In December 2017, the Australian and NSW Governments joined the President of Australia ICOMOS Ian Travers to announce that Sydney will host 1,200 global heritage experts in 2020, at the next Triennial General Assembly of ICOMOS, the International Council on Monuments and Sites.

They confirmed the event should draw $4 million direct expenditure into the visitor economy. The proposed General Assembly theme ‘Shared Cultures – Shared Heritage – Shared Responsibility’ reflects both the global context of heritage as part of cultural identity at a time of rapid population shift and conflict, but also the important idea of shared stewardship, which is highly relevant to Traditional Owners of heritage places.

ICOMOS has over 10,000 members globally – architects, historians, planners, archaeologists and others – who provide expert advice to the World Heritage Committee and national governments. The 2020 Opening Ceremony will be held at the Sydney Opera House, one of Australia’s iconic World Heritage properties.

AusHeritage congratulates Australia ICOMOS on achieving this important cultural heritage first for Australia. Many AusHeritage members are also members of Australia ICOMOS, and the two organisations share many objectives for the advancement of best practice heritage conservation and management, an area where Australian practitioners are pre-eminent at the international level. AusHeritage looks forward to contributing to the success of this important event.