The Centre’s vision for policy setting

Interest in cultural heritage is growing on an international scale as a development and identity issue. Aboriginal Australia is rich and unique in terms of history, cultural expression, knowledge and experience, both ancient and modern. The aim of the Centre is to develop cultural policies that protect and preserve the ancient legacy for future generations of Indigenous people, promote and advocate community and economic development, strong, supportive families, accountable, competent government and effective educational systems

The aim is also to promote and provide assistance for this process, in order to share knowledge; contribute to a genuine appreciation of Indigenous cultural heritage and the arts, respectful of its integrity and of peoples for whom it constitutes a living environment, in an equilibrium to be found between economic and social development and the preservation of cultural and cultural heritage.

The central core of any culture is the ethical or value system to which members of that culture adhere; the manifest expressions of culture are political, social and economic structures. The ethical centre provides the guide/compass point for human and spiritual action and intent.

The political, social and economic structures provide the boundaries and extensions of outcomes arising from that action and intent. How to measure this cultural praxis and its aspirations, outcomes and effects on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, along with impact of Westernisation, is the task that the Centre has set itself.