Cultural Policy

Culture can be defined as the social landscape(s) of Australia. The Cultural Policy will promote the place of the people as Australia’s major cultural precinct, showcasing Australian excellence and the diverse social landscape. This can be achieved through a program of activities and events and by identifying opportunities for commemoration and the recognition of individual and community achievement.

The Cultural Policy will identify:

• The broad goals and values used to define the suitable events, activities and subjects for commemoration and recognition.

  These goals and values should:

  Reflect the values of the Australian community.

  • confirm the National Capital as a place for the reconciliation process
  • encourage education and active citizenship.
  • aim to balance collective values with individual concerns
  • increase ecological awareness
  • recognise Australia’s cultural diversity and cultural excellence
• The specific subject matter and the criteria for the selection of suitable activities and subjects. These criteria must ensure that a person, event, commemoration or recognition of achievement:
  • has cultural significance for the nation (as defined in the Burra Charter ‘aesthetic, historic, scientific, or social value for past, present or future generations’)
  • reflects the values of the Australian community
  • contributes to the education of Australians
  • exemplifies Australia’s unique heritage
• Potential core projects and programs for implementation.
• Specifically the siting of commemorative material and events, this will be determined by their subject matter and affinity to a particular campus. Typically:
  • State Circle and its intersections and Commonwealth Place could be used to recognise the States, Territories, and, where appropriate, the regions of Australia.
  • Federation Mall could be dedicated to recognition of post- 1901 political history and achievement.
• The Terraces (King Edward and King George) could be given over to an exposition of Australia’s history, from 1788 to the onset of Federation.
• The Humanities and Science campus would commemorate writers, historians, compilers (of encyclopaedias, atlases and dictionaries), philosophers, educationists, medical researchers, and scientists (pure and applied).
• The Arts and Civic campus would support recognition of visual artists, architects and designers, photographers, Chief Justices and Members of the High Court, jurists and significant issues connected with the law.

The lake foreshore and Commonwealth Place will be a landmark and a place of interaction for all Australians. As the centre for public activity in the Zone, it is here that the country’s most significant nation-creators and nation-definers will be recognised. From here the Walking Track will wind its way through the spaces of the place of the people. Two categories of Australians will be included in these spaces:

• Distinguished individual Australians other than military (as a complement to Anzac Parade and the Australian War Memorial).
• Those who have had an impact on the shaping of the nation.

In addition, suitable subjects to mark reconciliation could be spread throughout the place of the people in general accordance with these principles.

Similarly, the Cultural Policy include a program of national cultural events scheduled to reinforce the place of the people as the permanent home of major national events, ceremonies and announcements.

The development and implementation of a cultural policy will engender a sense of pride and ownership among Australians in their National Capital.