Reflections on the opening of the new Charles Bean Research Centre

Good morning.

In the CEW Bean Building and the Charles Bean Research Centre, the Australian War Memorial has a place that brings together its extensive Archival Collection thereby greatly facilitating research into the lives, deeds and theatres of action of those whom the Memorial honours and commemorates.

It is also a place that provides advanced technological facilities to protect and to digitise this invaluable and unique Collection.

And it is a place by which its technological capabilities will enable it to extend knowledge and understanding - worldwide - of the Australian experience of conflict and peace keeping operations and of their enduring impact on Australian society.

The Australian War Memorial’s Archival Collection had its genesis with the establishment in London in May 1917 of the Australian War Records Section under the leadership of the young army officer, John Treloar. The Section was tasked with collecting and organising the documentary record of the Australian forces, so that paper records, photographs, film, publications, relics and works of art could be brought back to Australia, rather than being absorbed into Britain's War Collection. That this collection, vital to Australia, could have been lost to it was Charles Bean’s motivating force in lobbying for the establishment of the Australian War Records Section.

According to an esteemed archivist, it is from May 1917, that we can trace the formal origins of the Australian War Memorial.  Given this connection and Bean’ s great concern for the preservation of records, the re-opening today of the CEW Bean Building and the launch of the Charles Bean Research Centre are indeed historic and significant milestones in the development Project of The Australian War Memorial.

My husband Ian and I were fortunate to visit here late last year whilst works were still in progress. During that visit we were struck by the advanced technology for conservation and for educational purposes. Education was of immense importance to Charles Bean. “Education” was the title of his longest chapter in his small book, “In Your Hands, Australians,” written during the closing weeks of the War. It was his call for Australians to act in the best interests of Australia in the ensuing peace.

Also, during our visit, we were struck by the attention to design detail: how evocative it is to look up at a ceiling and see a relief map of the coastline of Gallipoli; and from a general reading area to be able to see the Dome of the Hall of Memory and all that it represents.  

Thank you for the honour bestowed on Charles Bean in naming this Building and this Research Centre after him. In so doing, it recognises a man whose works - both military and civic –evidence that he was a man of vision dedicated to Australia and Australians both in times of conflict and in times of peace.