I
					
Jill Irvine
Heritage Inquiry
Productivity Commission
P.O. Box 80
Belconnen. ACT 2616.	25th July,2005	
Dear Ms Irvine,		

Thank you for the opportunity to submit this submission.

As collectors of Australian History and items of our heritage, we feel what we do has value in the community and in turn on a Federal level.

The Group I am a member of is the Arms Collectors Guild of NSW, we meet monthly and consider ourselves dedicated collectors, interested in the value of history to all Australians and as such would like to have Historical items remain in Australia.

Members 	- have private collections
	- Meet regularly
	- are always willing to inform new members
	- are willing to learn from each other
	-  document and conserve items which then have a historical value.

Even though our group is small, we are affiliated with Historical Groups, other interest groups and this becomes of interest to other collectors locally, state wide and nationally.

Our Problems - Meeting at suitable venues.. A heritage place would be ideal.
- Cost of Insurance is very high, due to a State Government ruling that we must carry Insurance.
- Cost and restrictions due to having to license some items, also here there is some confusion due to definitions as applied by state authorities.

This group would be happy to see the above problems dealt with in some way on a Federal level and enable all
Australians to benefit from our knowledge and preservation of our history and heritage. We would also appreciate some system set up to allow items of Historical value remain in Australia, at present the rules governing this is not wide enough or strong enough.

Yours faithfully,
E. Cummins
Member of the Arms Collectors Guild of NSW