Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan (PCOL)

The Australian Government’s Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan (PCOL) scheme has been established to administer the Commonwealth Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Act 2013 (the Act).

The Act limits the circumstances in which lenders, borrowing institutions, exhibition facilitators and people working for them can lose ownership, possession, custody or control of an object through legal proceedings or seizure while the object is in Australia.

The PCOL scheme provides legal protection for cultural objects on loan from overseas lenders for temporary public exhibition in Australia.

Further information about the Act and the PCOL scheme can be found on the Commonwealth Office for the Arts website: www.arts.gov.au/funding-and-support/protection-cultural-objects-loan-scheme

PCOL and the WA Museum

The WA Museum is an approved borrowing institution under the PCOL scheme. The Museum’s policies and procedures on international loans and enquiries / claims handling are covered by the:

Under the requirement of the PCOL scheme, the Museum publishes information about all objects to be protected under the Act prior to their import and until they are exported from the country. Information about current and former protected loans is provided below.

Upcoming / Current Exhibitions

To the Moon 

Former Exhibitions

Discovering Ancient Egypt
Dinosaurs of Patagonia
Brickwrecks
Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes
Vikings
The Art of Science
Escape from Pompeii: The Untold Roman Rescue
Yurlmun: Mokare Mia Boodja

Travellers and Traders in the Indian Ocean World
A History of the World in 100 Objects

 

The WA Museum's Commitment

The Museum is committed to exhibiting both cultural and scientific objects only in accordance with the highest standards of due diligence (including ethical and professional practice, and in accordance with applicable law).

As part of this commitment, the Museum invites people to contact it, if they have a concern about an object either borrowed, or about to be borrowed, from overseas.

For example, please contact the Museum:

  • if you wish to make a claim (such as an ownership claim) over an object;
  • if you have any questions about an object; or
  • if you want further information about an object’s ownership or provenance.

How do I contact the Museum if I want to make an enquiry or a claim?

To make an enquiry or a claim about the ownership or provenance of an object that the WA Museum has, or is about to, borrow from overseas for temporary exhibition purposes, please contact the Museum by:

For all other queries about an exhibition or loan objects, please complete the
Customer Feedback Form.

What information do I need to provide if I am making an enquiry or a claim?

To request information or make a claim on an object, please provide the following in writing:

  • your name, address and contact details;
  • if you are making an enquiry or a claim on behalf of someone else, that person’s name, contact details, and their relationship to you;
  • a short summary of the information required or claim to the object;
  • copies of any documents or other evidence that may be relevant to the enquiry or claim; and
  • a statement confirming that you (or the claimant) are aware that the WA Museum may inform the lender of the request and supply them with information on the enquiry or claim.

How will the WA Museum consider my enquiry or claim?

The WA Museum will consider the nature and circumstances of your enquiry or claim. In determining whether an enquiry or a claim in relation to an object borrowed from overseas and subject to the Act is justified, the following aspects may be considered:

  • the documentation and evidence you provide;
  • the documentation provided by the lender;
  • if you are known to the WA Museum and whether you have already made the same or a similar claim in another country; and
  • in the case of Australian cultural material (and particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material), a close examination of the object’s known provenance and history, including how the object left the custody of any relevant individual or community and the circumstances in which it was exported from Australia.

What response should I expect to get back from the WA Museum?

Where we are satisfied that an object’s provenance is established, we will provide you with information on the provenance and due diligence procedures we followed. Such research will be in accordance with the policies and procedures of the WA Museum and is required under the Act.

As a matter of natural justice, we would give the lender an opportunity to respond to a claim made in relation to an object.

We would thus normally also provide you with an outline of the lender’s response to your claim. We will also direct you to any additional information about an object available either on our own website, or elsewhere.

Please note, however, that the WA Museum retains the right not to disclose any of the above, if we determine that it is not, in all the circumstances, appropriate for it to do so.

How long will it take for the WA Museum to respond to my enquiry or claim?

The WA Museum will respond to you within 28 days of receiving your enquiry or claim.

To assist in a prompt response, please make sure you provide all the details that we will likely need to assess your claim and to accurately identify any information you have requested.

What will happen if the WA Museum determines that a claim I make is justified?

The WA Museum’s management of a claim will comply with the Act, considering the information and the status of the loan. The Act provides that objects imported into Australia under the PCOL scheme are protected from seizure and legal suit. Once an object has been imported, this protection cannot be revoked.

Further information about the PCOL scheme is available at www.arts.gov.au/funding-and-support/protection-cultural-objects-loan-scheme.

If the WA Museum determines that you have a legitimate claim in relation to an object before that object is imported into Australia, we will assess whether or not it is appropriate, in all the circumstances, to continue with the loan. In making that assessment, the WA Museum will have full regard to its due diligence and provenance standards, set out in our Loans Policy and Procedures.

However, once an object has been imported into Australia on loan from overseas, your ability to take legal action in relation to that object in Australia will be limited by the provisions of the Act.

As part of its obligations under the Act, the WA Museum will report claims made on objects that are protected by the Act to the Minister for the Arts in writing and without delay.