The Dutch Australian Cultural Centre (DACC) was established in 1983 and formed as a company limited by guarantee in 1984. The Centre was formed to establish a central organization with the following two main aims:
1. To preserve the rich history of Dutch contact with, and immigration to Australia;
2. To set up a resource facility for anyone wanting information regarding the Netherlands, its people and their traditions. Current Board Members are listed on our website: https://dutchaustralianculturalcentre.com.au/about/
Initially the DACC was housed in an Annex of the Abel Tasman Village, a retirement centre in Chester Hill. In 2006 the DACC moved to ‘t Winkeltje, Holland House, Smithfield (Sydney). In 2020 the DACC and all its archives moved back to the Abel Tasman Village in Chester Hill. The DACC was involved in the formation of Dutch Link, an organisation set up by representatives of Dutch multinational companies to accommodate business and social interests of all people with a Dutch background, migrants and expatriates. We find that younger Dutch Australians, and Dutch expatriates, are often not very aware of the important work involved in preserving Dutch Australian heritage. The history of post-WWII immigrants is a large chunk of our work but there is much more to Dutch Australian heritage than that. The magnificent 'Mapping Australia' exhibition in the National Library of Australia made that clear. About half of the old maps displayed there were of Dutch 17th century origin, the products of VOC cartographers and seafarers who circumnavigated the Australian continent and mapped most of it. The history of the WWII itself is also reflected in the role of the Dutch as the “Fourth Ally” and in important tales of those who came as refugees in 1942 from the Dutch East Indies. And it is the story of several important individual contributions prior to WWII such as the Broken Hill Pty Ltd General Manager and pioneer Guillaume Delprat. Another example is the music shop operator Paling who started his business on the Victorian Gold Fields in the mid-1850s. The Dutch contribution to the history of this continent is both unique and significant. This is often not realised widely in the Netherlands. However, unless we display it ourselves it may well be lost.
