as a human right
falling under the right to culture or cultural identity. However,
states are the primary bodies responsible for heritage
identification and conservation, and may prefer to preserve the
heritage of dominant social groups. Heritage identification and
management by states, including the nomination of items for
inclusion on the World Heritage List of the Convention Concerning
the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and the
Representative List of the Convention for Safeguarding the
Intangible Cultural Heritage, thus has the potential to compromise
the cultural rights of marginalized social groups, including
women. Existing research and original research discussed herein
reveal a dearth of heritage associated with women on both Lists.
However, the problematic gender dynamics of this discourse
goes beyond simple representativeness to encompass the ways
in which women and their heritage are portrayed. The
Representative List typically seeks to maintain existing social
relations, including gender relations, with negative implications
for women’s human rights set out in the UN Convention to
Eliminate all Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Research paper thumbnail of Decolonising the museum? Dilemmas, possibilities, alternatives

Culture Unbound, 2021

As institutions that arose during the European age of imperial expansion to glorify and display t... more As institutions that arose during the European age of imperial expansion to glorify and display the achievements of empire, museums have historically been deeply implicated in the colonial enterprise. However if we understand coloniality not as a residue of the age of imperialism, but rather an ongoing structural feature of global dynamics, the challenge faced by museums in decolonising their practice must be viewed as ongoing. This is the case not just in former centres of empire, but in settler-colonial nations such as Australia, where "the colonisers did not go home" (Moreton-Robinson 2015: 10). As a white, Western institution, a number of arguably intrinsic features of the museum represent a significant challenge to decolonisation, including the traditional museum practices and values evinced by the universal museum. Using a number of case studies, this paper considers the extent to which mainstream museums in Australia, Britain and Europe have been able to change their practices to become more consultative and inclusive of Black and Indigenous peoples. Not only this, it discusses approaches that extend beyond a politics of inclusion to ask whether museums have been prepared to hand over representational power, by giving control of exhibitions to Black and Indigenous communities. Given the challenges posed by traditional museum values and practices, such as the strong preference of the universal museum to maintain intact collections, this paper asks whether community museums and cultural centres located within Indigenous communities may represent viable alternative models. The role of the Uluru Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre in Australia's Northern Territory is considered in this light, including whether Traditional Custodians are able to exert control over visitor interpretation offered by this jointly managed centre to ensure that contentious aspects of Australian history are included within the interpretation.

Research paper thumbnail of The Meanings of Landscape: Essays on Place, Space, Environment and Justice

Landscape Research, 2022

Reading Olwig’s The Meanings of Landscape I have the unusual reaction of responding to this text... more Reading Olwig’s The Meanings of Landscape I have the unusual reaction of responding to this text both as an emerging scholar and as a visual artist with an interest in landscape painting. As I read, I have sense of switching between these two typically compartmentalised modes of being in an organic way, inspired by the richness of Olwig’s writing as he shifts between literary and artistic references and ideas more closely associated with the field of landscape studies. One idea that Olwig continually returns to is that of cartography, single-point perspective, landscape painting and a politics of power and control, emerging in the Renaissance as part of the Enlightenment (see for example, pp. 8–10, Introduction; pp. 32–38 Chapter 1). Putting these various concepts together, my experiences at art school become more understandable to me, including the almost visceral fury I felt when given the task of using a grid to draw empty space containing only a white cube. Although I could not identify this at the time, there was something about this task that was absolutely contrary to a creative sensibility that requires an element of chaos to function.

Research paper thumbnail of Why homelessness sector reform?: An assessment of the case for reform put by the NSW department of family and community services (DFACS)

Parity, 2013

In its Consultation Paper Future Directions for Homelessness Services in NSW (July 2012), DFACS p... more In its Consultation Paper Future Directions for Homelessness Services in NSW (July 2012), DFACS puts forward its case for reform to Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS), an approach DFACS has dubbed Going Home Staying Home (GHSH). This article examines and assesses some of DFACS arguments for reform based on the perspective of Yfoundations, the New South Wales (NSW) peak body for the youth homelessness sector.

Research paper thumbnail of Closing the Climb: Refusal or Reconciliation in Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park

Settler Colonial Studies journal , 2021

The Uluru Climb, located within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia, was permanently closed... more The Uluru Climb, located within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia, was permanently closed to tourists on the 26 October 2019 after decades of controversy. Determined by a unanimous vote of the Anangu majority Board of Management, news of the Climb's closure quickly captured popular, political and media attention, not all of which was positive. Drawing on two periods of fieldworkthe first in November 2012 (n = 68 interviewees) and the second in May 2019 (n = 62 interviewees)this paper discusses visitor responses to the Climb both in terms of the ongoing coloniality evident in discourses of nationalism and individual rights and the possibility of the transformation of such views via a range of emotional and affective engagements. We highlight the prevalence of feelings of ownership, empathy and shame in the deployment of a range of views on the Climb and other cultural restrictions, as well as their political implications in the context of contemporary Australian settler-colonialism. In so doing, we position an ethic of relationality as key to the mobilisation of feelings, emotions and affects necessary to transform the outlook of visitors in the context of ongoing reconciliation debates between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.

Research paper thumbnail of Community Health and Medical Practitioners Scheme: providers evaluate a pilot program of integration of services

The Medical journal of Australia, Jan 16, 1993

To set up and evaluate a pilot scheme integrating salaried community health centre staff and fee-... more To set up and evaluate a pilot scheme integrating salaried community health centre staff and fee-for-service medical practitioner services (CHAMPS). Preliminary interviews with both groups established the aims, logistics and financial arrangements of the project. The community health centre provided staff and the general practitioners provided premises and administrative services. Follow-up interviews evaluated the scheme and made recommendations. A New South Wales country town, population 24,000, with 25 general practitioners and 23 community health centre professionals. Six general practitioners and 23 community health professionals determined the aims to be: improved access for patients to community health services; improved liaison between the two groups of providers; and a broadening of services offered at general practice locations. Two dietitians and three mental health workers were rostered for half a day per week in four general practices for six months. The dietitians cont...

Research paper thumbnail of Heritage from above, below or somewhere in-between? A review of ‘After Heritage: Critical perspectives on heritage from below’

Research paper thumbnail of Lessons from the Great Depression: how to prevent evictions in an economic crisis

The Conversation , Mar 26, 2020

This article discusses legislative reforms enacted by the NSW Lang Government in the 1930s to pre... more This article discusses legislative reforms enacted by the NSW Lang Government in the 1930s to prevent evictions and reduce rents, and their applicability to the current situation of rising unemployment and threat of homelessness in Australia resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research paper thumbnail of The siege of Union Street’: Working class urban heritage and the politics of remembrance

Historic Environment, 2019

This paper explores the significance of the events of 19 June 1931 at a property in Union Street ... more This paper explores the significance of the events of 19 June 1931 at a property in Union Street in Newtown, in Sydney’s inner western suburbs, in the context of what is argued is a neglect of heritage associated with working class themes and themes of protest within the NSW heritage system. The anti-eviction battle at this property during the Great Depression is noteworthy as it culminated in the ‘biggest spontaneous demonstration of the 1930s’ (Irving and Cahill 2010: 202) in Australia, and is directly associated with dramatic law reform by the NSW Government to give unemployed tenants greater protection against eviction and reduce rents. Despite the historical and re-emerging social significance of the events associated with this place, it lacks official heritage recognition. We argue that this neglect arises from the Authorised Heritage Discourse (AHD, see Smith 2006) as it is reproduced through the NSW heritage system, and support this with a review of local and state heritage listings for the suburb of Newtown, which reveal a dearth of listed heritage associated with working class social history and the broader theme of social protest. The lack of formal recognition of this place, combined with no form of memorialisation or other community-based remembrance strategy, means that these events have diminished within local collective memory, despite the ongoing community relevance of the call for housing justice and human rights that the siege of Union Street represents.

Research paper thumbnail of Bicentenaries and belonging: Public heritage of the lower Blue Mountains and the politics of place attachment

Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage , 2019

This photo essay explores some of the meanings of belonging, place attachment, community and heri... more This photo essay explores some of the meanings of belonging, place
attachment, community and heritage within my local community of the
lower Blue Mountains, on the urban fringe to the west of Sydney,
Australia. I argue that there is a prevailing version of heritage in this
locality that constructs belonging in certain ways, excluding and
marginalizing some on the basis of ‘social locations’ such as gender and
race (Yuval-Davis 2006, 199). I identify this as a local manifestation of
what is known as the ‘authorized heritage discourse’ (AHD) (Smith 2006),
through which hegemonic concepts prevalent at state and national
levels such as commemorations of white colonization, play out at the
local level. I explore how this dominant discourse creates an ambiguity
and dissonance in my attachment to place, further problematized by my
status as a white Australian, making me a reluctant beneficiary of the
colonial enterprise.

Conference Presentations by Dr Vanessa Whittington

Research paper thumbnail of “This is hurting us!’: Emotive and affective responses to visitor behaviour in Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, presentation to Association of Critical Heritage Studies Conference 2020

Embodiment, affect and emotion are increasingly recognised as central to the way that heritage is... more Embodiment, affect and emotion are increasingly recognised as central to the way that heritage is created, performed and experienced, in place. This is particularly relevant to places of contested heritage, such as Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, a World Heritage site of significant international and domestic tourist visitation, that holds specific meanings for the Traditional Custodians, the Anangu, but is also regarded as a marker of identity by non-Anangu Australians. The climb of Uluru, which closed in October 2019, has long been a symbol of these contested meanings. That visitors and Anangu have strong embodied emotional responses to this issue emerged in onsite research conducted by the author in May 2019. The offence that the climb causes Anangu was downplayed by some visitors, while for others, intention to climb was rationalized by race hatred. Other visitors expressed strong concern about this failure to respect Anangu wishes, finding the climb and other disrespectful behavior such as photography of sensitive sites shocking and shameful. The strength of their affective, embodied and emotional reactions was unanticipated, raising broader questions about the prevalence of white shame and guilt in the post-colonial Australian context. In addition, visitors directly connected the disrespectful behavior of other visitors at Uluru with a history of injustice perpetrated against Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, from land theft to massacre, suggesting that difficult emotions may have a role to play in moving non-Aboriginal Australians towards a politics of reconciliation.

Research paper thumbnail of Changing the Collective Narratives of Nation and Self? Explorer and Massacre Memorials in Twenty-First Century Australia

RaumFragen: Stadt - Region - Landschaft, 2024

Research paper thumbnail of Memorialisation, Reconciliation and Truth-Speaking: The Role of Explorer and Massacre Memorials in Settler-Colonial Australia

Journal of Australian Studies, Oct 5, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Decolonising the museum?

Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research, Feb 8, 2022

As institutions that arose during the European age of imperial expansion to glorify and display t... more As institutions that arose during the European age of imperial expansion to glorify and display the achievements of empire, museums have historically been deeply implicated in the colonial enterprise. However if we understand coloniality not as a residue of the age of imperialism, but rather an ongoing structural feature of global dynamics, the challenge faced by museums in decolonising their practice must be viewed as ongoing. This is the case not just in former centres of empire, but in settler-colonial nations such as Australia, where "the colonisers did not go home" (Moreton-Robinson 2015: 10). As a white, Western institution, a number of arguably intrinsic features of the museum represent a significant challenge to decolonisation, including the traditional museum practices and values evinced by the universal museum. Using a number of case studies, this paper considers the extent to which mainstream museums in Australia, Britain and Europe have been able to change their practices to become more consultative and inclusive of Black and Indigenous peoples. Not only this, it discusses approaches that extend beyond a politics of inclusion to ask whether museums have been prepared to hand over representational power, by giving control of exhibitions to Black and Indigenous communities. Given the challenges posed by traditional museum values and practices, such as the strong preference of the universal museum to maintain intact collections, this paper asks whether community museums and cultural centres located within Indigenous communities may represent viable alternative models. The role of the Uluru Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre in Australia's Northern Territory is considered in this light, including whether Traditional Custodians are able to exert control over visitor interpretation offered by this jointly managed centre to ensure that contentious aspects of Australian history are included within the interpretation.

Research paper thumbnail of Gender and Human Rights Within UNESCO’s International Heritage Discourse: A Case Study of the Convention for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage

Research paper thumbnail of Heritage from above, below or somewhere in-between? A review of ‘After Heritage: Critical perspectives on heritage from below’

Tourism Geographies, Mar 7, 2021

Although carrying a 2020 publication date, this book is a paperback reprint of an earlier version... more Although carrying a 2020 publication date, this book is a paperback reprint of an earlier version, also published by Edward Elgar in 2018. It seeks to engage with the idea of ‘heritage from below’,...

Research paper thumbnail of Bicentenaries and belonging: Public heritage of the lower Blue Mountains and the politics of place attachment

Journal of community archaeology & heritage, Nov 6, 2019

This photo essay explores some of the meanings of belonging, place attachment, community and heri... more This photo essay explores some of the meanings of belonging, place attachment, community and heritage within my local community of the lower Blue Mountains, on the urban fringe to the west of Sydney, Australia. I argue that there is a prevailing version of heritage in this locality that constructs belonging in certain ways, excluding and marginalizing some on the basis of 'social locations' such as gender and race (Yuval-Davis 2006, 199). I identify this as a local manifestation of what is known as the 'authorized heritage discourse' (AHD) (Smith 2006), through which hegemonic concepts prevalent at state and national levels such as commemorations of white colonization, play out at the local level. I explore how this dominant discourse creates an ambiguity and dissonance in my attachment to place, further problematized by my status as a white Australian, making me a reluctant beneficiary of the colonial enterprise.

Research paper thumbnail of To "reclaim the contours of wildness" : a consideration of the issue of identity in the fiction of Jean Rhys, Michelle Cliff and Joan Riley

Research paper thumbnail of Community Health and Medical Practitioners Scheme: providers evaluate a pilot program of integration of services

Medical Journal of Australia, 1993

To set up and evaluate a pilot scheme integrating salaried community health centre staff and fee-... more To set up and evaluate a pilot scheme integrating salaried community health centre staff and fee-for-service medical practitioner services (CHAMPS). Preliminary interviews with both groups established the aims, logistics and financial arrangements of the project. The community health centre provided staff and the general practitioners provided premises and administrative services. Follow-up interviews evaluated the scheme and made recommendations. A New South Wales country town, population 24,000, with 25 general practitioners and 23 community health centre professionals. Six general practitioners and 23 community health professionals determined the aims to be: improved access for patients to community health services; improved liaison between the two groups of providers; and a broadening of services offered at general practice locations. Two dietitians and three mental health workers were rostered for half a day per week in four general practices for six months. The dietitians continued after the project finished, but the mental health workers did not. The five community health staff, five of the general practitioners originally interviewed and six other general practitioner participants cited the major benefits as increased communication between providers and improved access for patients, and the major difficulties as lack of appropriate equipment and organisational logistics. The providers believe that the project succeeded in improving access to community health services and liaison between professionals. For future projects they recommended better communication, firmer role delineation and better planning for space and equipment.

Research paper thumbnail of Gender and Human Rights Within UNESCO s International Heritage Discourse

Heritage and Society, 2021

Human rights discourses have significant relevance to contemporary understandings of heritage and... more Human rights discourses have significant relevance to
contemporary understandings of heritage and its conservation,
particularly in the context of the key international conventions for
safeguarding the world’s cultural heritage promulgated by
UNESCO. The right to heritage is recognized as a human right
falling under the right to culture or cultural identity. However,
states are the primary bodies responsible for heritage
identification and conservation, and may prefer to preserve the
heritage of dominant social groups. Heritage identification and
management by states, including the nomination of items for
inclusion on the World Heritage List of the Convention Concerning
the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and the
Representative List of the Convention for Safeguarding the
Intangible Cultural Heritage, thus has the potential to compromise
the cultural rights of marginalized social groups, including
women. Existing research and original research discussed herein
reveal a dearth of heritage associated with women on both Lists.
However, the problematic gender dynamics of this discourse
goes beyond simple representativeness to encompass the ways
in which women and their heritage are portrayed. The
Representative List typically seeks to maintain existing social
relations, including gender relations, with negative implications
for women’s human rights set out in the UN Convention to
Eliminate all Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Research paper thumbnail of Decolonising the museum? Dilemmas, possibilities, alternatives

Culture Unbound, 2021

As institutions that arose during the European age of imperial expansion to glorify and display t... more As institutions that arose during the European age of imperial expansion to glorify and display the achievements of empire, museums have historically been deeply implicated in the colonial enterprise. However if we understand coloniality not as a residue of the age of imperialism, but rather an ongoing structural feature of global dynamics, the challenge faced by museums in decolonising their practice must be viewed as ongoing. This is the case not just in former centres of empire, but in settler-colonial nations such as Australia, where "the colonisers did not go home" (Moreton-Robinson 2015: 10). As a white, Western institution, a number of arguably intrinsic features of the museum represent a significant challenge to decolonisation, including the traditional museum practices and values evinced by the universal museum. Using a number of case studies, this paper considers the extent to which mainstream museums in Australia, Britain and Europe have been able to change their practices to become more consultative and inclusive of Black and Indigenous peoples. Not only this, it discusses approaches that extend beyond a politics of inclusion to ask whether museums have been prepared to hand over representational power, by giving control of exhibitions to Black and Indigenous communities. Given the challenges posed by traditional museum values and practices, such as the strong preference of the universal museum to maintain intact collections, this paper asks whether community museums and cultural centres located within Indigenous communities may represent viable alternative models. The role of the Uluru Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre in Australia's Northern Territory is considered in this light, including whether Traditional Custodians are able to exert control over visitor interpretation offered by this jointly managed centre to ensure that contentious aspects of Australian history are included within the interpretation.

Research paper thumbnail of The Meanings of Landscape: Essays on Place, Space, Environment and Justice

Landscape Research, 2022

Reading Olwig’s The Meanings of Landscape I have the unusual reaction of responding to this text... more Reading Olwig’s The Meanings of Landscape I have the unusual reaction of responding to this text both as an emerging scholar and as a visual artist with an interest in landscape painting. As I read, I have sense of switching between these two typically compartmentalised modes of being in an organic way, inspired by the richness of Olwig’s writing as he shifts between literary and artistic references and ideas more closely associated with the field of landscape studies. One idea that Olwig continually returns to is that of cartography, single-point perspective, landscape painting and a politics of power and control, emerging in the Renaissance as part of the Enlightenment (see for example, pp. 8–10, Introduction; pp. 32–38 Chapter 1). Putting these various concepts together, my experiences at art school become more understandable to me, including the almost visceral fury I felt when given the task of using a grid to draw empty space containing only a white cube. Although I could not identify this at the time, there was something about this task that was absolutely contrary to a creative sensibility that requires an element of chaos to function.

Research paper thumbnail of Why homelessness sector reform?: An assessment of the case for reform put by the NSW department of family and community services (DFACS)

Parity, 2013

In its Consultation Paper Future Directions for Homelessness Services in NSW (July 2012), DFACS p... more In its Consultation Paper Future Directions for Homelessness Services in NSW (July 2012), DFACS puts forward its case for reform to Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS), an approach DFACS has dubbed Going Home Staying Home (GHSH). This article examines and assesses some of DFACS arguments for reform based on the perspective of Yfoundations, the New South Wales (NSW) peak body for the youth homelessness sector.

Research paper thumbnail of Closing the Climb: Refusal or Reconciliation in Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park

Settler Colonial Studies journal , 2021

The Uluru Climb, located within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia, was permanently closed... more The Uluru Climb, located within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia, was permanently closed to tourists on the 26 October 2019 after decades of controversy. Determined by a unanimous vote of the Anangu majority Board of Management, news of the Climb's closure quickly captured popular, political and media attention, not all of which was positive. Drawing on two periods of fieldworkthe first in November 2012 (n = 68 interviewees) and the second in May 2019 (n = 62 interviewees)this paper discusses visitor responses to the Climb both in terms of the ongoing coloniality evident in discourses of nationalism and individual rights and the possibility of the transformation of such views via a range of emotional and affective engagements. We highlight the prevalence of feelings of ownership, empathy and shame in the deployment of a range of views on the Climb and other cultural restrictions, as well as their political implications in the context of contemporary Australian settler-colonialism. In so doing, we position an ethic of relationality as key to the mobilisation of feelings, emotions and affects necessary to transform the outlook of visitors in the context of ongoing reconciliation debates between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.

Research paper thumbnail of Community Health and Medical Practitioners Scheme: providers evaluate a pilot program of integration of services

The Medical journal of Australia, Jan 16, 1993

To set up and evaluate a pilot scheme integrating salaried community health centre staff and fee-... more To set up and evaluate a pilot scheme integrating salaried community health centre staff and fee-for-service medical practitioner services (CHAMPS). Preliminary interviews with both groups established the aims, logistics and financial arrangements of the project. The community health centre provided staff and the general practitioners provided premises and administrative services. Follow-up interviews evaluated the scheme and made recommendations. A New South Wales country town, population 24,000, with 25 general practitioners and 23 community health centre professionals. Six general practitioners and 23 community health professionals determined the aims to be: improved access for patients to community health services; improved liaison between the two groups of providers; and a broadening of services offered at general practice locations. Two dietitians and three mental health workers were rostered for half a day per week in four general practices for six months. The dietitians cont...

Research paper thumbnail of Heritage from above, below or somewhere in-between? A review of ‘After Heritage: Critical perspectives on heritage from below’

Research paper thumbnail of Lessons from the Great Depression: how to prevent evictions in an economic crisis

The Conversation , Mar 26, 2020

This article discusses legislative reforms enacted by the NSW Lang Government in the 1930s to pre... more This article discusses legislative reforms enacted by the NSW Lang Government in the 1930s to prevent evictions and reduce rents, and their applicability to the current situation of rising unemployment and threat of homelessness in Australia resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research paper thumbnail of The siege of Union Street’: Working class urban heritage and the politics of remembrance

Historic Environment, 2019

This paper explores the significance of the events of 19 June 1931 at a property in Union Street ... more This paper explores the significance of the events of 19 June 1931 at a property in Union Street in Newtown, in Sydney’s inner western suburbs, in the context of what is argued is a neglect of heritage associated with working class themes and themes of protest within the NSW heritage system. The anti-eviction battle at this property during the Great Depression is noteworthy as it culminated in the ‘biggest spontaneous demonstration of the 1930s’ (Irving and Cahill 2010: 202) in Australia, and is directly associated with dramatic law reform by the NSW Government to give unemployed tenants greater protection against eviction and reduce rents. Despite the historical and re-emerging social significance of the events associated with this place, it lacks official heritage recognition. We argue that this neglect arises from the Authorised Heritage Discourse (AHD, see Smith 2006) as it is reproduced through the NSW heritage system, and support this with a review of local and state heritage listings for the suburb of Newtown, which reveal a dearth of listed heritage associated with working class social history and the broader theme of social protest. The lack of formal recognition of this place, combined with no form of memorialisation or other community-based remembrance strategy, means that these events have diminished within local collective memory, despite the ongoing community relevance of the call for housing justice and human rights that the siege of Union Street represents.

Research paper thumbnail of Bicentenaries and belonging: Public heritage of the lower Blue Mountains and the politics of place attachment

Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage , 2019

This photo essay explores some of the meanings of belonging, place attachment, community and heri... more This photo essay explores some of the meanings of belonging, place
attachment, community and heritage within my local community of the
lower Blue Mountains, on the urban fringe to the west of Sydney,
Australia. I argue that there is a prevailing version of heritage in this
locality that constructs belonging in certain ways, excluding and
marginalizing some on the basis of ‘social locations’ such as gender and
race (Yuval-Davis 2006, 199). I identify this as a local manifestation of
what is known as the ‘authorized heritage discourse’ (AHD) (Smith 2006),
through which hegemonic concepts prevalent at state and national
levels such as commemorations of white colonization, play out at the
local level. I explore how this dominant discourse creates an ambiguity
and dissonance in my attachment to place, further problematized by my
status as a white Australian, making me a reluctant beneficiary of the
colonial enterprise.

Research paper thumbnail of “This is hurting us!’: Emotive and affective responses to visitor behaviour in Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, presentation to Association of Critical Heritage Studies Conference 2020

Embodiment, affect and emotion are increasingly recognised as central to the way that heritage is... more Embodiment, affect and emotion are increasingly recognised as central to the way that heritage is created, performed and experienced, in place. This is particularly relevant to places of contested heritage, such as Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, a World Heritage site of significant international and domestic tourist visitation, that holds specific meanings for the Traditional Custodians, the Anangu, but is also regarded as a marker of identity by non-Anangu Australians. The climb of Uluru, which closed in October 2019, has long been a symbol of these contested meanings. That visitors and Anangu have strong embodied emotional responses to this issue emerged in onsite research conducted by the author in May 2019. The offence that the climb causes Anangu was downplayed by some visitors, while for others, intention to climb was rationalized by race hatred. Other visitors expressed strong concern about this failure to respect Anangu wishes, finding the climb and other disrespectful behavior such as photography of sensitive sites shocking and shameful. The strength of their affective, embodied and emotional reactions was unanticipated, raising broader questions about the prevalence of white shame and guilt in the post-colonial Australian context. In addition, visitors directly connected the disrespectful behavior of other visitors at Uluru with a history of injustice perpetrated against Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, from land theft to massacre, suggesting that difficult emotions may have a role to play in moving non-Aboriginal Australians towards a politics of reconciliation.