The Early Years of the Victorian National Trust and the Securing of Tasma Terrace, 1956–73
- James Lesh
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
The National Trust of Australia (Victoria) was founded in 1956, right in the middle of the post-World War II boom. The early members were a who's who of mid-twentieth-century Melbourne, including Robin Boyd, Joseph Burke, Maie Casey, Margaret Kiddle, Brian and Hilary Lewis, and Daryl and Joan Lindsay.
Their goal was to preserve places and things of natural, historic, or aesthetic importance. At first, the Trust had to find its feet in a society focused on rapid progress and modernisation, which meant figuring out how to be an effective voice for heritage when many old buildings were seen as obstacles to development.
Heritage is a shared effort, and women played a significant role from the start. Maie Casey's 1953 book Early Melbourne Architecture helped set the stage for the Trust's creation by bringing a fresh approach to the city's architectural history.
To bring in younger voices, Rodney Davidson was the force behind establishing the 'Young Trust' in 1959 to raise funds and build support. By 1962, the Sun newspaper was marvelling at the fact that 850 young people in Melbourne were choosing to spend their free time learning about and maintaining old buildings.
Victoria's National Trust was the third to form in the country, following New South Wales in 1945 and South Australia in 1955. That earlier Sydney body proved that the British model, which relied on huge landholdings, wasn't going to be feasible here. Australian Trusts were less exclusive and had fewer resources.
While the states eventually formed a united front through the Australian Council of National Trusts in 1965, the Victorian branch fought hard to keep its independence. It stood out as one of the more adversarial groups in the country and was never incorporated by an Act of Parliament.
For many Victorians, their first interaction with the Trust was visiting a historic property. Como House opened to the public in 1959. Over the next decade, the Trust's custodianship grew to include La Trobe's Cottage in 1964, Illawarra in 1966, and Polly Woodside in 1968.
The Trust also placed plaques on significant buildings, beginning at Como House in 1959. These plaques made heritage visible on the streets of Victoria, attached to places like Parliament House, the Royal Exhibition Building, and the Old Treasury Building.
To build public support and find its feet, the Trust used exhibitions and the media heavily in its early years. In August 1958, David Saunders and photographer Mark Strizic mounted an exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, then at the State Library of Victoria. It featured photographs of Melbourne's best historic buildings, showing the public the value of these structures.
The Trust also featured in popular magazines like Walkabout and The Australian Women's Weekly, bringing heritage into the living rooms of hundreds of thousands of Australians.
A major focus of the first two decades was identifying what was actually worth saving. In November 1956, the Trust established an expert Survey and Identification Committee to classify buildings of architectural and historic importance.
This group included architects like Brian Lewis and David Saunders, along with historians and archivists. They developed a grading system to rank buildings, drawing inspiration from methods used in Scotland and the United States.
This classification list became a vital reference guide to decide which buildings should be acquired, marked with tablets, or otherwise protected. In the 1970s, the National Trust's heritage list became the new Victorian Heritage Register and the Register of the National Estate.
Initially, the Trust focused on acquiring properties and classifying buildings. However, as the 1960s rolled into the 1970s, a development boom placed classified properties under threat of unsympathetic redevelopment or demolition.
The Trust campaigned to save the 1876 Melbourne Customs House from demolition, a battle that stretched across more than a decade and ultimately saw the building retained by the Commonwealth Government in 1969. This transition marked a maturation of the Trust's role from a quiet custodian to an active public defender.
Another key turning point in this journey was the battle for Tasma Terrace. In 1971, a 5,000-signature petition was presented to the Minister for Public Works calling for the preservation of this historic building. In response to this massive community sentiment, the State Government created the Government Buildings Advisory Council in May 1972.
That same year, this new council recommended the preservation of Tasma Terrace. The following year, in 1973, the State Government appointed the National Trust as the Committee of Management. The building was officially opened as the Trust's headquarters in 1979.
The fight for Tasma Terrace showed how far the Trust had come. It also set the stage for the radical 'green bans' advocacy of the 1970s.
The organisation had started as a small group of enthusiasts classifying buildings and grew into a formidable watchdog capable of swaying government decisions and rallying thousands of people.
Heritage is never the work of one person; it is built, protected, shared collectively, and reimagined with every generation.
This article originally appeared in the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Magazine, Winter 2026.
Cover Image: Tasma Terrace, by Neisha Breen, for the National Trust.
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