The National Trust of Australia (Victoria) is the state’s premier community-based heritage advocacy organisation. We are a non-statutory, non-government, not-for-profit, membership organisation formed in 1956. Our role is to provide leadership as an independent, respected and responsible advocate for the identification, protection, conservation, and celebration of Victoria’s cultural heritage – to demonstrate and communicate why heritage matters and the value it brings to life and communities.
The National Trust has an interest in ensuring that a wide range of natural, cultural, social and Indigenous heritage values are protected, respected and celebrated, contributing to strong, vibrant and prosperous communities. Heritage refers to the qualities of a society that are valued and passed on to future generations. Heritage can be tangible and intangible, built and environmental, an object and a practise. Heritage is not a frozen example in time, it is dynamic and adaptive. Heritage it is valued because it carries meaning and stories, which are shared across communities and social barriers.
Whilst we are an independent and non-government organisation, we work collaboratively with government, local councils, businesses, local community groups and individuals, to strengthen heritage protection, increase community involvement in heritage conservation, and provide expertise and support for the many heritage custodians across the state.
As an organisation with a uniquely diverse portfolio across the heritage sector our key advocacy tools include proactive participation in policy making, education, and leading by example through programming and custodianship of our places. We are the bridge between community and government, working towards our Vision that Victoria’s past and future heritage is protected, understood and shared, enriching communities and contributing to an inclusive and connected society.
Protecting our shared heritage involves retaining and managing places that have importance to the community. In Victoria, there are a number of ways that places of Indigenous, cultural and natural heritage significance are recorded and protected.
The National Trust has the most comprehensive single heritage register in Victoria, covering all types of cultural and natural heritage, including significant trees. This is known as the National Trust Heritage Register.
Since 1956 the National Trust has been lobbying for the preservation of Victoria's heritage - and advocacy remains at the heart of all that we do. As the largest community-based heritage organisation in Victoria, we are the lead voice campaigning to protect our irreplaceable heritage.
Find our free resources including as toolkits, discussion papers and reports designed to empower the community to be independent and confident heritage champions.
Stay up to date with the National Trust's heritage advocacy activities, including the most recent campaigns and submissions, by visiting the Trust Advocate Blog.
The Victorian Tree of the Year contest aims to raise awareness for the conservation of Victoria’s natural heritage and the benefits that significant trees provide. The winner each year will be a tree that has captured the hearts of Victorians.
The Australian Heritage Festival is Australia’s biggest annual community-driven heritage festival. The festival is an opportunity for the community to immerse themselves in the state’s rich and diverse heritage, offering unmatched access to unique exhibitions, tours, talks, workshops and more.
Many of Victoria’s most significant buildings, gardens, trees and landscapes would not be here without the advocacy of the National Trust, the state’s leading independent heritage organisation since 1956.
During the post-war boom period, Victoria experienced significant losses of historic places and public open space. This spurred the creation of the Victorian branch of the National Trust, and in 1956 Como House and Garden became the first National Trust property, protecting it from the development threats that led to the loss of many similar places. To this day it remains open to the public, with free access to the remarkable gardens.
Throughout the 1960s we were the main voice raised in protest against the loss of heritage in Victoria. One of the largest preservation fights was for Rippon Lea Estate, which was under threat of compulsory acquisition to extend the ABC buildings next door. The rally for Save Rippon Lea drew a crowd of 10,000 people, and after years of legal battles we acquired the estate, saving the lake, lookout tower, waterfall, grotto and gardens from demolition.
Outrage erupted over a plan to quarry Mount Sugarloaf, part of a nationally significant extinct volcano complex near Camperdown. In 1970 we raised funds to purchase the site, cancelling out the quarry licence and offering permanent protection. It was the first National Trust site acquired for its landscape value. Thanks to the tireless work of volunteers, today it is the site of major revegetation activities, including many endangered flora species.
As heritage laws began providing some protection to significant buildings in Victoria, trees were being cleared at an alarming rate. The National Trust could see that there was a need to catalogue the significant trees of Victoria, in order to advocate for their protection. Since the creation of the Significant Tree Register in 1981, we have classified over 30,000 trees across 1500 places in Victoria, and continue to be the leading advocate for tree protections in the state.
Karl Duldig’s monumental ceramic relief, ‘Progress of Man’, was an eye-catching feature of the high-rise building at 505 St Kilda Road until its destruction in 1991. Its loss aroused immediate community outcry and resulted in the establishment of the National Trust’s Public Art Committee. For 30 years the committee has supported the National Trust to identify and protect significant pieces of public art across Victoria.
The National Trust played a pivotal role in the protection and restoration of the famous Skipping Girl Vinegar sign, or “Little Audrey” as she is affectionately known. We led a public appeal to restore the sign, secured an agreement with AGL that ensures the continuous operation and maintenance of Little Audrey, and won a VCAT battle that stopped a new apartment tower obscuring it from public view.
In 2018, we nominated Federation Square to the Victorian Heritage Register, which led to its protection from a proposed demolition to make way for an Apple store. We successfully argued that the site is a notable public square, of historical, architectural, aesthetic, cultural and technical significance to the State of Victoria, and should be protected and celebrated as public space.
In 2022 we joined the Victorian union movement to safeguard the John Curtin Hotel, which was being sold to overseas developers. We jointly nominated the Curtin to the Victorian Heritage Register for social significance as an important meeting place, located across the road from Melbourne Trades Hall. Our efforts were successful, and the community movement to save the pub resulted in a ten year lease between the new owners and publican so the iconic Melbourne hotel could remain in operation as a pub and live music venue.
