Brambuk cultural centre upgrade and re-imagining project

Project status

• Parks Victoria is working with Gariwerd Traditional Owners to develop a Business and Master Plan for the Brambuk Cultural Centre and precinct.
• We are also planning refurbishments of the Cultural Centre's fireplace and chimney, external walls, foundations and floors. There will also be works to remove mould, repair plumbing, and reinstate access to meeting rooms and toilets. 

• The Cultural Centre is currently closed to the public. The visitor centre remains open.
  
  

Last updated: April 2024

The project

Brambuk: The National Park and Cultural Centre, in Halls Gap began, with the building of the Brambuk Cultural Centre in 1989 to acknowledge, protect and share the cultures of the Jadawadjali and Djab Wurrung Peoples.

Since opening in 1990, Brambuk provided an opportunity for visitors to connect and learn about what the Gariwerd cultural landscape means to the Jadawadjali and Djab Wurrung peoples. Parks Victoria is temporarily managing the site while working with a Strategic Partnership Committee of Traditional Owners on future management by a Traditional Owner enterprise

The Brambuk upgrade and reimagining project will build on community consultation with Traditional Owners. Parks Victoria is proud to be working in partnership with the Barengi Gadjin Land Council, Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, and Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation. 

Upgrades and building works at Brambuk include the development of new visitor services; opportunities for engagement with future plans for the site (including commercial EOIs); and progress on future management by a Traditional Owner enterprise. 

Environmental and cultural heritage assessments will inform exactly where, when and how components of the project are delivered.

 

Project benefits

Visitors

Aboriginal arts and cultural experiences and programs, new visitor spaces and facilities, and events will be developed as Brambuk moves towards operation by a Traditional Owner enterprise that will be accountable to the three Gariwerd Traditional Owner Corporations.

Community

Consultation will help to better define community desires for Brambuk as a place of cultural strengthening, community, learning, heritage conservation, employment, economic outcomes, and connection to Country. Indigenous owned and run law firm, Terri Janke and Company will be working with the Traditional Owners to plan the governance model for the future Gariwerd enterprise.

Economy

Brambuk supports the local tourism industry and visitor economy through motivating visitation to the region, encouraging longer length of stay and providing employment opportunities to Traditional Owners and others.

 

Project funding

The Victorian Government Budget 2020–21 allocated $5.8 million from the Flagship Tourism Projects program to upgrade buildings, refresh activity spaces, and develop new long term environmental and cultural programs at the precinct. 

The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions has provided $400,000 from the Infrastructure Planning Acceleration Fund to undertake engagement with Traditional Owner communities and stakeholders to prepare a vision and business plan for redevelopment of the Brambuk precinct, and to devise the model for Traditional Owner management

Who are we working with?

Parks Victoria, Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation and Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation are working in partnership to deliver the Brambuk Re-Imagining Project and Revitalisation Project.

 

Access changes

The Brambuk Cultural Centre is currently closed to the public, with works continuing throughout 2024 and until 2026.

The visitor centre remains open to the public.

Before visiting any park, you should check the relevant park page for any Change of Conditions.

 

Related information 

• Media Release - Reinvigorating Brambuk: The National Park and Cultural Centre
• Media Release - Plan for Gariwerd's future released
• Brambuk: The National Park and Cultural Centre
• Greater Gariwerd Landscape Management Plan

 

FAQs

 

What’s happening at Brambuk?

Traditional Owner corporations and Parks Victoria are working together to reinvigorate Brambuk: The National Park and Cultural Centre. 

Brambuk is being reinvigorated as a place of cultural strengthening and renewal for Traditional Owners, a hub of cultural learning and tourism, and the key visitor information centre for the heritage-listed Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park. 

Building upgrades, new visitor spaces, Aboriginal arts and culture, cultural tourism and new commercial opportunities will be developed as Brambuk moves towards operation by a Traditional Owner enterprise. 

 

When will the cultural centre reopen?

We’re working through building assessments and making plans for what programs and services the centre will offer.  

 

How long will Parks Victoria manage the site?

Parks Victoria is temporarily managing Brambuk, most likely for the next two-to-three years, with the aim of a Traditional Owner enterprise then taking on operations.