Black Dust & Community Strength secures government funding

WONTHAGGI & District Historical Society is one of 42 organisations announced yesterday that will share in $350,000 of funding from the Local History Grants Program.

The local historical society has been awarded $7150 for Black Dust & Community Strength: A digital history of Wonthaggi and district.

In making the announcement yesterday, Minister for Government Services Gabrielle Williams confirmed that the program will continue into 2025.

Other projects approved for funding include newspaper and photograph digitisation works, memorial websites, digital histories, oral histories and archiving projects.

Deafblind Victoria was awarded $13,465 for their web and video interview project capturing the stories of the Deafblind community since 1988, while City of Ballarat Libraries received $10,000 to preserve two volumes on Australian flora from a 1792 French expedition.

The Ethnic Community Broadcasting Association of Victoria was awarded $14,950 to record a series of oral histories of long-standing volunteers, and the North Richmond Community Health Centre received $14,909 for its 50th anniversary oral histories and e-book.

The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre was granted $9140 to catalogue its collection of images, artefacts, and documents for its 75th anniversary, while Bendigo Heritage Attractions will receive $9712 to preserve the history of its gold mine, tramways and Joss House Temple.

The Labor Government is supporting the next round of the Local History Grants Program and Victorian Community History Awards, with applications to open later this year.

A detailed list of all the projects funded through the Local History Grants Program can be found at prov.vic.gov.au.