National Trust of Australia

The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Indigenous, natural and historic heritage. The umbrella body was incorporated in 1965, with member organisations in every state and territory of Australia.

Australian Council of National Trusts

National Trust building, Sydney
Founded	5 February 1965; 59 years ago (1965-02-05)
Founder	Annie Forsyth Wyatt
Type	National peak body for national trusts; public company, limited by guarantee
VAT ID no.	ABN: 54 008 444 684
Registration no.	ACN: 008 444 684
Location	Canberra, Australia
Area served	Australia
Employees	350
Volunteers	7,000
Website	www.nationaltrust.org.au

History

Annie Wyatt home, Gordon

Modelled on the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty and inspired by local campaigns to conserve native bushland and preserve old buildings, the first Australian National Trusts were formed in New South Wales in 1945, South Australia in 1955 and Victoria in 1956; followed later in Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland.^[1] The two Territory Trusts were the last to be founded, in 1976 (see below).

The driving force behind the establishment of the National Trust in Australia was Annie Forsyth Wyatt (1885–1961). She lived for much of her life in a cottage in Gordon, New South Wales, which is still standing. She was living in the Sydney suburb of St Ives when she died.

The organisation was incorporated in 1965. The umbrella body federates the eight autonomous National Trusts in each Australian state and internal self-governing territory, providing them with a national secretariat and a national and international presence.^[2][3]

Description

The trust is Australia's national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Indigenous, natural and historic heritage.^[4]

Collectively, the constituent National Trusts own or manage over 300 heritage places (the majority held in perpetuity), and manage a volunteer workforce of 7,000 while also employing about 350 people nationwide, as of 2020^[update]. Around 1,000,000 visitors experience the properties and their collections in Australia each year.^[5]

Constituent organisations

As of 2020^[update], the National Trust's constituent organisations were:

Organisation	Jurisdiction	Founded	Properties managed	Properties owned	Official website	Notes
National Trust of Australia (ACT)	Australian Capital Territory	1976	0	0	https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/act	[6]
National Trust of Australia (New South Wales)	New South Wales	1947	18	38	https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/nsw	[1]
National Trust of Australia (Northern Territory)	Northern Territory	1976	19	?	https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/nt	Founded by Adele Purvis, of Woodgreen Station.[7][8]
National Trust of Queensland	Queensland	1963	?	?	https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/qld
National Trust of South Australia (NTSA)	South Australia	1955	120	120	https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/sa	[1]
National Trust of Australia (Tasmania)	Tasmania	1960	9	9	https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/tas
National Trust of Australia (Victoria)	Victoria	1956	40	32	https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/vic	[1]
National Trust of Australia (WA)	Western Australia	1959	?	?	https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/wa

NSW

In 1975, the National Trust moved into the former Fort Street High School building on Observatory Hill, after the girls' school moved to Petersham to be reunited with the boys' school, which had moved in 1916. The distinctive building, which retains its appearance from the time of its conversion to a school in 1849, is visible from the approaches to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Australia portal
• Architecture portal
• Environment portal

• List of National Trust properties in Australia
• List of Australian Living Treasures
• SAHANZ, the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand
• Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales

References

1. Davison, Graeme (2001). "National trusts". In Davison, Graeme; Hirst, John; Macintyre, Stuart (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Australian History. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195515039.
2. Mann, Trischa (ed.). "National Trust of Australia". Australian Law Dictionary. via Oxford Reference Online, Oxford University Press.
3. Moore, Bruce Moore, ed. (2004). "National Trust". The Australian Oxford Dictionary (2nd ed.). via Oxford Reference Online, Oxford University Press.
4. Pryor, Cathy (4 December 2003). "A force for the regions". The Australian. Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCO (database online). p. 15.
5. "About Us". National Trust of Australia. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
6. "About Us – ACT". National Trust of Australia. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
7. "Mr. Bob and Mrs. Adele Purvis" (photo + text description). Territory Stories. Library & Archives NT. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
8. "About Us – NT". National Trust of Australia. Retrieved 24 May 2020.

Further reading

• Clark, Mary Rhyllis (1996). In Trust., recollections of the Victorian Trust pioneers
• Cosgrove, Carol; Marsden, Susan (2005). Challenging times: the National Trust of South Australia 1955–2005. Adelaide: National Trust of South Australia. ISBN 0-909378-60-6
• Hill, Robert (1997). ""Heritage: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow": Address to the Natural Trust Conference". Speeches of the Federal Minister for the Environment. Department of the Environment and Heritage (Australia). Archived from the original on 11 September 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
• Wyatt, Ian (1987). Ours in Trust., covers the founding years of the NSW National Trust