Working with Communities and World Heritage Places: Local, Professional and Educational Communities and the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority

Abstract

The Port Arthur, Coal Mines and Cascades Female Factory Historic Sites are 3 of the 11 places that comprise the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage property. With Port Arthur having celebrated 100 years as an actively managed heritage reserve in 2016, the histories of our sites are as much histories of heritage management as they are of penal transportation and convictism. The Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority (PAHSMA) is tasked with managing these precious manifestations of Australia’s history and equally charged with the responsibility to manage the more local, post-convict stories of these places and their associated people. This would not be possible without actively engaging with local, professional, and educational communities. This chapter explores how the Authority engages with people and groups who reflect a multiplicity of community interests in our heritage places and how these relationships ensure the multiple histories of our places are researched, presented, and valued.