Remembering Workplace Losses

Without in anyway wanting to take from the reason for this memorial, it is, for me, one of the least aesthetically pleasing of Canberra’s many memorials. While it is a very smart and inspired design to appreciate it fully one would really need to see it from above. Additionally, its location (deliberate though it is), tucked away from the lakeside and close to the busy Morshead Drive means that you are unlikely to stumble across it walking around the lake. It took me, a very frequent visitor to the area, over three years to happen upon it.

The National Workers Memorial, unveiled on 28 April 2013, honours Australians who have lost their lives in work-related accidents, incidents and diseases as well as celebrating the contribution and achievement of workers in building Australia.

The memorial comprises eight stone columns, one for each Australian State and Territory, positioned to reflect the outline of Australia. The stone used in each column is from the relevant State or Territory. As such we have:-

Victorian Bluestone
Australian Capital Territory Boral Porphy
New South Wales Grandee
Queensland Bianca Mist
Western Australia Austral Juperana
Northern Territory Darwin Brown
South Australia Balmoral Green
Tasmania Natone.

 

In the absence of being able to see the memorial from above the map in the picture below hopefully gives you an idea of the layout.

The concentric ripples around each column, in fact radiating from each column across the ‘country’ and creating a public plaza, acknowledges the profound effect work related losses have on families, communities and the country as a whole.

Messages and comments engraved within the ripples extol us all towards doing what we can to improving health and safety within the workplace.

The Memorial has been set on a quiet rise above the lake, among a planting of Blue Gums (Eucalyptus Bicostata) with additional new planting, all aimed at creating a dignified Workers’ Glade where visitors can remember and reflect. One could do worse than reflect on just two of the many statements inscribed along the edge of the entry path or on the floor of the memorial itself:-

“every worker has the right to return home”

“every workplace death diminishes us as a nation”

This memorial is Australia’s focal point for Workers’ Memorial Day which is recognised internationally on the 28th of April each year though it can be visited at any time for free.

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