Deborah Tout-Smith joined the History Council of Victoria in November 2021, representing Museums Victoria. Deborah is Senior Curator, Home & Community, in the History & Technology Department of Museums Victoria. She curates the Home & Community and Military History collections, and co-curates the Clothing & Textiles and Childhood collections.
Deborah is passionate about the documentation, research and interpretation of history. She has curated major exhibitions including World War I: Love & Sorrow (2014) and The Melbourne Story (with Liza Dale-Hallett, 2008). She is currently researching the use of Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building by the RAAF and WAAF during World War II, building on the project https://museumsvictoria.com.au/reb/stories/wartime-stories-from-the-royal-exhibition-building/
Deborah is a Member of the Executive Board of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and is a member of the Advisory Board, Australian Centre for Architectural History, Urban and Cultural Heritage (ACAHUCH), University of Melbourne.
Deborah’s recent publications include Museums, Technology and the Future of Cultural Heritage (ed.) with E Nardi and J Steiger (Anicia, Rome, 2024); Museums, Collections and Communities: Reflections on the Life of Martin Hallett (ed.) with E Whitworth and M Anderson (Museums Victoria Publishing, Melbourne, 2022); Open Horizons: Ancient Greek Journeys and Connections (ed.) with A Visiliki Karapanagiotou and M McFadzean (Museums Victoria Publishing, Melbourne 2022 and National Archaeological Museum, Greece, 2023); Museums, History and the Intimate Experience of the Great War: Love and Sorrow (ed.) with Joy Damousi and Bart Ziino (Routledge, 2021); and World War I: 100 Years (ed.), Beiträge zur Museologie series, vol. 8 (2021).
Deborah holds a Master of Arts in Public History from Monash University.