Heritage Overview

Introduction

Since the previous Regional State of the Environment Report in 2004, there have been changes to the heritage protection arrangements applying across the region and Australia. Most of these changes arise from amendments to the Commonwealth’s heritage regime through changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. These changes have altered the status of the Commonwealth Register of the National Estate (RNE) and introduced new Commonwealth heritage lists (see below).

Searches can now be made of websites referring to Commonwealth and State heritage and lists of recognised heritage places sites in the region. Changes in heritage registrations within Shires since 2004 are more difficult to assess, especially when there have been changes to Shire boundaries. This has been the case for a number of Shires and is noted in the individual Shire reports.

Definitions and legal status

The following section is a summary of the various heritage registers (Commonwealth, State and Local Government), including definitions, legal status and scope of protection provided.

Heritage lists and protection

The Region’s heritage is protected under Commonwealth and State heritage legislation. At the Commonwealth level the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Protection Act 1999 establishes various heritage lists. The Commonwealth is responsible for protecting heritage sites included on the World Heritage List, the National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritage List. The Commonwealth also maintains the Register of the National Estate.

At the State level, the NSW Heritage Act 1977 provides for the establishment of the State Heritage Register and associated heritage lists, as well as for the protection arrangements of listed sites. The Act also provides for the establishment/preparation of Local Environmental Plans by local governments.

The explanation of these various lists and the implications for listed sites, including proposed actions that may affect them is provided in the following section.

 

Commonwealth heritage lists and protection

World Heritage List

World Heritage sites have been recognised by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee as possessing outstanding universal heritage values. Under the International World Heritage Convention, the Australian Government is committed to ensuring the protection of these outstanding heritage sites.

National Heritage List (NHL)

Australia's national heritage comprises exceptional natural and cultural places sites that contribute to Australia's national identity. National heritage defines the critical moments in our development as a nation and reflects achievements, joys and sorrows in the lives of Australians. It also encompasses those places sites that reveal the richness of Australia's extraordinarily diverse natural heritage.

The National Heritage List has been established to list natural, historic and Indigenous places sites of outstanding national heritage significance to Australia. It includes natural, historic and Indigenous places that are of outstanding national heritage value to the Australian nation.

The National Heritage List is compiled and maintained by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts and can be searched using the Australian Heritage Database.

Anyone can nominate a place with outstanding heritage values for inclusion on the National Heritage List. The Australian Heritage Council assesses the values of nominated place against nine set criteria and significance thresholds and makes recommendations to the Minister for the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (the Minister) about listing. The final decision on listing is made by the Minister.

Listed places are protected by Australian Government laws and special agreements with state and territory governments and with Indigenous and private owners. Place on the list are protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), which requires that approval be obtained before any action takes place that could have a significant impact on the national heritage values of a listed place.

To ensure the on-going protection of a National Heritage place, National Heritage listing requires that a management plan be produced that sets out how the heritage values of the site will be protected or conserved.

Commonwealth Heritage List (CHL)

Place that are included in the Commonwealth Heritage List are protected under the provisions of the EPBC Act. To protect the heritage values of Commonwealth Heritage Sites they own or lease, Australian Government agencies are required to develop heritage strategies, a heritage register, and management plans for sites on the Commonwealth Heritage List in accordance with the Commonwealth Heritage management principles.

Register of the National Estate (RNE)

The Register of the National Estate is a list of natural, Indigenous and historic heritage place throughout Australia.

The Register of the National Estate was originally established under the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975. Under that Act, the Australian Heritage Commission entered more than 13,000 places in the register. In 2004, responsibility for maintaining the Register shifted to the Australian Heritage Council, under the Australian Heritage Council Act 2003 (AHC Act).

On 1 January 2004, a new national heritage system was established under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act). This introduced the National Heritage List, which was designed to recognise and protect places of outstanding heritage to the nation, and the Commonwealth Heritage List, which includes Commonwealth owned or leased place of significant heritage value. The establishment of this national system was in line with a 1997 agreement by the Council of Australian Governments, that each level of government should be responsible for protecting heritage at the appropriate level. The Australian Government’s role in relation to heritage is to focus on protecting places of world and national heritage significance and on ensuring Commonwealth compliance with state heritage and planning laws. Each state and territory government, and local government, has a similar responsibility for its own heritage.

As a result, there is now a significant level of overlap between the Register of the National Estate, and heritage lists at the national, state and territory, and local government levels. In early 2007, changes were made to the EPBC Act, to address this situation. From 19 February 2007 the Register has been frozen, meaning that no place can be added or removed.

A transition period of five years has been provided to allow governments to consider whether there are places in the Register that should receive protection under another statutory list or a local government heritage register. After this period, the Register’s statutory basis will be removed.

The Register will continue as a statutory register until February 2012, meaning that the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (the Minister) is required to consider the Register when making some decisions under the EPBC Act. References to the Register will remain in the Australian Heritage Council Act 2003 during this time, and it will continue to be available online. From February 2012 all references to the Register will be removed from the EPBC Act and the AHC Act.

Many places in the Register are already included in other statutory lists, such as the state heritage lists, or local government heritage registers. As a result, those places receive protection under the relevant federal, state or territory legislation, or under council bylaws.

The five-year transition period that has been provided for the closure of the Register to allow governments, including the Australian Government, state and territory governments, and local governments, time to assess other places in the Register for inclusion in the appropriate national, state, territory or local heritage list. Registered places can be protected under the EPBC Act if they are also included in another Commonwealth statutory heritage list or are owned or leased by the Commonwealth. For example, registered places owned or leased by the Commonwealth are protected from any action likely to have a significant impact on the environment. The Australian Government will, over the next five years, assess whether there are further places in the Register that should be included in the Commonwealth Heritage List.

Heritage places on multiple lists

Values of place on the Commonwealth Heritage List might be protected under more than one provision of the Act. For example, a Commonwealth Heritage Place might also be on the National Heritage List or the World Heritage List. Where this is the case, the Act may prescribe additional management requirements and/or principles.

Indigenous heritage

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage is an important part of Australian heritage. Evidence of the occupation of Australia by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people dates back more than 60,000 years. As well as historically important, Indigenous heritage is of continuing significance, creating and maintaining continuous links with the people and the land.

Places that hold great meaning and significance to Indigenous people include:

  • places associated with Dreaming stories depicting the laws of the land and how people should behave
  • places that are associated with their Indigenous spirituality
  • places where other cultures came into contact with Indigenous people
  • places that are significant for more contemporary uses by Indigenous people.

The Indigenous Advisory Committee advises the Federal Minister on the operation of the EPBC Act taking into account their knowledge of the land, conservation and use of biodiversity.

Under the EPBC Act, there are penalties for anyone who takes an action that has or will have a significant impact on the national heritage values of a place.

All states and Territories have legislation that provides blanket protection to Indigenous archaeological sites.

The purposes of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 are the preservation and protection of areas and objects in Australia and in Australian waters that are of particular significance to Aborigines in accordance with Aboriginal tradition.

Indigenous Australians are involved in developing management plans for places with Indigenous heritage significance on the National or Commonwealth Heritage lists. National heritage places on Indigenous land can be managed through conservation agreements, which operate in the same way as Indigenous Protected Areas.

Where the Federal Minister considers that the heritage values of a place in the National or Commonwealth Heritage Lists could be significantly damaged by the disclosure of some information, the Minister may decide to make publicly available only a general description of the place, its location or its national heritage values.

Entry on the National or Commonwealth Heritage lists does not affect native title rights. Section 8 of the EPBC Act specifically states that nothing within the Act will affect the operation of section 211 of the Native Title Act 1993.

State Heritage Lists and Protection

Two separate lists are recorded in this Report for State Heritage listed places One list records those places entered on the State Heritage Register. This is the Register of places identified and assessed by the NSW Heritage Council as being of State heritage significance. The second such list, the S.170 Register list, is prepared by the State Government agencies and records State government owned heritage properties of local, regional or State heritage significance.

Listing on the State Heritage Register doesn’t mean that owners can’t make changes to their property. It does mean, however, that for certain kinds of work, approval is needed from the Heritage Council of NSW. The Heritage Council will usually approve changes that do not compromise the heritage significance of the listed property.

Listing on the State Heritage Register controls activities such as:

  • alteration
  • damage
  • demolition
  • development.

Formal approval is not required for routine maintenance such as guttering and roofing repairs. However, it is always best to check with the Heritage Office before making alterations.

Listing gives owners access to heritage grants and loans through both the NSW Heritage Office and local councils. Listing on the State Heritage Register also enables owners to enter into heritage agreements, which can attract land tax, stamp duty and local rate concessions.

In NSW there are different types of statutory listings for local and state heritage items. A property is a heritage item if it is:

  • listed on the State Heritage Register, a register of places and items of particular importance to the people of NSW,
  • listed in the heritage schedule of a local council's local environmental plan (LEP). See below under ‘Local’ for further details on LEPs.

Statutory registers provide legal protection for heritage items. In NSW legal protection generally comes from the Heritage Act 1977 and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

The State Heritage Register is a list of places and objects of particular importance to the people of NSW.

The register was created in 1999 and lists a diverse range of over 1,500 items, in both private and public ownership. To be listed, an item must be significant for the whole of NSW. The Heritage Council has developed criteria to help establish whether an item is significant at the state level. Anyone can nominate a place or object for listing on the State Heritage Register.

The State Heritage Register lists a diverse range of places buildings and objects including: Aboriginal places, buildings, objects, monuments, gardens, natural landscapes, archaeological sites, shipwrecks, relics, streets, industrial structures, public buildings, shops, factories, houses, religious buildings, schools, conservation precincts, jetties, bridges and movable items such as church organs and ferries.

Listing on the State Heritage Register means that the heritage item:

  • is of particular importance to the people of NSW and enriches our understanding of our history and identity;
  • is legally protected as a heritage item under the NSW Heritage Act;
  • requires approval from the Heritage Council of NSW for major changes; and
  • is eligible for financial incentives from the NSW and Commonwealth governments.

In addition to the NSW State Heritage Register, the NSW Heritage Act provides for Section 170 Registers (Heritage and Conservation Registers). Government agencies are required to establish and keep a s. 170 register entitled the “Heritage and Conservation Register”. These Registers list items under the care, control and management of NSW state agencies.

Each government agency is responsible for ensuring that the items entered on its Register under Section 170, and items and land to which a listing on the State Heritage Register applies that are under its care, control or management, are maintained with due diligence in accordance with State Owned Heritage Management Principles approved by the Minister on the advice of the Heritage Council.

In this Report, separate lists are presented for places entered on LEPs, the State Heritage Register and the section.170 Register. This enables easy identification of the heritage places and a clear understanding of the implications of the type of listing. Some places, of course, are entered on more than one list.

Local heritage lists and protection

At the local level, under NSW heritage legislation, heritage places may be listed in the heritage schedule of a local council's local environmental plan (LEP). Further information on items listed on LEPs or REPs is available from the relevant local council.

The focus of heritage management has changed considerably since the Heritage Act came into force in 1977. Whereas the Heritage Council was previously the principal body involved in the statutory listing of heritage items, in 1985 a Ministerial direction issued to local councils that year has led to a two- tiered heritage management system. Local government now has the primary responsibility for managing local heritage in New South Wales.

Amendments to heritage legislation have further clarified the different legislative means of listing heritage items of local and State significance:

  • items of local significance through heritage schedules to local
  • environmental plans (Environmental Planning & Assessment Act (1979); and
  • items of State significance through the State Heritage Register (Heritage Amendment Act, 1998).

An item may be included on both a local environmental plan and the State

Heritage Register if it is considered to be of both local and State significance.

The principal tools that guide local government management decisions are the heritage study and the local environmental plan.

A heritage study identifies and assesses heritage items that reflect the key historical themes for an area. It also makes recommendations on policies the local council should adopt to protect and conserve the identified heritage items.

The local environmental plan (LEP) translates the recommendations of the heritage study into a legal document that provides a broad framework for future management of the area’s heritage. The LEP is prepared in accordance with principles laid down in the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, 1979 and the model LEP prepared by the Heritage Council. The heritage items identified in the heritage study are listed in a schedule to the LEP.

Council reports

Each LGA to have a separate report on its heritage.

 

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