Space and place: cultural heritage and colonial commemoration at Australian tertiary institutions

Tertiary institutions around the world form parts of national identities. As centres of learning, education and research, these institutions produce history and heritage through their establishment, which oftentimes becomes a focal point for commemoration and protection. In colonised countries, these institutions are often named for colonial figures and in bearing the names, inherit the burden of their colonial histories, often while ignoring the implications of invoking such a legacy. This chapter interrogates the relationship between Indigenous peoples and tertiary institutions in Australia. It argues that, as a result of settler privilege and colonial imaginings, the heritage and significance of Indigenous communities and places are sidelined in favour of colonial histories. As such, the institutions themselves become sites of colonial commemoration, and colonial violence.