The City of Melbourne sought Context’s help to deepen connections with the local Indigenous community ‘beyond ceremony and acknowledgement, creating long lasting partnerships designed to benefit future generations.’

In the first stage of this project, Context worked with the City of Melbourne to develop a framework design that would help the City deliver policies and actions to protect Indigenous heritage values. The project included consultation, research, development of ideas, and finally consolidation of objectives and actions. Our work was integrated with the components developed by consultant Karen Milward. The outcome was the City of Melbourne Indigenous Framework 2007-2010.

In 2009 the City of Melbourne (CoM) commissioned Context to undertake Stage 1 of its Indigenous Heritage Study, a key deliverable in the Council endorsed Indigenous Framework 2007-11. The study was designed to document the places, objects and stories of importance to Victoria’s Aboriginal communities that are within or connected to the CoM municipality, to improve community understanding of Aboriginal cultural heritage and to provide a model through which this understanding can continue to develop. The focus of Stage 1 was to create the framework or foundations for a more detailed gathering of information in Stage 2, supporting the progressive growth of knowledge during the entire project.

Working from the framework, the team was re-engaged in 2015 to develop an Indigenous Heritage Action Plan 2012-2015 (IHAP) to increase awareness of Aboriginal cultural heritage and involve the Aboriginal community in identifying and interpreting significant places. [Sources: https://www.gml.com.au/projects/city-of-melbourne-indigenous-heritage/; Context Pty Ltd]

Subsequent work for Context included guiding the development of GIS-enabled database of Aboriginal heritage in the city – including extensive discussions with each of the four relevant Traditional Owner groups on the management and interpretation of Aboriginal heritage in the City.