The Australian Government’s Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan (PCOL Scheme) provides legal protection for cultural objects on temporary loan to Australia from international lenders.
The PCOL Scheme was implemented in 2014 to administer the Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Act 2013 which was established to encourage international institutions to lend cultural material to Australia for public exhibition purposes.
To read more about the PCOL Scheme, visit the Australian Governments Office for the Arts
Bendigo Art Gallery and PCOL
Bendigo Art Gallery is an approved borrowing institution under the PCOL Act. If you would like to enquire about, or make a claim on, an object on loan to Bendigo Art Gallery under the Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan (PCOL) scheme, please contact us in-person at 42 View Street, Bendigo VIC 3550, or at the contact details below:
[email protected]
42 View Street
03 5434 6088
To progress a request for information or a claim on an object, you must provide the following:
- Your name, address and contact details
- Where a claim or enquiry is being made on behalf of another person, that person’s name and contact details, and your relationship to them
- 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 claim or enquiry
- A statement confirming that you (or the claimant) are aware that the borrowing institution may inform the lender of the request and supply them with information on the enquiry or claim.
Bendigo Art Gallery will consider the nature and circumstances of your enquiry or claim. In determining whether an enquiry or claim on an object is justified, the following aspects may be considered:
- If the party making the enquiry is known to the institution, and whether the claim has been made in another jurisdiction
- The documentation or evidence provided
- In the case of Australian cultural material, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material, close examination of the object’s provenance and history, including how the object left the custody of the individual or communities and the circumstances in which it was exported from Australia.
Bendigo Art Gallery will respond within 28 days of receiving an enquiry or claim. If satisfied about the nature and circumstances of the request for information or the claim, and if it is appropriate to disclose the information, additional information may be supplied.
This may include:
- The information published in accordance with PCOL publication requirements
- Details on the provenance and due diligence research that was conducted in accordance with Bendigo Art Gallery policies and procedures and as required under PCOL
Further details of Bendigo Art Gallery's policies and procedures can be found here:
If Bendigo Art Gallery considers it appropriate to notify the lender of an enquiry or potential claim, the individual submitting the request or claim will be informed that the lender will be notified.
To ensure compliance with the PCOL Act and maintain transparency, Bendigo Art Gallery will publish details of all incoming loans protected under the PCOL Act, a minimum of four weeks prior to their arrival into Australia.
Details of protected objects on current or upcoming loan will be published on this page.