For students: finding answers for an assignment

Learning about Australian heritage

This web site has a lot of detailed information on Australian Heritage. The best place for an overview is About Australia's heritage.

About heritage listing in Australia

Heritage lists help people learn about and appreciate the heritage value of places. They also let planners, researchers and community groups to take these values into account in their decisions.

Local, state and Commonwealth government organisations each create and maintain heritage lists, as do community organisations. A place may be on several heritage lists. Each listing means something different in terms of the place's significance, regulation and management.

To find out about the different types of heritage listings:

World heritage list: sites important to all the peoples of the world
National heritage list: exceptional places which help give Australia its identity
Commonwealth heritage list: places with heritage value owned by the Australian Government
List of overseas places of heritage significance to Australia: helps tell the story of the most significant parts of Australia's history that happened overseas
Movable cultural heritage: heritage artefacts that may move around (for example, on exhibition)
Historic Shipwrecks
Register of the National Estate: one listing of Australia's natural and cultural heritage places
State, territory and local lists: different types of heritage list are held at each level of government

You can also search for places. Two searchable heritage databases include:

Australian Heritage Places Inventory: summary information about places listed in State, Territory and Commonwealth Heritage Registers
Australian Heritage Database: detailed information (including photographs) about more than 20 000 natural, historic and Indigenous places

If our web site doesn't help

If you don't find the information you need on our web site, try one of these related web sites:

National Trust
Other government agencies
Non-government agencies
Heritage portal

Or talk to your school or local librarian. You can also contact us.

Requesting information online

We are happy to answer questions if you cannot find the answer on this web site. But remember, we are not here to do your assignment for you!

Before you contact us:

try to find the answer first: most of the questions we get are answered here on the web site
give us time: it may take a week or more to answer you (we get lots of questions), so don't email on the night before your assignment is due
ask a specific question: don't just send us your assignment question - ask about something specific you can't find the answer to

In your message to us:

include your full name and email address
include your teacher's name, email address and school
include a clear description of your message in the comment field so we can tell what your query is about
let us know where you have already looked or what you have learned - it helps us to answer your question better.

Use the contact us form to send us your query.

An example question

Here's an example of a clear online question.

Comment: Question about criteria for listing heritage places

Email message:

Dear Heritage info

I am doing an assignment for year 11 Social Studies regarding how heritage places are listed on the National Heritage List.

I have looked at the criteria for heritage listing on your web site which was very helpful. I have also looked at the section on laws.

However, I am interested to know if the criteria change over time. As far as I can tell, the laws do not seem to specify a period of review. Would you be able to tell me where I can get further information about this?

My teacher is Jo Smith at Brite High, Darwin, NT- jsmith@brite.edu.au

Thank you
Joan Jones

Key

Links to another web site
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Heritage