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Department of the Environment and Heritage Annual Report 2003-04

Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2004
ISSN 1441 9335

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Operation of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (continued)
Australian Heritage Commission final report 1 July to 31 December 2003 (continued)

Key results

Key result area 1: The National Estate

The Australian Heritage Commission undertook a range of activities relating to the National Estate for the six months from 1 July to 31 December 2003, including assessments, providing advice to Australian Government agencies under Section 30 of the former Australian Heritage Commission Act 1976, and listing of sites on the Register of the National Estate.

Under the Commonwealth's new Australian Heritage Council Act 2003, the register will be maintained as a record of Australia's natural, cultural and Indigenous heritage places. It will continue to provide the basis for heritage identification and protection systems, and remains part of the Australian Heritage Places Inventory, which links national, state and territory heritage information databases through the Internet at www.heritage.gov.au/ahpi/index.html.

Geoheritage

In preparation for the new heritage system, the commission completed assessments of fossil and other geological sites that may have national heritage significance. Places already listed in the register were reviewed and other sites were assessed with the assistance of palaeontologists from universities and state museums.

The Jack Hills area of Western Australia was entered in the Interim List of the Register of the National Estate through this assessment process. Small crystals of zircon found in a chert-pebble conglomerate within the Jack Hills area are older than any other material currently identified from earth. Much of what is known from the time of the earth's earliest development (which occurred during the Hadean Eon from 4.5 to 3.8 billion years ago) is known through the analysis of these ancient crystals.

Defence properties at Muchea and Bindoon

The Australian Heritage Commission continued its focus on assessing heritage values on Australian Government land with the completion of spring (November 2003) flora and fauna surveys for the Bindoon and Muchea Defence Training Areas in Western Australia. These complemented recent autumn (March 2003) flora and fauna surveys. The two projects, undertaken with the assistance of the Department of Defence, yielded a range of highly significant heritage values as the surveys followed decent winter rains after a period of drought in south-western Western Australia.

Identification

During 1 July 2003 to 31 December 2003, the number of places in the Register of the National Estate increased by a net of 40. This compares with a net increase of 152 in 2002-03. Details by state, type, location and comparisons with the previous year, are given below. Appendix A outlines details of nominations, listings, information on the Register of the National Estate database, and advice provided to the Australian Government under section 30 of the Australian Heritage Commission Act.

  Indigenous Historic Natural Total
Location 2002-03 2003-04(b) 2002-03 2003-04 2002-03 2003-04 2002-03 2003-04
NSW
221
221
3125
3136
487
488
3833
3845
VIC
111
111
2427
2431
254
254
2792
2796
QLD
155
155
738
739
322
324
1215
1218
WA
74
74
969
972
283
285
1326
1331
SA
153
153
1209
1205
390
392
1752
1751
TAS
66
66
1209
1210
263
263
1538
1539
NT
105
107
147
157
63
68
315
332
ACT(a)
30
30
195
195
30
30
255
255
External territories
0
0
42
42
24
24
67
66
Total
915
917
10 061
10 088
2117
2128
13 093
13 133

(a) ACT includes Jervis Bay Territory.
(b) Covers period 1 July 2003 to 31 December 2003.

Key result area 2: The community

Community is defined as community groups and individuals, businesses and industry. The Australian Heritage Commission continued its involvement with the community at a regional and national level through consultation, education and training programmes, marketing and joint activities.

Media liaison

Media liaison during the year focused on announcing the interim listings in the Register of the National Estate and assisting the Commission's heritage advocacy projects.

Joint projects
PictureAustralia

The Australian Heritage Commission continued its agreement with PictureAustralia, a collaboration between Australian and international cultural agencies, to provide access to online pictorial collections. The Australian Heritage Commission's Photographic Library Internet site received an average of 1421 visits a month from people searching images on www.pictureaustralia.org.

Leave No Trace Australia

The commission and the Department of the Environment and Heritage jointly sponsored Leave No Trace Australia to adapt the Leave No Trace principles, skills and ethics booklets and masters course material to Australian conditions. The first Leave No Trace masters (Train the Trainer) courses, using the materials adapted for Australian conditions, have been successfully completed at Margaret River in Western Australia and the Blue Mountains in New South Wales.

Protecting Heritage Places: Online course for Open Learning Australia

The Protecting Heritage Places online course was jointly developed by Curtin University and the Commission. The course has been made available nationally through the Open Learning Network (www.ola.edu.au) in addition to an on-campus or distance education unit through the university. The first group of students successfully completed the pilot course in December 2003. Further information about the course can be found on the Internet on www.lsn.curtin.edu.au/php.

Twentieth Century Heritage

The commission previously participated with all other state and territory heritage agencies to produce the book Twentieth Century Heritage: Marking the recent past to raise awareness of this type of heritage. The Australian Heritage Commission distributed almost 500 copies to major local government authorities, relevant university courses, libraries, the National Cultural Heritage Forum, state curriculum development and planning bodies, and other interested groups and individuals.

Tanami Desert survey

The commission participated in a biological field survey of the northern Tanami Desert initiated by the Central Land Council, together with senior Warlpiri traditional owners, staff of the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory and other botanists and zoologists. The trip added significantly to scientific knowledge of the area's fauna, including the probable identification of two new species of lizard.

Publications

Linking a Nation - Australia's transport and communications 1788-1970. Linking a Nation is the first e-publication in the research series Australia: our national stories which looks into significant themes in Australia's history. It is a scholarly study of the historic places associated with events, processes and people connected to Australia's transport and communications heritage.

Linking a Nation - Australias transport and communications 1788-1970, by Dr Robert Lee, University of New South Wales is available online at www.ahc.gov.au/publications/national-stories/transport.

Successful tourism at heritage places: A guide for tourism operators, heritage managers and communities. Demand continues to be strong for this publication, with more than 1000 copies distributed to key tourism industry, heritage and community groups and state, regional and local government agencies by the end of 2003.

Protecting Natural Heritage - using the Australian Natural Heritage Charter. This publication has been widely distributed with more than 5000 copies sent to local governments and key environment and natural resource management bodies by the end of 2003.

Protecting Heritage Places Information and Resource Kit. This kit is a key component of the resources for the Protecting Heritage Places online course for Open Learning Australia at www.lsn.curtin.edu.au/php/. It has continued to be distributed and promoted both nationally and internationally, with more than 1500 CD-ROMs alone being distributed by the end of 2003.

Corporate publications

Annual Report 2002-2003, Australian Heritage Commission, 2003.

Key result area 3: Heritage management

The commission was represented on a number of advisory bodies to assist with providing advice on the heritage management of a number of places. These bodies were:

One meeting of the Kingston and Arthur's Vale Historic Area Board was held between July and December 2003 (on 2 October 2003). Major items discussed were:

The Australian Heritage Commission participated in the first meeting of the Port Arthur Conservation Advisory Committee which was held in November 2003. The main issue discussed was the proposed archaeological works on the burial ground of the Isle of the Dead. The commission also provided the secretariat to the Australian Alps Liaison Committee. A draft strategic plan to ensure continued cooperative management of the Australian Alps between New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and the Australian Government was completed by December 2003. The commission participated in meetings of the Port Nepean Heritage Working Group to consider future management options for the Department of Defence site at Point Nepean.

The Environment Protection and Heritage Council

The Australian Heritage Commission provided the secretariat to the Environment Protection and Heritage Council's National Tourism and Heritage Taskforce. In the six-month period ending December 2003 consultation continued with state tourism and heritage agencies to progress a number of priority initiatives identified in the Going Places - developing natural and cultural heritage tourism in Australia Issues Paper report.

Chinese liaison

The commission continued to promote Australian cultural heritage expertise in China through projects that have been developed in line with the memorandum of understanding on cultural heritage cooperation between the Australian Heritage Commission, the Department and the Chinese State Administration for Cultural Heritage. These included further work on the implementation phase of the Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China, a collaborative project with the Chinese State Administration for Cultural Heritage and the American Getty Conservation Institute to develop master plans at two World Heritage listed sites in China - Mogao and Chengde.

To better understand differing perceptions of cultural heritage in Australia and China, the Australian Heritage Commission, the Department and Deakin University are working on a three-year Australian Research Council Linkage Grant to undertake cross-cultural comparative research into site significance, management and interpretation. Research, staff interviews and visitor surveys will be carried out at a site in China and one in Australia over three years.

AusHeritage

The commission continued to provide advice and support to AusHeritage, an export-focused network of cultural heritage practitioners and organisations. During the six-month period, the commission worked with AusHeritage to host a major ASEAN heritage delegation and cultural mapping workshop in Adelaide.

Chairs and officials

The National Heritage Chairs and Officials (chairs and executive officers of state, territory and Australian and New Zealand governments historic heritage agencies) held a special one-day meeting on 14 August 2003 in Parramatta, hosted by the New South Wales Heritage Office. The meeting resolved to change the name to reflect New Zealand membership, to Heritage Chairs and Officials of Australia and New Zealand. Major items discussed included matters relating to the Chairs and Officials' role in supporting the Environment Protection and Heritage Council and formalising a relationship between the Chairs and Officials body and the National Cultural Heritage Forum.

Australian heritage databases

The Australian Heritage Commission continued to develop the Australian Heritage Assessment Tool, a database for assisting the identification of natural heritage values. Features developed include maps of land snail, butterfly and dragonfly occurrences, the collection of information on sea anemones and the gathering of information on Queensland mound springs. The tool now has mapped information on more than 21 000 species. This database will continue to be developed by the Department.

Key result area 4: Australian Government heritage properties

Identification of heritage significance of Australian Government properties

The commission continued its focus on assessing Australian Government-owned places in anticipation of the successful passage through the Parliament of the proposed heritage legislation. The many Australian Government-owned or partly-owned heritage places that have had their records upgraded or reviewed over the last five years, reflect this key priority.

For the July to December 2003 period, the commission considered a number of places for the Register of the National Estate upgrading or assessment in preparation for possible inclusion in the Commonwealth Heritage List, including:

Advice to government agencies on Australian Government heritage property management

Under section 30 of the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975, Australian Government bodies must refer to the commission proposals that might significantly affect National Estate places. For the period 1 July 2003 to 31 December 2003, the commission provided 183 pieces of advice related to Australian Government proposals from a range of agencies. The bulk of the referrals were from the Department of Defence, the National Capital Authority, the Department of Finance and Administration, and the Department of the Environment and Heritage. Most commonly, the referrals involved building alterations, heritage assessment reports and conservation management plans requiring comment. Other commonly referred actions were proposals for site development, asset disposal or lease, provision of telecommunications facilities, conservation works and road transport improvements.

Australian Government heritage property divestment

The commission, as in previous years, continued to provide considerable comment on proposed disposals of Australian Government places that were known to have, or were likely to have, heritage values worth protecting. As part of the disposal process, the Australian Heritage Commission encouraged Australian Government agencies to undertake heritage assessments of their properties prior to divestment where heritage values had not already been formally identified. The commission then provided advice on the measures likely to provide ongoing protection once a place left Australian Government ownership. The advice often included seeking heritage protection through state or territory heritage registration or local government listing.

The commission worked very closely with the Department of Defence and the Department of Finance and Administration in providing advice on the most appropriate measures to ensure the ongoing protection of heritage vales for places that were in the process of divestment.

Strategic advice

The commission continued to work closely with the Department and other Australian Government agencies on the proposed heritage legislation. In September 2003, the Parliament passed a comprehensive set of amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 to create a new national heritage system, combining the most successful elements of the previous system with a number of new elements, including the creation of a Commonwealth Heritage List.

The Commonwealth Heritage List is a list of places managed or owned by the Australian Government. The legislation includes a provision allowing the Minister to enter places owned or leased by the Australian Government which are on the Register of the National Estate to the new Commonwealth Heritage List. The commission continued to upgrade existing entries of these places on the Register of the National Estate places to facilitate their entry on the new Commonwealth Heritage List. Also in preparation for the creation of the new Commonwealth Heritage List, identification of heritage places owned or leased by the Australian Government, or in Commonwealth land or waters, has been a priority task.

All relevant Australian Government agencies were contacted and asked to check the accuracy of the Australian Heritage Commission's records with respect to the Australian Government's interest and to identify other potential properties in their ownership which potentially may have heritage values. The commission also continued to provide strategic advice to Australian Government agencies on the implications of the new system through briefings and workshops.

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