Centre for Western Australian History
About us
The Centre for Western Australia History (CWAH) was established in 1985 on the Indian Ocean’s eastern shores. It is unique for its focus on Australia’s histories from regional perspectives. Members engage with Western Australia’s diverse histories and identities through facilitating historical research and presentation to the highest professional standards.
Our aims
The Centre aims to foster a strong and dynamic research environment for scholars in Western Australian history, and be a leading member of history communities at the local, state, continental and world levels.
Goals
The Centre supports innovative and experiential learning environments in Western Australian history, including through the practice of public history. We can make the connections between those wanting a history produced and those able to produce that history.
Rankings/accreditations
ERA rating of 5 (Well Above World Standard) for Historical Studies
Member of the History Council of Western Australia
Community engagement
- Co-operatives WA
- The Centre researched and prepared a centenary history of the Co-operatives Federation of Western Australia for its centenary in 2019. The project involved working with the Federation, interviewing key members, undertaking primary research, copy-editing the publication, and attending the launch event with over 100 representatives of the co-operative movement from across the State.
- WALGA
- The Centre is partnering with the WA Local Government Association in developing an overarching thematic history of local government across the State for the sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of comprehensive local government in 2021. The project will expand between 2021 and 2029 to help many of the 138 local governments in WA to prepare new histories of their districts to mark the sesquicentenary and in preparation for the State’s 200th anniversary in 2029.
- The Nature Conservancy
- The Centre is a partner in a research agreement with The Nature Conservancy to identify historical reference and resource materials, using (among other things) eyewitness and other anecdotal records, including Indigenous, colonial and contemporary records, to discern historical limitations on scientific data through insights into patterns of diversity and abundance of shellfish in the marine environment across longer-term timescales.
Current research projects
- Collating a visual and historical archive of changing fish populations in Perth metropolitan waters
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The Minderoo Foundation, via its ‘Flourishing Oceans’ initiative, has commissioned research leading to the collation of a visual and oral history archive of recreational fish catches in Perth metropolitan waters. Understanding of long-term change in marine environments is often constrained by the limited temporal range of modern ecological monitoring activities and other conventional scientific datasets, despite strong anecdotal evidence of significant declines in fish populations resulting from human fishing pressure. This contributes to the problem of ‘shifting baseline syndrome’, or the tendency for understanding of what constitutes healthy or pristine ecosystems to slide inexorably towards more degraded states on inter-generational levels. Historical research can address this problem, especially when combined with the methodologies of historical ecology, although existing documentary archives will typically yield only limited information on recreational fishing, despite it being a major driver of change in many marine environments across time.
This project is designed to create a new archive that can be used to establish baselines to inform public and scientific discussion and debate around monitoring programs and conservation strategies for some of Perth’s iconic coastal and inshore environments.
- Chairs of the Environmental Protection Authority of Western Australia: an oral history
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This oral history project has been commissioned by the Environmental Protection Authority of Western Australia to record, share, and provide insight into the changing operation of state involvement in environmental protection in Western Australia.
The interviews are focused on four key themes: the changing social, political and policy context within which the EPA has operated; the changing nature of environmental issues and concerns; key EPA achievements and outcomes; and major challenges facing the EPA. The interviews are being conducted by Julia Wallis, with academic oversight by Andrea Gaynor.
To date one of six interviews has been completed. When all interviews are complete, the collection of interviews and transcripts will be deposited with the State Records Office of Western Australia, as well as with the EPA. Ethics approval for the project was obtained from the UWA Human Research Ethics Committee on 5th September 2023. The project is due for completion in 2024.
PhD opportunities
Academics associated with the Centre are available for supervising topics in Western Australian history or histories that include Western Australian perspectives.
Research centres with
similar regional interests
- Centre for English Local History, University of Leicester
- Centre for West Midlands History, University of Birmingham
- BC Studies (The British Columbian Quarterly), University of British Columbia
- Academy of Hong Kong Studies 香港研究学院, Education University of Hong Kong
News and events
News of events of interest to historians and heritage practitioners is regularly circulated through the quarterly Newsletter and Friends of the Centre for WA History email list.
Membership of this moderated list is free and open to anyone with an interest in History.