Managing Commonwealth Heritage places
Commonwealth Heritage Places are protected under provisions of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
Find out more about the EPBC Act.
The EPBC Act provides that places in the Commonwealth Heritage List are protected for their values. It also provides that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts (the Minister) is required to approve actions:
- taken on Commonwealth land, which are likely to have a significant impact on the environment
- taken outside Commonwealth land, which are likely to have a significant impact on the environment on Commonwealth land
- taken by the Australian Government or its agencies that are likely to have a significant impact on the environment anywhere.
Duties of Commonwealth agencies
Australian Government agencies that own or lease heritage places are required to assist the Minister and the Australian Heritage Council (the Council) to identify and assess the heritage values of these places. They are also required to:
- develop heritage strategies
- produce a register of the heritage places under their control
- develop a management plan to manage these places consistent with the Commonwealth Heritage management principles prescribed in regulations to the Act
- ensure the ongoing protection of the Commonwealth heritage values of the place when it is sold or leased
- ask the Minister for a decision about taking an action, if the action has, or will have, or is likely to have, a significant impact on a Commonwealth heritage place.
Managing Commonwealth Heritage places
The way in which a Commonwealth Heritage place is managed can have an impact on the heritage values of that place. It is important, therefore, for managers to understand their obligations and to be aware of the professional expertise and tools available to ensure that those values are protected and preserved for future generations.
Find out more about managing Commonwealth Heritage places.
Commonwealth Heritage management principles
The Commonwealth Heritage management principles set the standard and the scope for the way places should be managed in order to protect heritage values for future generations. These principles should be used when preparing and implementing management plans and programs. In the absence of a management plan, they should guide the management of heritage values of a property.
Find out more about Commonwealth Heritage management principles.
Management plans for Commonwealth Heritage places
A management plan is a document that identifies the values of a heritage place and the policies to be followed to ensure that those values are protected and conserved.
Find out how to prepare and write a management plan.
Determining a significant impact and making a referral
The person appointed with the responsibility for a proposed action needs to undertake a 'self assessment' to decide whether or not a proposed action is likely to have an adverse or 'significant' impact on the Commonwealth Heritage values of the place. If the action is found to have such an impact it must be referred to the Minister for a decision.
Find out about significant impacts and making a referral.
Quick Links
- Australian Heritage Week
- Public notices
- Asia-Pacific Focal Point
- Australia's dinosaurs
- Managing Commonwealth heritage places
- Australian Heritage Council
- Australian Heritage Places Inventory (AHPI)
- Australian Heritage Database
- Australian Heritage Information
- Export permits
- Indigenous heritage
- Place managers network
- Historic Shipwrecks Program factsheet
- Patrimonito Storyboard competition
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