Natural and Cultural Heritage Theme Report

Australia State of the Environment Report 2001 (Theme Report)
Lead Author: Jane Lennon, Jane Lennon and Associates Pty Ltd, Authors
Published by CSIRO on behalf of the Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2001
ISBN 0 643 06752 3

State of knowledge about Australia's heritage

My search is further.
There's still to name and know
beyond the flowers I gather
that one that does not wither -
the truth from which they grow.

- Judith Wright, The Forest, 1963

Environmental indicators reported on in this section.

Environmental indicator
NCH G.1 \| a \| b \| c \|	Number and distribution of identified heritage items (places and objects)
NCH G.2	Number of heritage places assessed using best practice assessment standards
NCH O.1 \| a \| b \|	The number of objects/collections adequately catalogued

This report follows on from the first national assessment of the state of heritage five years ago, which was contained in the Natural and Cultural Heritage chapter of the independent 1996 State of the Environment Report for Australia (Purdie et al. 1996).

This section presents an overview of the current state of knowledge about Australia's heritage places, objects and Indigenous languages, and the major pressures that are affecting them. Where changes have occurred since the State of the Environment report for Australia in 1996, these are quantified as far as available information allows, and trends are identified and discussed.

The state or condition of the natural and cultural heritage places and objects is addressed on the continental scale, where this is possible. However, there are some aspects of heritage such as Indigenous languages and some specific pressures that relate to only part of Australia, and in some cases the available data do not allow accurate continental-scale analysis. Where this is the case, the context of the situation is discussed, and where possible general trends are drawn from the available information.

The section is divided into overviews of the state of knowledge of heritage places, objects and Indigenous languages, and a discussion of specific issues affecting them. Indicators based on data have been useful in describing the state of knowledge about heritage places.

State of knowledge about heritage places, objects and values

Was cultural inheritance to define us, even in the radically changed form that being in a new place demanded, or the place itself? But the belief that we must make a choice is an illusion, and so, I'd suggest, if we are to be whole, is the possibility of choosing. It is our complex fate to be the children of two worlds...Our answer on every occasion when we are offered the false choice between this and that, should be, 'Thank you, I'll take both.'

- David Malouf, A Spirit of Play: The making of the Australian consciousness (1998, p. 79)

'Knowledge' means both knowing the location of places and objects with heritage values, and understanding those values. Knowledge is essential for the identification and assessment of heritage values, including the adequate representation of those values geographically and thematically. Clearly, the accuracy and comprehensiveness of State of the Environment reporting relies on an adequate knowledge of the heritage resource of the nation.

Analysis involved using data collected in State/Territory and Commonwealth heritage registers. This selection in itself suggests some biases or limitations in the interpretation of 'knowledge' on a continental scale. The places identified in the indicators are really surrogates for perfect knowledge - they are likely to give a good representation of reality, so long as the particular limitation in the development of each heritage register is understood and acknowledged.

National overview of the types and distributions of heritage places

The only data source used for a national overview of heritage places was the Register of the National Estate, because it is the only source covering all three heritage fields - natural, Indigenous and historic. Consequently, this overview is biased by the selectivity of data during the reporting period, as discussed below.

Table 1 shows an increase in places listed in the Register of the National Estate (including Interim Listed places) of 1831 over the five-year period 1995-2000, or 16%. This compares with a 17% increase in 1995 over the 1990 figures. Hence the growth of the Register of the National Estate can be interpreted as being relatively steady over the last decade. However, the rate of additions varied between the three environmental areas.

Table 1: Register of the National Estate by State and Territory (including Interim Listed Places).^A
[NCH Indicator G.1 (Commonwealth level)]
	Natural 1995	Natural 2000	Indigenous 1995	Indigenous 2000	Historic 1995	Historic 2000	Total 1995	Total 2000	Total No / % change
ACT (inc. Jervis Bay)	28	30	10	27	122	169	160	226	66 / 41%
NSW	408	453	208	219	2 671	3 020	3 287	3 692	405 / 2%
NT	52	59	86	104	102	147	240	310	70 / 29%
Qld	255	304	144	152	632	737	1 031	1 193	162 / 15%
SA	360	385	143	147	735	1 165	1 238	1 687	449 / 36%
Tas.	226	242	64	65	1 144	1 183	1 434	1 490	56 / 4%
Vic.	200	239	101	106	2 166	2 334	2 467	2 679	212 / 8%
WA	223	254	74	74	846	958	1 143	1 286	143 / 12%
External territories^B	16	18	0	0	15	37	31	55	24 / 77%
Total Registered Places	1 768	1 984	830	894	8 433	9 740	11 031	12 618	1 587 / 14%
Total Interim Listed Places	143	329	22	19	74	135	239	483
TOTAL Registered and Listed Places	1 911	2 313	852	913	8 507	9 875	11 270	13 101	1 831 / 16%

^A There is a backlog of 3000 places identified in the RFA studies and another 2800 nominations, of which three-quarters are historic places identified in previous surveys.
^B Includes the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Source: Environment Australia, Register of the National Estate Data Base.

Historic place additions to the Register of the National Estate remained comparable, with a 17% increase from 1990 to 1995, and 16% from 1995 to 2000. Natural places registration increased by 19% from 1990 to 1995, and by 21% from 1995 to 2000. The rate of registration of Indigenous places declined, from 14.5% between 1990 and 1995 to 7% between 1995 and 2000. This is discussed in subsequent sections.

Figure 2 shows the distribution of all places listed on the Register of the National Estate as at 2000, and Figure 3 shows places added since 1996.

Figure 2: Distribution of all Places listed on the Register of the National Estate 2000.

Source: Environment Australia, Register of the National Estate Data Base

Figure 3: Places added to the Register of the National Estate since 1996.

Source: Environment Australia, Register of the National Estate Data Base