Broughton Island: community-centred cultural heritage research

A 45-minute boat journey north from Nelson Bay transports you to Broughton Island, the largest continental island off the NSW coast, which forms part of the Myall Lakes National Park.

The island lies within the traditional country of the Worimi people, who maintain strong cultural connections with the island and its surrounding land and seas. It is here that researchers from the Department of Archaeology are leading a broad-scale, multi-stakeholder, community-centred cultural heritage research project, the first of this nature to be undertaken on the NSW coast.

The Broughton Island Cultural Heritage Research Project was established through the post-graduate research of Laura Dafter, a local archaeologist who first engaged with the Worimi community in 2018 to discuss the idea of establishing a research project on the island. Laura obtained community endorsement before commencing her research, and the project has been developed with the Worimi community from its inception.

The research is supervised by Dr Patrick Faulkner, Dr Amy Way and Dr Johan Kamminga, and the team is working in partnership with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) (who manages Broughton Island), Worimi Traditional Owners and the Karuah and Worimi Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALCs).

Underpinned by a ‘community-centred’ approach, which recognises the inherent rights and interests of Traditional Owners, the views and aspirations of Worimi people are at the centre of the cultural heritage research on their country. The Worimi community’s priorities for the project drive the research. “This research is all about collaboration” says Dr Faulkner; “by developing strong relationships with community that are built on trust and genuine engagement, we are able to identify and work towards shared goals”.

This sentiment is echoed by the Worimi community, who have embraced the opportunity to work with the research team. Shai Richardson, CEO of the Karuah LALC, says this project presents an opportunity for the community to be active participants in cultural heritage research on Worimi country. Andrew Smith, CEO of the Worimi LALC agrees, observing “this project has supported Worimi people to get out onto the island, to engage with the research process and share knowledge both ways”.

Extensive archaeological evidence survives on Broughton Island, testament to use of the island by Aboriginal people prior to European contact in the region. However, the island has never been subject to detailed cultural heritage research.

This project is informed by an extensive Aboriginal community engagement program, and draws on the cultural knowledge of Traditional Owners, the expertise of land managers from NPWS, and new archaeological data collected through the research.

The information being collected is significant to the Worimi community. Jamie Tarrant, a Traditional Owner who also works for NPWS, observes “we as a community already know the significance of Broughton Island, but now we are collecting the evidence. Revisiting old records with the research team means we can get a real and true record of what is there”.

As applied research, the project seeks to deliver tangible outcomes that will support cultural heritage management on the island, and the benefits of this are already being seen.

The project has established an annual cultural heritage monitoring program with community, and with support from Heritage NSW, the Worimi community and NPWS have recently undertaken urgent conservation actions at key sites.

Susanne Callaghan, the NPWS Ranger who manages Broughton Island, has observed a transformation in cultural heritage management on the island since the project started, noting “through this project, we now have access to high quality, accurate site data and a better understanding of the Worimi communities’ priorities for cultural heritage management, which is so important to informing our work on the island”.  

The research team is currently working with project stakeholders to refine plans for the next stages of research. It is a privilege to be conducting this research on Worimi country in collaboration with our research partners.

This project is made possible by generous funding provided by the School of Philosophical and Historical Enquiry, the Carlyle Greenwell Research Scholarship, the H.R. Dean Research Scholarship, the University of Sydney Post Graduate Research Support Scheme, the Australian Archaeological Association, and in-kind support provided by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Worimi Local Aboriginal Land Council.