‘Working together to sustain regional cultural diversity’
held 25-26 August 2005, Wellington, New Zealand.

The delegates of the inaugural Australia and New Zealand joint forum on cultural heritage and sustainability, recognising that cultural heritage is a valuable resource; affirming the need to enhance public and government awareness of cultural heritage and its value as an economic and social driver; stressing that the New Zealand and Australian heritage industries have a role and responsibility to contribute to the sustainability of cultural diversity; acknowledging the historical ties between our two countries and their distinctive cultural identities; and in order to develop collaborative frameworks, relationships and opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region, hereby assert the following:

1.The Forum recognises the need to identify existing Australia-New Zealand strategic, economic and trade frameworks and explore these as mechanisms for delivery of cultural heritage services to the Asia-Pacific.

2.The Forum recognises the need for formal partnerships between AusHeritage and New Zealand cultural heritage organisations to achieve more effective collaboration in the Asia-Pacific region.

3.The Forum recognises that communication between the cultural heritage sector in New Zealand and AusHeritage is critical for future cooperation. It further recognises that this communication should extend more broadly into Asia and the Pacific.

4.The Forum affirms the need for cooperation through joint cultural heritage management projects incorporating government, academic and private sectors.

5.The Forum recommends that heritage organisations in New Zealand and Australia work together to develop joint projects in specific areas recognising the special relationships between people, culture and the environment.

6.The Forum advocates the identification of strengths and needs in the area of cultural heritage in the Pacific by applying the Association for South East Asian Nations-Committee on Culture and Information-AusHeritage model.

7.The Forum recognises that capacity building is a key requirement for the sustainability of cultural heritage management in the region.

8.The Forum agrees that it is of critical importance to identify and analyse sources of funding for heritage projects in priority areas of need. The forum further urges the Australian and New Zealand governments to provide seed funding and support as a catalyst for the above initiatives.

Vinod Daniel
Chair
AusHeritage Ltd

Penny Carnaby
Director
National Library of New Zealand

Jocelyn Cuming
National Preservation Office
National Library of New Zealand