Hoddle Grid: Contemporary Aboriginal connections

The City of Melbourne’s Hoddle Grid Heritage Review has shaped a new approach to heritage studies, expanding the scope to include the Aboriginal landscape – pre-contact and contemporary. The City of Melbourne’s aim was to start considering all aspects of the City’s cultural heritage – Aboriginal, colonial, contemporary, community, tangible and intangible. A challenging scope.

The Aboriginal cultural landscape of the central city is both archaeological and contemporary: the Hoddle Grid Heritage Review sough to address both.

Aboriginal people have multiple connections with the central city, traditional and contemporary. City of Melbourne policies seek to recognise these connections. In this project, the project team worked with the three Traditional Owner organisations recognised by the City of Melbourne to document contemporary values for fifteen places, some already on heritage registers for their architecture and history, and others not. This work was underpinned by a thematic history, and an extensive list of places. Seeking greater recognition of Aboriginal perspectives and values in heritage studies and listings is an important, but challenging outcome.