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Contact

Acronym
DACC

85 Market Street
Smithfield NSW 2164
Australia

The Centre was established in 1983 by the Federation of Dutch Associations 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:

To preserve the rich history of Dutch contact with, and immigration to, Australia;
To set up a resources facility for anyone wanting information regarding the Netherlands, its people and their traditions.
The DACC has been housed at the back of ’t Winkeltje, Holland House, 85 Market Street, Smithfield since 2006, following the request by the management of the Abel Tasman Village, Chester Hill to vacate the Annex originally built for the DACC. We were asked to leave as they needed the space and we were fortunate to have had the opportunity to move to Holland House in Smithfield through the generosity of Jan and Anita van Altena.

Our mission statement is to have as our aims and objectives the collection, preservation, promotion and dissemination of Dutch culture and heritage in Australia.

The DACC has as its aims and objectives the collection, preservation, promotion and dissemination of Dutch culture and heritage in Australia. That includes the history of post-WWII migrants as well as the important contacts between the Australian continent with the Netherlands through the VOC ships, dating back to 1606. Apart from mapping much of the Australian coastline in the 17th century (e.g. Abel Tasman and Willem de Vlamingh), subsequent contributions by the Dutch to Australian society are also substantial. For example, looking at the late 19th century we discover Guillaume Delprat, one of the early highly successful general managers of Australia's iconic mining industry, Broken Hill Pty Ltd. (BHP). He migrated to Broken Hill in the 1890s and held that function for over 20 years. Delprat also contributed substantially to the development of the steel industry in Newcastle. The DACC Ltd was founded in 1983 and was registered officially on 30 May 1984 as the Dutch Australian Centre Ltd. In 2002 the name was changed to Dutch Australian Cultural Centre Ltd. Another objective was and is to become a "resources centre" for persons who want to study aspects of the Netherlands, be it economics, reclaiming land, water management, art, costumes, habits or language. A reference library was therefore established and an archive started. These functions and activities are still progressing. More space and financial assistance is certainly needed to fully accommodate these activities. Since 1993 the DACC Ltd had been able to use a building in the grounds of a retirement facility, the Abel Tasman Village in Chester Hill. This was made possible through the support for the Centre from the late Anton Kool, who for many years was the Chairman of the Federation of Netherlands Societies. However, with the ageing of the Dutch migrants comes a greater need for care and consequently for more space. As a result, after more then ten years, the DACC had to vacate the building and find a new home. In 2005 the DACC was generously offered a space in “Holland House” and in June of that year the DACC relocated to Holland House, also known as ‘t Winkeltje. Future developments are being discussed by the Federation to provide wider scope for Dutch-Australian heritage activities and a range of other functions and services important to a new generation of persons with Dutch connections including the rapidly growing group of Dutch expatriates. Members of the DACC: Paulus Breedveld, President Akky van Ogtrop, Vice President Thea Bourne, Secretary Theo ten Brummelaar, Treasurer Other board members: Frances Larder, Ellie Zinsmeester, Jan Mees, Klaas Woldring. Newsletter: Mijntje Hage Archives: Lia van haren Webmaster: Jo Mulholland See also: Dutch Immigrants Experiences (DIMEX) Survey (2004/5) (Project) }} (Project) [[File:DACC_logo2.png]] (Project) Newsletter on regular basis (Publication) Paulus Breedveld (Expert) Thea Bourne (Expert) Ellie Zinsmeester (Expert) Jan Mees (Expert) Mijntje Hage (Expert)

http://dacc.net.au/