Australian Heritage Database Places for Decision

Item: 1

Identification
List:	National Heritage List
Name of Place:	Bondi Beach
Other Names:
Place ID:	106009
File No:	1/12/038/0010
Primary Nominator:	104311 Australian Heritage Council
Nomination Date:	09/07/2007
Principal Group:	Recreation and Entertainment
Status
Legal Status:	09/07/2007 - Nominated place
Admin Status:	03/12/2007 - Assessment by AHC completed
Assessment
Assessor:
Recommendation:	Place meets one or more NHL criteria
Assessor's Comments:
Other Assessments:	:
Location
Nearest Town:	Bondi Beach
Distance from town (km):
Direction from town:
Area (ha):	65
Address:	Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach, NSW, 2026
LGA:	Waverley Municipality NSW

Location/Boundaries:
About 65ha of land and water, comprising generally the beach, surf life saving clubs, pavilion, parks, promenades, cliffs and ocean waters between Ben Buckler and Mackenzies Point; being the areas enclosed by a line commencing at the southern end of Notts Avenue then proceeding north-westerly along the easterly edge of Notts Avenue to Campbell Parade, then northerly and easterly via the seaward edge of Campbell Parade to its intersection with Ramsgate Avenue then easterly and southerly following the southern and western edge of Ramsgate Avenue to the northern boundary of 77 Ramsgate Avenue, then westerly and southerly along that boundary and the western boundaries of 77 to 111 Ramsgate Avenue to the southern boundary of 111 Ramsgate Avenue, then via that boundary to Ramsgate Avenue, then southerly via the western side and alignment of Ramsgate to the cliff top at Ben Buckler, then easterly via that cliff top to the eastern alignment of Ramsgate Avenue, then northerly via that alignment to the southern end of the road reserve on the south side of 168 Ramsgate Avenue, then easterly via the southern side of that reserve to the eastern alignment of Brighton Boulevard, then via that alignment directly to low water market Ben Buckler, then via low water to the most southerly point of Ben Buckler, then south westerly directly to the most easterly point at low water on Mackenzies Point, then westerly via low water mark on the southern side of Marks Park to the alignment of the eastern boundary of 25 Kenneth Street, then northerly via that alignment to the southern edge of Kenneth Street, then easterly via the southern edge of Kenneth Street to the eastern edge of Marks Lane, then north via the alignment of the eastern edge of Marks Lane to the northern side of Fletcher Street, then east via the northern edge of that road to the cliff top to the sout west boundary of Lot 1/715 DP752011, then easterly and northerly via the boundaries of Lots 1/715, 714 and 713 DP752011 so that they are excluded to the southern end of Notts Avenue.

Assessor's Summary of Significance:
Bondi Beach is an urban beach cultural landscape of waters and sands, where the natural features have been altered by development associated with beach use and consisting of promenades, parks, sea baths, the surf pavilion and pedestrian bridges.  The predominant feature of the beach is the vastness of the open space within an urban setting. 
 
Bondi Beach is significant in the course of Australia’s cultural history as the site of the foundation of Australia’s first recognised surf lifesaving club in 1907. From Bondi the surf lifesaving movement spread initially to NSW, then to the rest of Australia and to the world. Along with the ‘digger’ and the ‘bushman’, the lifesaver has achieved an iconic place in Australia’s cultural imagery. The lifesaver grew to become an accepted feature of the beach and, as beach guardian and symbol of what was seen to be good about being Australian, became woven into Australia's popular culture. As it was at the beginning, the SLSA has remained a voluntary organisation and a significant contributor to a well-established tradition of volunteering in Australia. SLSA is now Australia's largest volunteer water safety organisation, with a national membership in 2006 of 120,000 members representing 305 clubs. Surf lifesavers have rescued more than 520,000 people in the 80 years since records have been kept, with the number of rescues each season fluctuating between 8,000 and 12,000.
 
Bondi Beach is one of the world's most famous beaches and is of important social value to both the Australian community and to visitors. Bondi Beach is significant because of its special associations for Australians as a central place in the development of beach culture in Australia.  It embodies a powerful sense of place and way of life.  It is where Australians meet nature's challenge in the surf and is strongly associated with the Bronzed Aussie myth of easygoing hedonism and endeavour balanced with relaxation.  A place full of Australian spirit, synonymous with Australian beach culture, it is recognised internationally.
 
At the end of the 19th century, the beach emerged as an alternative cultural landscape to the mythology of the interior.  The interior represented notions of toil and hardship against an often unforgiving landscape, while the coast evoked images of health and leisure in the equally unforgiving environment of the sea. During the Depression the Australian notion of beaches as egalitarian playgrounds took root and Bondi, with its strongly working-class constituency, became the epitome of that idea.  The developing beach culture reinforced an already strong myth of Australian egalitarianism, of a nation where ‘a fair go’ was available to all. The constructed features, such as the sea baths and the surf pavilion demonstrate the development of the natural features of the beach to accord with daylight swimming, recreational beach culture, surf life saving, and associated beach sports.  The Bondi Surf Pavilion building within its developed parkland setting is an important element of the site.  Built in 'Inter War Mediterranean style', the Pavilion is outstanding for its place in the development of beach and leisure culture and is a famous landmark at Bondi Beach.  The pool complex is significant for its strong associations with the famous ‘Bondi Icebergs’ winter swimming club as well as other swimming groups.  The pool and clubhouse enjoy a strong nexus not usually enjoyed by other seaside pools.  The site has been used continuously for organized swimming since before 1900 and has a strong social importance as a meeting place as well as a sporting and recreational facility. The Bondi Icebergs contributed strongly to this development.  To many in Sydney they were seen as inheritors of the Anzac spirit – fun-loving larrikins not taking themselves too seriously, while still displaying the essential ‘Aussie’ characteristics of a fair-go, generosity, and mateship.
 
Egalitarian in nature, the beach and surfing had a profound effect in changing our way of life, and developing our sense of national identity. The central role of beaches, and Bondi Beach in particular, in Australia’s self image is reflected in the use of the beach by painters, filmmakers, poets and writers in exploring this new self image and reflecting it back to Australian society. Bondi has played a central role in this process, and has come to be viewed both within Australia and internationally as the quintessential Australian beach.
 

Draft Values:
Criterion	Values	Rating
A Events, Processes	Bondi Beach is significant in the course of Australia's cultural history as the site of the foundation of Australia's first recognised surf lifesaving club in 1907. From Bondi the surf lifesaving movement spread initially through NSW, subsequently to the rest of Australia, and then to the world. Along with the 'digger' and the 'bushman', the lifesaver has achieved an iconic place in Australia's cultural imagery. The lifesaver grew to become an accepted feature of the beach and a symbol of what was seen to be good about being Australian. From its inception, Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) has remained a voluntary organisation and a significant contributor to a well-established tradition of volunteering in Australia. Today SLSA is Australia's largest volunteer water safety organisation, with a national membership in 2006 of 120,000 members representing 305 clubs (SLSA 2007). Surf lifesavers have rescued more than 520,000 people in the 80 years since records have been kept, with the number of rescues each season in recent years fluctuating between 8,000 and 12,000.	AT
G Social value	Bondi Beach is significant because of its special associations for Australians, having a central place in the development of beach culture in Australia. Bondi Beach is one of the world's most famous beaches. With its golden sands, parks, and blue waters framed within rocky headlands, it has come to be seen both nationally and internationally as part of the Australian way of life and leisure. It is where Australians meet nature's challenge in the surf and is strongly associated with the Bronzed Aussie myth of easygoing hedonism and endeavour balanced with relaxation. The beach and the surf lifesaving movement established at Bondi Beach facilitated a movement away from the restrictive attitudes of 19th century morality and the beach became the source of acceptable healthy pleasure. During the Depression the Australian notion of beaches as egalitarian playgrounds took root and Bondi, with its strongly working-class constituency, became the epitome of that idea. The developing beach culture reinforced an already strong myth of Australian egalitarianism, of a nation where ‘a fair go’ was available to all. The Bondi Icebergs contributed strongly to this development. To many in Sydney they were seen as inheritors of the Anzac spirit – fun-loving larrikins not taking themselves too seriously, while still displaying the essential ‘Aussie’ characteristics of a fair-go, generosity, and mateship. Egalitarian in nature, the beach and surfing had a profound effect in changing our way of life, and developing our sense of national identity.   The central role of beaches, and Bondi Beach in particular, in Australia’s self image is reflected in the use of the beach by painters, filmmakers, poets and writers in exploring this new self image and reflecting it back to Australian society. Bondi has played a central role in this process, and has come to be viewed both within Australia and internationally as the quintessential Australian beach.   Bondi Beach, Bondi Park and the headland reserves, the Bondi Surf Pavilion, the Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club and North Bondi Surf Lifesaving clubhouse, and the Bondi Pool area and Icebergs building, together constitute an iconic place that is emblematic of the Australian beach experience.	AT

Historic Themes:

Nominator's Summary of Significance:

Description:
Bondi Beach is approximately 1.5km long and over 100m wide, the semi-circular arc of the beach is set in a flat basin flanked by elevated ridges extending to sandstone cliffs and headlands at the north and south ends, and enclosed by commercial and residential buildings. The gentle slope of the sand has resulted in a safe swimming beach for all age groups. Public access reserves contain the beach, the Pavilion, the club houses and bathing pools, and extend up onto the headlands at either end of the beach – Ben Buckler at the north and Mackenzies Point at the south.

Analysis:
CRITERION (a)  The place has outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place's importance in the course, or pattern, of Australia's natural or cultural history.  
Bondi Beach is significant in the course of Australia's cultural history as the site of the foundation of Australia's first recognised formally documented surf lifesaving club in 1907. From Bondi the surf lifesaving movement spread initially through NSW and to Victoria, subsequently to the rest of Australia, and then to the world.
 
From its inception in 1907, the role of the surf lifesaving movement was vital in the maintenance of order in an increasingly relaxed 20th century beach environment, and protection of beach goers from the dangers inherent in the surf. Before the advent of the surf lifesaving clubs, early efforts to save those in trouble in the surf were largely individual, and erratic. The people who engaged in these endeavours were perceived as heroes (Jaggard 2007: p.3). In the early 20th century, as people began to enter the surf in increasing numbers, the need for vigilance and prompt rescue of those who got into difficulties became more urgent. The focus on individual bravery changed when the surf lifesaving movement took on the rescuer's role. Surf lifesavers formed well-trained squads who were able to tackle the surf not because of individual skill, but because they had prepared for such events. Surf lifesaving was innovatory, combining introduced established approaches to lifesaving with the knowledge of the surf developed by pioneering Australian surf bathers. It was motivated, at least in part, by a sense of public service, with clubs like Bondi often being formed as a direct response to loss of life in the surf (Jaggard 2007: p.3).
 
Quasi-military structures, and drills introduced in to the early life saving training by John Bond and the officers of the NSW Medical Corps in the late 1890s, with their requirement for knowledge of the Drill Manual, reinforced the view that lifesaving was a serious enterprise. Examinations for admission to beach patrols, equipment, training regimes and competitions were put in place to ensure that club members were capable lifesavers (Jaggard 2007: p.5). With surf lifesavers on duty, beaches became places of exhilarating swimming and surfing, rather than places of potential tragedy. The patrols were a reassuring and reliable presence and constituted a trusted form of moral, if informal, authority, holding at bay the beach's potential for danger (Jaggard 2007: p.6). The precision and discipline of the surf lifesaving patrols as they practised and drilled, enabled beachgoers to relax and to feel 'at home' on the beach. The surf lifesaving movement made beaches available to the public as part of a uniquely Australian cultural landscape (Jaggard 2007: p.6). While carrying on a British tradition of militarism and service, surf lifesaving developed as distinctively Australian, blending outward order with robust enjoyment of the natural environment. A century after its foundation, the impact of the surf lifesaving movement on its host society continues. Although both have changed dramatically over 100 years, the expectation of Australian society that surf lifesavers will keep the beaches safe persists (Jaggard 2007: p.20)
 
Along with the 'digger' and the 'bushman', the lifesaver has achieved an iconic place in Australia's cultural imagery. In addition to affecting Australians' behaviour on beaches and facilitating the growing Australian beach culture, surf lifesaving contributed to Australian culture in more symbolic ways, in particular by assisting in the creation of a new national image. As beach going increased under the watchful eye of the surf lifesavers, Australians developed a sense of themselves, and an international reputation, as people of the beach. Like his predecessors as Australian icons, the bushman and the digger, the surf lifesaver was a young male who was regarded as typically and distinctively Australian, and unlike the citizens of other nations (Jaggard 2007: pp.10-11). The rural identity personified in a strong, fit and capable bushman was adapted to city life and surf lifesavers carried on this masculine image (Jaggard 2007: p.13). The bushman and the lifesavers shared the common determination to tame nature: one the 19th century frontier of the bush; the other its 20th century equivalent, the beach. Like the diggers before them, surf lifesavers were proud volunteers. The lifesavers, tanned, muscular and well-drilled, were ever ready with strength and courage to do battle with the 'enemy', the dangerous surf. The notion that the surf lifesaver was the natural successor to earlier Australian icons is powerfully captured in a series of murals created for the Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club between 1920 and 1934 by noted illustrator and artist D H Souter (Jaggard 2007: p.11). The lifesaver grew to become an accepted feature of the beach and, as beach guardian and symbol of what was seen to be good about being Australian, became woven into Australia's popular culture. They provided a distinctive image for a still very colonial nation and a means of expressing 'Australianness' to one another and to the rest of the world. The single most powerful event in the creation of this image was the momentous events of 'Black Sunday' at Bondi in 1938, when the largest mass rescue in the history of surf bathing - both here and abroad - enshrined the place of the lifesaver in the national imagination (Brawley 2007: p.8). The lifesaver has made the beach a safer place, helped Australians to enjoy the surf, and played an iconic part in creating Australia's beach life (NMA 2007: p.1).
 
As well as representing the activities and values of the people, surf lifesavers were aesthetically pleasing. The colours and patterns on the costumes and caps they wore were eye-catching. This, combined with well-muscled bodies, provided an easily identifiable and attractive image for illustrated articles and advertising posters. In 1932, a surf lifesaver was portrayed on a poster promoting the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (Jaggard 2007: p.14). The Melbourne-based Australian National Travel Association, formed in 1929 to promote Australia in Britain and the United States, used images of surf life savers to encourage visits to Australian cities in its brochure publicising the sesquicentenary. Other images, such as Gert Sellheim's 'Australia Surf Club' focused more tightly on the surf lifesaving squad, reassuring travellers that they could enjoy this country's world-famous beaches within a net of safety (Jaggard 2007: p.14). Images of lifesavers were used regularly to advertise goods, particularly those identified as masculine, like whisky. Surf lifesavers have been mobilised as an exemplar of Australian identity when the world looks at Australia: marching in Brisbane at the 1982 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony; at Expo '88; and at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics; and appearing regularly in print and television tourism promotions.
 
Australian surf carnivals were a high point of this movement. Particularly in the inter-War years and the period immediately after World War II, these displays of discipline, strength, and skill, drew large crowds and further instilled the image of surf lifesavers in the Australian mind. The image that was cultivated by the clubs, and the one that most members of the public accepted, was that of wholesome self-sacrifice, bodily power and moral good. The carnivals brought pageantry to the beach and royal visitors, including the Duke of Gloucester in 1934 and young Queen Elizabeth 11 20 years later, were entertained by the uniquely Australian spectacle presented at surf carnivals (Jaggard 2007: p.6).
 
The SLSA has remained a voluntary organisation in an increasingly commercialised world, a significant contributor to a well-established tradition of volunteering in Australia. Volunteers have largely provided the organisation and training on which Australia's sporting achievements have been built. About a third of all voluntary work in Australia is associated with sporting and recreational activities (Jaggard 2007: p.18). Here the SLSA stands out as one of the earliest, largest, and most successful nationwide associations of volunteers, combining love of sport and competition with a commitment to maintaining and improving safety on the beaches and rescuing those who are put at risk by often dangerous surfing conditions. The high-profile example of surf lifesaving both inspires and provides a model for other community groups (Jaggard 2007: p.18). Lifesavers see themselves as performing an important public service, and this sense of public service engenders a camaraderie, the forging of bonds between members that generates the mateship so often extolled as a feature of Australian culture (Jaggard 2007: p.18). To the extent that surf lifesaving flourishes, it helps to counter the decline and consequent loss of 'social capital' which, it has been argued, is vital for democracy and social cohesion (Jaggard 2007: p.18).
 
Today SLSA is Australia's largest volunteer water safety organisation, with a national membership in 2006 of 120,000 members representing 305 clubs (SLSA 2007). Surf lifesavers have rescued more than 520,000 people in the 80 years since records have been kept, with the number of rescues each season in recent years fluctuating between 8,000 and 12,000 (SLSA 2007). During the 2006-07 season surf lifesavers performed 6,319 rescues, 188,824 preventative actions and treated 30,940 first aid cases.
 
An independent economic study conducted for SLSA by economists The Allen Consulting Group in 2005 concluded that if not for the presence of volunteer surf lifesavers, 485 people would drown each year and 313 would be permanently incapacitated as a result of accidents in the surf (Australian Culture and Recreation Portal 2007). The study found that the economic and social value of surf lifesaving services provided by volunteer lifesavers is worth more than $1.4 billion per year and provides many unquantifiable benefits including increased tourism (SLSA 2007).
 
Culturally, each and every surf club in Australia is shaped by the same forces which shape any community, including: locality; class; ethnicity; gender (Brawley 2007: p.8). This said, all life savers are cast from the Bondi mould (Brawley 2007: p.8). So much about what the surf life saving movement was and would become, is about Bondi, as many of the core principles and practices of the surf lifesaving movement were first discussed and implemented on Bondi Beach (Brawley 2007: p.8).