Heritage

Our portfolio of built heritage dates from as early as 1793 up to 1950 and comprises some of the most significant historic buildings in the country, including early colonial homesteads, convict sites, civic institutions, working-class Victorian-era terraces, archaeological sites, and a mid-20th-century modernist icon of domestic architecture.

MHNSW is committed to conserving these valuable legacies from the past and ensuring that these places will continue to be experienced and enjoyed by current and future generations.

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Our approach

At MHNSW, we are committed to maintaining the museums, landscapes and collections in our care with integrity and authenticity. Our approach is underpinned by the Burra Charter, created by Australia ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites), which advocates a cautious approach to conserving a place or an object, changing as much as necessary but as little as possible to ensure that the significance of the place or object is maintained. Accordingly, we practise the principles of minimal intervention and reversibility (meaning that any intervention or treatment can be undone without damaging the object), and use appropriate materials and traditional trades.

Conservation is an integral aspect of managing places of cultural significance and an ongoing responsibility. Each of our places has an individual plan for its conservation and management that embraces the specific qualities, significance and histories of that place and guides our approach to conservation works there. MHNSW has commenced a program of updates to these conservation management plans to ensure they are aligned with best practice guidelines.

Heritage conservation projects

The Heritage, Building & Facilities, and Capital Projects teams at MHNSW work with a range of external specialists to expertly conserve our significant places. Prioritising traditional materials and techniques wherever possible, we undertake annual maintenance and capital works programs to conserve and safeguard these places for the public now and into the future.

The range of projects we manage is varied, and work is always underpinned by the expertise of staff in our Curatorial & Research, Collections, and Horticulture teams.