Australian best practice guide to collecting cultural material

This resource outlines principles and standards to assist Australia’s institutions when acquiring cultural material, whether through purchase, gift, bequest or exchange. This guide can be used by collecting institutions when developing their policies and setting out their principles for due diligence research and other processes required when considering an acquisition. Sections of this guide may also apply to cultural material being considered for inward loan.

The Australian Best Practice Guide to Collecting Cultural Material is a guide rather than a mandatory code. It will assist institutions in following due diligence practices to ensure acquired or borrowed cultural material has legal title, established provenance, is authentic and has not been identified as having been looted or illegally obtained or exported.

It provides a useful flowchart in acquiring cultural material, national and international resource lists, a glossary of terms and detailed information about our national, international legal obligations.

More information can be found on the Office of the Arts website and the resource is available in both Word and pdf formats.