ACHAA Virtual NSW Aboriginal Culture Centre breaks new ground
10-11-2026
This 3D online project connects audiences with NSW Country and culture as a prototype of how a Virtual NSW Aboriginal Cultural Centre could exist as a community-owned alternative to a state-based physical base.
Launched to enthusiastic response at the Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) National Conference in Canberra by the Aboriginal Culture, Heritage and Arts Association of NSW (ACHAA) and Rampe Realistic Imaging, the innovative digital centre offers visitors an opportunity to explore Aboriginal cultural heritage and visual art through an immersive online experience.
Presented under the title Beyond the Building: A Virtual Cultural Centre for Aboriginal NSW, the project demonstrates how emerging digital technologies can create new opportunities for cultural engagement while amplifying the collections and knowledge of regional Aboriginal cultural centres.
Bringing Country and culture together
The NSW Aboriginal Culture Centre Online brings together four ACHAA member organisations:
- Armidale Aboriginal Cultural Centre, on Anaiwan Country
- Yarrawarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre, on Gumbayngirr Country
- Yarkuwa Indigenous Knowledge Centre, on Wamba Wamba, Perrepa Perrepa Country
- Wungunja Cultural Centre, on Wongaibon Country
Each centre has its own stories, cultural knowledge, collections and connections to Country. The online platform provides a shared digital space through which these distinct cultural experiences can be explored and appreciated.
The initiative builds on more than three years of work involving the four centres through the First Nations digitisation project, supported by Create NSW and the State Library in collaboration with ACHAA. From the start, the four member centres shared a vision of a combined platform for their cultural collections. Rather than simply creating an online collection of photographs and information, the vision was to develop something more immersive: a digital environment that allows visitors to experience cultural objects and places in new and engaging ways.
Expanding opportunities to experience Aboriginal culture
The prototype is a proof of concept that cultural collections can rightfully remain On Country and still be shared in engaging and meaningful ways with the broadest possible audience.
“This project speaks directly to decision-makers that might otherwise consider yet another bricks and mortar monolith”, ACHAA’s CEO Steve Miller explained. “As similar First Nations projects in other states have experienced massive delays and escalating costs or been abandoned all together, a virtual NSW Aboriginal Cultural Centre can be produced with a fraction of the costs and debates.”
Further development of the project is on ACHAA’s agenda. “Education resources, gamification and adding more ACHAA member centres’ content driven by digitisation are all on the list.” Steve continued, “If the virtual model from this pilot is adopted instead of the state-based institutional model, the savings will fund this and more, supporting Aboriginal cultural infrastructure and programming essential to communities across NSW.”
A new frontier in digital imaging
The project has been brought to life through the innovative work of Michael Rampe of Rampe Realistic Imaging, combining interactive 3D object capture with emerging volumetric imaging technology.
This combination allows visitors to interact with digitised cultural objects, while also exploring digitally captured outdoor environments as immersive, walkable spaces.
Michael Rampe described the project as an opportunity to push the boundaries of what is currently possible with digital imaging.
“This project pushed me into imaging territory that has only recently become possible. We combined interactive 3D capture of individual objects … with volumetric light-field capture (Gaussian splatting) that renders open Country as walkable space rather than a series of stitched photographs.”
He noted that much of the technology and workflow had to be developed along the way, with methods that were not yet workable when the project began in late 2025. “As far as we are aware, [this] has not been done anywhere before,” he said of the Centre.
Michael emphasises that the technology needed to serve the communities and their cultural priorities, rather than the other way around.
“What made it work was the time I spent on the ground with each of the four centres and walking Country with locals to find ideal ‘places’ to digitise. Getting the imaging right mattered, but getting it right in a way the centres were comfortable with mattered more.”
Importantly, the online centre complements rather than replaces the vital role of physical cultural centres, their communities and the experiences of visiting Country.
For ACHAA, the project represents an important step in exploring how digital innovation can support Aboriginal-led cultural organisations to share their knowledge, strengthen their visibility and create meaningful connections with wider audiences.
Explore the NSW Aboriginal Culture Centre Online
The NSW Aboriginal Culture Centre Online is now open to visitors.
Visit: https://virtual.achaa.com.au/
The NSW Aboriginal Culture Centre Online is an initiative of the Aboriginal Culture, Heritage and Arts Association of NSW (ACHAA), developed in collaboration with Rampe Realistic Imaging, made possible by the NSW Government’s arts and culture funding body Create NSW.
