Advocacy and Memberships

My passion for history is reflected in my decades-long advocacy for heritage and Public History, often as a volunteer service. This work is inspired by my strong belief that the more that people engage with our heritage places, then the more they will care about them. This leads to a greater public desire to respect our history and protect heritage.

I am a Director of Brisbane Living Heritage (2023-current) and have served on the council of the Queensland branch of the National Trust of Australia (2013), and the committee of the Brisbane Southside History Network.

I am a Honorary Lifetime Member of the Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society, which I co-founded in 2003 and still serve on the management committee of. I have been involved in history projects at the South Brisbane Cemetery since 2003 and was a co-founder of the Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery (Inc.) as an incorporated association in 2017 (the group was initially created as an unincorporated entity in 2005).

I have long been a passionate advocate for creating ‘Arts and Heritage Hubs’ in historical sites. This includes founding the Boggo Arts and Heritage Alliance to lobby for Boggo Road Gaol to be opened up as an arts and heritage venue, and also working on arts events at the South Brisbane Cemetery such as ‘Whistling Past the Graveyard‘ (2023, 2024, consultant) and ‘Tombstone Folk’ (2017, organiser).

I initiated the ‘Stories in Stone‘ cemetery heritage conference in 2024, held with the Royal Historical Society of Qld, and set up the ongoing Stories in Stone organising committee in 2025.

I organised the popular ‘Guardian Angel‘ events during 2018-24, which became Australia’s largest community cemetery cleaning programme, and initiated and managed the innovative “‘State of the Cemetery’ Report” for the FOSBC in 2022/23.

I am also an advocate for historical integrity and respect in Public History. My work in this field has resulted in the prohibition of commercial ‘ghost hunting’ in Brisbane cemeteries and Boggo Road Gaol; improved marketing for cemetery tours; the prohibition of disrespectful activities by commercial tour operators in Wolston House (and the exposure of their similar actions in Ipswich cemeteries); and the debunking of dozens of examples of ‘Fake History’ tales around southeast Queensland.

In 2022 I drove the successful fight for equitable access to Toowong Cemetery for community organisations, with the Brisbane City Council overturning their previous decision to stop not-for-profit night tours taking place there.

In 2018 I identified the impending 750th anniversary of the founding of my hometown of Heywood, Lancashire (an event that was about to pass unnoticed) and successfully lobbied for some municipal commemoration of the anniversary (a large marker was unveiled in the town centre in 2020).

All this work demonstrates my commitment to community service, honest history, and ability to build public support for heritage.