Keeping Country: a web-based approach to Indigenous outreach in cultural heritage management

Abstract

Cultural heritage management (CHM) of Indigenous heritage places is the dominant area of professional practice in Australian archaeology, yet relatively few Indigenous Australians take up a career in the sector. The internet is providing new and effective avenues for Indigenous outreach programs. This paper describes a self-contained, web enabled, free-to-user cultural heritage training program designed in consultation with, and for the use of, Indigenous Australians. It includes a consideration of the potential and design requirements of web-delivered courses for more effectively introducing Indigenous communities to the professional CHM sector and thus achieving the longterm goal of increasing the participation of those communities in professional work.