About conservators

Conservators work to preserve cultural heritage for future generations. Our cultural heritage includes objects as diverse as Don Bradman’s cricket bat, Tom Robert’s painting "Shearing the Rams", costumes worn by Split Enz and Kylie Minogue, to Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson’s boots, Captain Bligh’s journal and Phar Lap’s heart.

The intangible aspects of objects are also important to conservators – for example, the stories and rituals associated with religious and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material. In 2000 AICCM publicly declared its commitment to Reconciliation.

AICCM members support and work by the AICCM Code of Ethics and Code of Practice. These are important documents that govern our approach to preservation, restoration and conservation treatment.

Conservators specialise in certain types of collection items, such as paper, paintings, objects or textiles. Read more about the different types of conservator and the materials in which they specialise.

Finding a conservator in private practice

If you are looking to have conservation work performed on your own collections, we recommend you read our Guidelines for Commissioning Conservation Treatment for more information on appropriate professional practice before searching our online database of members in private practice.

Online AICCM Membership Directory

AICCM members can search our Directory to find contact details for each other. To access the Directory, please log in. A menu option will then appear in the left-hand menu, called "Search for an AICCM member".