Capacity building

Capacity building

Capacity building is an approach to development that builds independence.

Capacity building enables community organisations to gain the skills to manage their heritage programs in a sustainable manner.

Audit on heritage skills and training

We engaged Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) to undertake a skills and training needs audit to support volunteers working in the community heritage sector, and in particular, those who manage heritage sites, objects and collections.

The audit captured information about volunteers working in historical societies, cemetery trusts, heritage tourism operators, heritage property owners and managers.

It revealed strength in organisational liability (insurance) and weaknesses in emergency planning, risk prevention, policy development and business planning.

A snapshot of the core occupational health and safety (OHS), risk and emergency management indicates:

• Only 12% have a written occupational health & safety policy;
• Only 10% have a risk assessment process in compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004; and
• Only 40% of groups have an emergency plan in place.
  
  

Heritage Keepers - a capacity building program

Heritage Keepers was a program developed in response to the audit (above) of the heritage volunteers sector's capacity to safely and effectively engage in heritage conservation activities.

The aim was to strengthen the heritage volunteer sector's capacity to care for a diverse range of heritage places and objects through the operational training and resourcing opportunities to volunteers.

It was implemented in 2008/2009 financial year, and commissioned in 2007.

It was delivered in partnership with Royal Historical Society of Victoria.

The outputs of the program included;

• 2 day training course for heritage volunteers
• resource kit covering Occupational Health and Safety, Risk Management, Volunteer Management and Project Management.
  
• 6 x 2-day training sessions delivered throughout the six DPCD's regions with 88 volunteers participants attending the training.

Background information

Capacity building (Heritage Keepers) is one of the 7 programs we deliver through Victorian Government’s heritage strategy – Victoria’s Heritage: Strengthening Our Communities. 

Heritage Keepers also addresses the State Government's social policy, outlined in A Fairer Victoria, to improve the way it works with communities by making capacity building programs and resources easily accessible.