The NSW Migration Heritage Centre at the Powerhouse Museum is a New South Wales Government initiative supported by the Community Relations Commission for a Multicultural NSW.
The Centre identifies, records, preserves and interprets the heritage of migration and settlement in New South Wales from 1788 to the present. We aim to give new perspectives on Australian history, ensure a more representative heritage is preserved for future generations and also to validate migrants’ experiences and challenge myths and prejudices.
We live in a multicultural society and the story of migration is both one of struggle and enterprise, and it highlights the importance of family and mutual support.
The Centre is a virtual immigration museum. Our research program is almost completely decentralised outside of the city of Sydney and produced in partnership with Local Government and community organisations across New South Wales. Our research projects typically run for two to three years and are based at the locations where communities live. Their histories and heritage legacies are showcased in our joint and shared exhibitions, located in Western Sydney, rural and regional museums and libraries, where the communities gather and meet.
The exhibitions are very much part of New South Wales’s rural and regional cultural experience. Visitors attending exhibitions at local museums and libraries support small businesses, cultural tourism operators and they help strengthen local economies.
Our exhibitions are later centralised and made accessible to the rest of the State – and the world - as online exhibition and educational resources hosted on our website. They are particularly popular with primary and secondary school students and teachers.
By sharing our migration memories, belongings and places, we are helping students of history understand their place in the world.
A Panel of Advisors provides strategic direction and ensures a diverse range of interests is reflected in our programs.
Panel of Advisors members are:
Ms Franca Facci,
regional NSW community representative;
Dr Stepan Kerkyasharian AO,
Chair,
Community Relations Commission;
Ms Tiffany Lee-Shoy,
Trustee, Powerhouse Museum and community representative;
Mr Pawan Luthra,
community representative;
Dr Mina Roces,
community representative;
and;
Ms Kylie Winkworth,
community representative
