Another snapshot for the album: a decade of Australian Archaeology in Profile survey data
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
A comprehensive survey of Australian professional archaeologists undertaken in 2015 is used to explore key aspects and emerging trends in the state of the archaeological profession in Australia. Comparisons are made with data collected using the same survey instrument in 2005 and 2010 to allow consideration of longer-term disciplinary trends related to working conditions, changing participation and access, trends in qualifications and workplace confidence and re-evaluating skills gaps identified in previous surveys. Substantial changes in the archaeological workplace are identifiable with deterioration in employment conditions and an increasingly casualised workforce, contrasting with a growth in professionalisation observed through an increasingly qualified workforce. Restructuring of the discipline observed in previous surveys, showing increases in Indigenous archaeology and a corresponding decrease in other subfields, are less pronounced. Survey data demonstrate the Australian archaeological workforce to be a highly qualified discipline by world standards but also a discipline that is being reshaped by downsizing of government regulation of heritage issues and volatility in the private sector related to external economic factors.
Journal
Australian Archaeology
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N/A
Volume
82
ISBN/ISSN
0312-2417
Edition
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Issue
2
Pages Count
16
Location
N/A
Publisher
Australian Archaeological Association
Publisher Url
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Publisher Location
N/A
Publish Date
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Url
N/A
Date
N/A
EISSN
N/A
DOI
10.1080/03122417.2016.1213032