The site is a one-stop shop for exploring Chinese-Australian Heritage. Designed basically as a research-site, it houses text and image databases,introduces bibliographies and research aids, provides information on conferences and exhibitions, offers links to relevant museums, libraries, archives, community centers, university departments, historical societies and other web sites, and carries a range of personal stories and graphics.

The site highlights the integral part played by Chinese Australians in the post-settlement history of the country. It has been set up with the aim of promoting Chinese Australian studies in Australia, and contributing to a growing field of research and discussion on the history of the Chinese diaspora more generally. It will appeal to academic researchers, genealogists, heritage consultants, amateur researchers, archivists, librarians, school and college students, and inquisitive browsers.

A special feature of the site is an online index to a famous Chinese Australian newspaper (set up with the support of the reformer Liang Qichao) that ran from 1898 to 1936. The index to the Tung Wah Times is still under development. Early years can be accessed directly at: http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/tungwah.shtml.

The site has been developed by La Trobe University, the Melbourne Chinese Museum and the Australian Studies Centre of East China Normal University in Shanghai, with core support from the National Council for the Centenary of Federation.

Comments on the site, and suggestions for further links, are most welcome.