Holocaust centre vision unveiled

The vision for Canberra’s National Holocaust Memorial and Education Centre was unveiled to Jewish communal leaders and philanthropists at a Sydney lunch on April 22.

Former Labor government minister andn National Holocaust Memorial and Education Centre president Mike Kelly told The AJN the intent is “to create an institution here that isn’t trying to do anything that anybody else is doing”, but rather complement the efforts of other organisations in the battle against antisemitism.

The centre will focus on education rather than collections, targeting the 165,000 students who visit Canberra annually for school trips.

“What this institution is about is taking the opportunity, the unique opportunity of the education tourism process here,” Kelly told The AJN.

“Thirty per cent of them come from places that are so remote and rural that they’ll never have that opportunity to even meet a Jew, let alone be able to go to our museums in the capital cities.”

Last Wednesday’s lunch was hosted by communal philanthropist Bruce Solomon and attended by representatives from the JCA NSW, Melbourne Holocaust Museum, Sydney Jewish Museum and other major institutions.

Kelly said the response from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, with communal leaders understanding the unique nature of the project and its potential to complement existing institutions.

“I certainly came away with a renewed sense of purpose and mission,” he said.

Kelly said the centre would maintain a “sibling relationship” with existing museums, aiming to promote enthusiasm among students to visit those institutions while focusing on inoculating children against antisemitism during critical years of cognitive development.

“The key opportunity there is to really focus on this issue of the process of othering and to inoculate these kids against antisemitism in those really critical years of cognitive development and building a moral foundation,” he said.

The centre plans to submit to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, positioning itself as part of the remedy to combat antisemitism through education.

Kelly said the centre would function as an innovation hub and laboratory for education science, working with the University of Canberra to research and refine teacher approaches that could be adopted by schools across Australia.

Kelly, who is an adjunct professor at the National Security Institute at the University of Canberra, said the model would use student teachers as facilitators, forming part of their practical studies component, and could potentially be replicated nationwide.

The project aims to open by March 31, 2029, under the Commonwealth grant timeline.