OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE AND CURTILAGE HERITAGE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2008–2013

I0. Collection Management Policy
Part C – Implementation Tools
232 Old Parliament House and Curtilage Heritage Management Plan 2008–2013
Heritage furniture in public areas
OPH will provide selected items of heritage furniture for use in public spaces, but will
progressively cover these pieces as resources permit to protect upholstery (as for seating in the
Chambers), and will constantly monitor visitor behaviour and the condition of the items.
Unless there are extraordinary reasons for doing so, Heritage furniture
will not be used for functions or events at OPH.
Items from the Furniture reference sub-collection will be used in public areas for display purposes only.
Heritage Furniture in Senate and House of Representative Chambers
Access to the chambers will be permitted only when an OPH staff member or volunteer is available.
All of the seats in the Chambers (excluding the Speaker’s, Vice-Regal, Consort’s and President’s chairs)
will be made available for public access and use, once it has been covered with loose leather covers.
Because of their exceptional significance 23 and the need to provide the highest levels of protection,
the Speaker’s, Vice-Regal, Consort’s and President’s chairs are not to be used 24 .
6.2.2 Associated collection
Access and use of the Associated collections is managed by Heritage staff. A Heritage staff
member must be notified and present during access to items in this collection.
6.2.3 Research Collections
OPH staff may access this material at any time for use within the Resource Centre or APMC. Any staff
member wanting to remove material from this area must use the Resource Centre loan documentation system
(Section 4.4). Access will be restricted on the basis of fragility of items, sensitivity of information, donor
restrictions and legal requirements. Access to this must be arranged through the Resource Centre Librarian.
6.3 Staff use
OPH will ensure all staff, volunteers and contractors are regularly trained in the understanding and appreciation
of using and working around the OPH Collections. Refer to section 9.2 Handling, under Collection Care. Detailed
procedures are provided as part of the Conservation Awareness training that all OPH staff must regularly attend.
6.4 Electronic collection database
Collections managed by the Heritage Section are recorded on the KE EMu database. Collections in the
Research Collection are recorded on the OPH-developed DB Textworks system. Detailed procedures
and guidelines for entering information onto these systems and accessing this information are included
in the Collection Management Procedures. This situation is to be reviewed annually to ascertain
whether there is benefit in implementing a single OPH-wide database system that meets the detailed
needs for research, access, reporting and collection management that are required for OPH.
OPH staff will have differing levels of access to Collection databases as required to carry out their
role within OPH. These levels are defined in the Collection Management Procedures.
6.5 On-line access to collection information
As part of meeting its objective to ‘Increase access to OPH products and services both on-site and externally’ 25
OPH will make its collections available via the internet as resources and priorities permit. Any collection
items with restrictions or conditions will be closely managed so that OPH abides by all relevant conditions.
23 Conservation Treatment Manual and Priority Works Program
24 Heritage Study of the Senate and House of Representatives Chambers and King’s Hall
25 OPH Corporate Plan 2003-06 Objective