Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc.

07/09/2026

NSW Aboriginal Archaeology Future Forum 2026

Registration is now open for the 2026 Forum, to be held on Friday 30 October at Chau Chak Wing Museum on Gadigal Country. In person and online, all welcome! Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/nsw-aboriginal-archaeology-future-forum-2026

The Forum is presented by the AACAI NSW/ACT Chapter and the Australian Museum, with the generous support of APA Group, Archstone Archaeology Australia, Artefact Heritage and Environment, Beca, Chau Chak Wing Museum, Eco Logical Australia, EMM, Extent Heritage, Lantern Heritage, OzArk Environment & Heritage, Regal Heritage, Umwelt Environmental Consultants, and Virtus Heritage.

04/09/2026

***********NEWSLETTER ALERT************

We have just released our latest newsletter!!!

In this issue, we list out the winners of this year's Student Support Fund, followed by a summary of a workshop undertaken by one of last year's winners, Jon Bennett. In our member profiles, Dr Georgia Stannard, Liz Hatte and Dr Jarrad Paul discuss their various experience and interests. We have updates from the National Executive about upcoming conferences (AAA and NASC), the Dr Laila Haglund memorial, AACAI membership, and our AGM. The State Chapters also share news of recent and upcoming events and activities, with the NSW/ACT Chapter telling us the exciting news about the National Trust NSW Heritage Award they received for last year's NSW Aboriginal Future Forum. Finally, we have a request for volunteers to form a new Queensland Chapter, and a piece about a long lost AACAI newsletter from 1984.

26/08/2026

Big Island Research Pty Ltd in Western Australia are looking for Senior Archaeologists. More info here:

Join a highly respected and supportive team contributing to significant projects and research across Western Australia.

19/08/2026

*******AACAI STATEMENT*******

The Heritage Council of NSW recently put out an expression of interest for professionals to join up to a ‘Heritage Specialists Register,' which would be used by the Council and Heritage NSW to 'access...expertise on specific heritage matters.' Any advice provided by the professional specialist would seemingly be voluntary with no remediation, payment, or compensation. On current evidence, AACAI (as an organisation that advocates for standards and ethics in professional and consulting archaeology) strongly rejects this approach from the NSW Government.

Please read our full statement (penned by the NSW/ACT Chapter of AACAI) here:

Download a copy of our statement here.

04/08/2026

********AACAI STUDENT SUPPORT FUND 2026 UPDATE*******

Congratulations to the successful recipients of this year's AACAI Student Support Fund:
- Emma Jones (Australian National University - Masters) for Archaeobotany of Dargan Shelter, Blue Mountains, southeastern Australia.
- Joleen Brown (University of Western Australia - Honours) for Kaartdijin-Led Management: Developing a Noongar-led Heritage Prioritisation Framework for the Ballardong Region.
- Michael Brazel (University of Western Australia - Honours) for Cold, Cold, Hearth: What charcoal and plant resin analysis tell us about fire use across long-term environmental change at Dargan Shelter in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales.
- Lloyd Robertson (Griffith University - Honours) for Between a Tula and Pit Feature: The Mucklandama Creek Cache and Tula Manufacturing on Pitta Pitta Country.

Each of these Masters/Honours students have demonstrated their research will contribute to consulting archaeology in some way, and AACAI are only delighted to support their projects. Keep an eye out in future volumes of the Journal of the Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists, or the AACAI Newsletter, for more information about their research.

Thanks again to our generous donors to this year's fund: Comber Consultants, Associates Archaeology & Heritage, Wallis Heritage Consulting, Big Island Research, Heritage Now, and RJ Heritage.

More information on the AACAI Student Support Fund can be found here:

AACAI invites archaeological students to apply for funding support for their research project as it applies to archaeological consulting practice

04/08/2026

Reminder to please RSVP to the memorial for the late Dr Laila Haglund if you will be attending at the Chau Chak Wing Museum in Sydney on 14 September.

RSVP on Humanitix - Dr Laila Haglund Memorial hosted by Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc. Chau Chak Wing Museum, University Pl, Camperdown NSW 2050, Australia. Monday 14th September 2026. Find event information.

28/07/2026

******CALLING ALL EXPERIENCED CONSULTING ARCHAEOLOGISTS******

Working in Australia as a consulting archaeologist? It's time to become a member of AACAI, if you are not one already!!!

AACAI is the peak professional association for consulting and professional archaeologists in Australia. We provide guidance and policy, and we promote collegiality, ethics and professional standards amongst consultants. Full Members get to have an expanded profile on our Member Directory, showing their academic qualifications, consulting experience, publications, and their general and specialist expertise.

If you have five years full-time experience in consulting archaeology, you will likely qualify for Full Membership. Just take the following steps to apply:

1. Get your primary documents together: a copy of your up-to-date CV and a one page resume (both demonstrating your 5 years experience) and a copy of your academic qualification (Honours/Masters/GradDip).
2. Get your secondary documents together: at least two reports that demonstrate your competence in consulting i.e. survey, site assessment/evaluation, management recommendations, report production, and engagement with community and client. The reports can also be used to support a recognition of specific archaeology fields and/or special skills, as requested (all reports are treated confidentially by the Membership Committee).
3. Seek out two references from professional Australian archaeologists (one of whom must be an AACAI Full Member), who will support your application.
4. Fill in the application on our website (link below) and upload all your documents.
5. Pay the $50 application fee.
6. If your application is successful, you will be offered Full Membership and asked to pay a $200 subscription fee for the current Financial Year.

Note that current Associate Members who have since gained 5 years experience are encouraged to apply for Full Membership too.

Get in touch with us if need any help with your application!

Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists

18/07/2026

******CALLING ALL PROFESSIONAL ARCHAEOLOGISTS******

Are you an archaeologist who works as a lecturer or researcher at a university, as a curator at a museum, or as a heritage advisor or officer at a Native Title/Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander representative body, a Government department or agency, or an industry sector company?

You may not know this, but you are likely eligible to become an Affiliate Member of AACAI.

To become an Affiliate Member, you just need to have the following:
1. A copy of your up-to-date CV and a one page resume, demonstrating at least two years of full-time employment in archaeology or related field (e.g. heritage management).
2. A copy of your academic qualification in archaeology or associated field (Honours/Masters/GradDip).
3. One reference from an AACAI Full Member.

Once you have your documents sorted, just click on the link below, fill in the application and upload your documents. There is a one-off $50 application fee, and if your application is successful, you will be offered Affiliate Membership and asked to pay a $90 subscription fee for the current Financial Year. Easy as!!

If you sign up, you will join several other professional archaeologists as AACAI Affiliate Members who support our organisation's important advocacy for ethics and professional standards in Australian archaeology and heritage management.

https://www.aacai.com.au/membership/affiliate-members/affiliate-member-form/

Send a message to learn more

16/07/2026

For AACAI members and friends working in NSW.
The NSW Government launched the Development Coordination Authority (DCA) on 1 July 2026. The DCA will co-ordinate heritage advice for planning proposals, and some projects that affect Aboriginal objects, items on the State Heritage Register, and land covered by an Interim Heritage Order.
There are details and resources on their website here:

The Development Coordination Authority (DCA) centralises decision-making and advice previously referred to up to 22 different parts of the NSW Government behind a single front door.

09/07/2026

******CALLING ALL EARLY CAREER CONSULTING ARCHAEOLOGISTS******

Now is the time to become an Associate Member of AACAI if you have not already done so!!! Our membership is growing, so don't be left out!!!

Joining AACAI is pretty easy:

1. Get your documents together: a copy of your up-to-date CV and a one page resume, a copy of your academic qualification (Honours/Masters/GradDip) and two references from professional Australian archaeologists (e.g. one from your employer and one from your uni supervisor).
2. Fill in the application on our website (link below) and upload all your documents.
3. Pay the $50 application fee.
4. If your application is successful, you will be offered associate membership and asked to pay a $110 subscription fee for the current Financial Year.

The benefits:
- Membership of the peak professional representative body for consulting archaeologists in Australia.
- Professional profile on the AACAI Member Directory.
- Discounts on key professional development workshops and training.
- Social and networking opportunities.
- Opportunities to volunteer on subcommittees and implement change.
- Early and free access to articles published in our journal.
- Support and mentorship from a network of experienced archaeologists.
- Access to newsletters, monographs and other helpful resources.

Get in touch with us if need any help with your application!