FAHS heritage handbook: Commonwealth Government

Commonwealth Government

Legislation
Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975.
Proposed legislation has been presented to the Federal Parliament during the 2002 Budget session. These Bills will probably result in the replacement of the Australian Heritage Commission with the Australian Heritage Council, the repeal of the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975, and amendments to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).⁽¹⁾

Australian Heritage Commission
The Australian Heritage Commission is an independent statutory authority within the Environment and Heritage Portfolio that reports to and advises the Minister. Its functions include actions to identify, conserve and present the national estate, to promote and educate the public on matters relevant to the national estate and maintain the Register of the National Estate and advise the Commonwealth on matters relating to heritage places.⁽²⁾

Under proposed legislation the Australian Heritage Commission will be replaced by the Australian Heritage Council. The Council will advise the Minister on heritage matters and promote the identification, assessment and conservation of heritage. The Council will also add to and remove places from the Register of the National Estate, which will be retained in a modified form.

Register
Currently the Australian Heritage Commission maintains the Register of the National Estate (RNE). The national estate consists of those places, being components of the natural environment or the cultural environment of Australia, that have aesthetic, historic, scientific or social significance or other special value for future generations as well as for the present community.

The new legislation proposes the creation of a National Heritage List and Commonwealth Heritage List. The first list will contain places or groups of places of outstanding national heritage significance whereas the latter will comprise places that are entirely within a Commonwealth area.⁽³⁾ The Australian Heritage Commission will continue to add to and maintain the RNE until standards for ATSI, natural and built heritage for all states and territories are agreed to and in place. It is proposed that the RNE will be retained ‘as an information resource for the purposes of heritage promotion and eduction’.⁽⁴⁾

What is included on the Register
The RNE includes natural, indigenous and built heritage places throughout Australia. In March 2001 there were 13,194 places comprising 9,935 historic places, 2,345 natural places and 914 indigenous sites.⁽⁵⁾

To search the RNE go to http://www.ahc.gov.au/lists/index.html, click on Register of the National Estate or visit http://www.ahc.gov.au/register/easydatabase/database.html.

Criteria for inclusion on the register
A: Its importance in the course, or pattern, of Australia’s natural or cultural history

A.1 Importance in the evolution of Australian flora, fauna, landscapes or climate
A.2 Importance in maintaining existing processes or natural systems at the regional or national scale
A.3 Importance in exhibiting unusual richness or diversity of flora, fauna, landscapes or cultural features
A.4 Importance for association with events, developments or cultural phases which have had a significant role in the human occupation and evolution of the nation, state, region or community

B: Its possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Australia’s natural or cultural history

B.1 Importance for rare, endangered or uncommon flora, fauna, communities, ecosystems, natural landscapes or phenomena, or as a wilderness
B.2 Importance in demonstrating a distinctive way of life, custom, process, land-use, function or design no longer practised, in danger of being lost, or of exceptional interest

C: Its potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Australia’s natural or cultural history

C.1 Importance for information contributing to a wider understanding of Australian natural history, by virtue of its use as a research site, teaching site, type locality, reference or benchmark site
C.2 Importance for information contributing to a wider understanding of the history of human occupation of Australia

D: Its importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of: (i) a class of Australia’s natural or cultural places; or (ii) a class of Australia’s natural or cultural environments

D.1 Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of the range of landscapes, environments or ecosystems, the attributes of which identify them as being characteristic of their class
D.2 Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of the range of human activities in the Australian environment (including way of life, philosophy, custom, process, land use, function, design or technique)

E: Its importance in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics valued by a community or cultural group

E.1 Importance for a community for aesthetic characteristics held in high esteem or otherwise valued by the community

F: Its importance in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period

F.1 Importance for its technical, creative, design or artistic excellence, innovation or achievement

G: Its strong or special associations with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons

G.1 Importance as a place highly valued by a community for reasons of religious, spiritual, symbolic, cultural, educational, or social associations

H: Its special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Australia’s natural or cultural history

H.1 Importance for close associations with individuals whose activities have been significant within the history of the nation, state or region.⁽⁶⁾

Draft criteria for proposed National Heritage List

the place is of national importance in the past course or present pattern of nature or cultures in Australia
the place has the potential to make a contribution of national importance to the understanding of Australia’s history or environment
the place is recognised as being of national importance for its landmark or aesthetic quality, social, spiritual or other cultural associations
the place is a representative example with the principal characteristics of a class of places or environments of national importance to Australia
the place is of national importance as an uncommon aspect of the history, cultures or environments of Australia
the place has special associations with the life or works of a person or group important to Australia
the place demonstrates creative or technical excellence of national importance.⁽⁷⁾

Responsibilities
The Australian Heritage Commission responsibilities are to identify, conserve, improve and present the national estate, assess nominations for addition to the Register, to advise and provide administration support to the Commissioners and advise the Commonwealth on matters relating to heritage places.

Anyone can nominate a place they consider to be worthy of adding to the RNE, however, under the proposed legislation, only places of outstanding national cultural heritage significance will be added to the Register.

Government heritage grant programs
Environment Australia is currently responsible for Federal Government cultural heritage grants relating to places. The annual Cultural Heritage Projects Program (CHPP) applies to private owners that own a place on a state/territory register list or RNE, local government authorities and not-for-profit incorporated organisations. They are eligible to apply for funds for conservation of a listed historic or indigenous place or to identify Indigenous place for listing.

Small sums of money are available to local government authorities and not-for-profit incorporated organisations for projects under the Commemoration of Historic Events and Famous Person program. Under this scheme, which closes to applications on 30 June each year, funding is available for monuments, exhibitions or surveys which will commemorate nationally significant persons or events.⁽⁸⁾

Grants under the proposed bills provide for ‘financial or other assistance for the identification, promotion, protection or conservation’ of a Commonwealth or national heritage place.⁽⁹⁾

Web page(s) and Australian Heritage Commission address
http://www.ahc.gov.au/ is the Australian Heritage Commission home page.
http://www.ea.gov.au/heritage/ is Environment Australia’s Heritage home page.
http://www.ea.gov.au/heritage/programs/index.html provides information on Grants and funding.

For more information write to the Australian Heritage Commission, GPO Box 787, Canberra ACT 2601 or phone (02) 6274 1111.

Other agencies
A new committee, the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) met for the first time on 2 May 2002. The committee consists of the federal, states and territories heritage ministers and its role is to manage and protect Australia’s environment and natural, indigenous and historic cultural heritage. This includes developing an integrated national heritage policy, promoting heritage tourism and developing effective incentive for the conservation of heritage places by governments, industry and the community.⁽¹⁰⁾

1   http://www.ahc.gov.au/infores/publications/newheritage.html and http://www.ahc.gov.au/news/index.html
2   http://www.ahc.gov.au/whoare/index.html
3   http://www.ahc.gov.au/infores/publications/newheritage.html, National Heritage List.
4   Dr Kemp, Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Bill (No.1) 2002, Second Reading, Hansard, Thursday 27 June 2002, pp.3871-3783.
5   http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/ecita_ctte/hert2000/Contents.htm, Senate Report on Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2000, Australian Heritage Council Bill 2000, and Australian Heritage Council (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2000, Appendix 6.
6   http://www.ahc.gov.au/register/furtherinfo/criteria.html
7   http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/ecita_ctte/hert2000/Contents.htm, Senate Report, Appendix 1.
8   http://www.ea.gov.au/heritage/programs/index.html
9   http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/ecita_ctte/hert2000/Contents.htm, Senate Report, Chapter 5 and Sections 324Y and 341ZA of the EPBC Act.
10   http://www.nepc.gov.au/news_ephc.html

[ Top ] Index Next