The national heritage list australian heritage council
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- CONTENTS 1.
- Frequently asked questions 153 1. INTRODUCTION Heritage in Australia
- Level of Administration Heritage List
- How heritage lists work – criteria and thresholds for listing
- Level of Administration Heritage List Threshold
- National Heritage Listing process
- National Heritage List guidelines
 
GUIDELINES FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF PLACES FOR THE NATIONAL HERITAGE LIST AUSTRALIAN HERITAGE COUNCIL Note: This is a working document. Please consult the publications website of the Australian Heritage Council, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts for the latest version (www.environment.gov.au/heritage/ahc/publications). Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act), the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts (the Minister) is responsible for the National Heritage List. The provisions in the EPBC Act and Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations govern the National Heritage listing process. All decisions as to whether a place has National Heritage values must be made by reference to the EPBC Act and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations. These Guidelines deal with the interpretation of the National Heritage provisions in the EPBC Act and the Regulations, and outline a number of tools and approaches that may be taken to assessing places by the Australian Heritage Council for inclusion in the National Heritage List. The Guidelines have no statutory force under the EPBC Act or the Australian Heritage Council Act 2003. Decisions in relation to assessment of places may have regard to the Guidelines. However the decision whether a place has National Heritage value must in each case be based on the application of the statutory provisions. © Commonwealth of Australia, February 2009 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth, available from the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Published by: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION Heritage in Australia There are different levels of heritage listing in Australia - world, national, state/territory and local. At the highest level are places on the World Heritage List like Kakadu National Park and the Sydney Opera House, while on a local heritage list there might be a local nature reserve or the local Post Office. There are many heritage lists in Australia. Some are kept by the different levels of government while other lists are maintained by community or professional organisations. The main government lists are outlined below:
In addition, the main community and professional organisation heritage lists include those kept by the National Trusts in each state and territory; the Royal Australian Institute of Architects; and Engineering Heritage Australia. These do not provide legislative protection for places. Some of these heritage lists deal with all types of heritage places – natural, Indigenous and historic, and some also deal with heritage objects (e.g. documents or paintings). However, others only address one type of heritage, most commonly historic places. In some states, territories and local governments there are no heritage lists for natural and Indigenous heritage places. Different mechanisms tend to be used for these heritage places. For example, natural heritage might be protected as a national park. Many Indigenous heritage places are protected by specific legislation at the state and territory level. Rather than relying on heritage lists, this legislation provides protection for types of Indigenous heritage places whether they have been formally identified or not. Individual places with potential heritage value may also be heritage listed, for example in those cases where a place may be affected by development. While all of these heritage lists are important, the Australian, state and territory, and local government heritage systems in Australia distinguish between these levels for legal and practical reasons. How heritage lists work – criteria and thresholds for listing All governments use lists as the basis for publicly identifying Australia’s heritage places, protecting these places and communicating their heritage significance. The lists are usually compiled with public and expert assistance. Key tools used to decide a place’s heritage significance are criteria and thresholds. Criteria are a collection of principles, characteristics and categories used to help decide if a place has heritage value. Usually there are a number of criteria relevant to a heritage list, and one or more of these must be applied to a place being considered for listing. Examples of commonly used criteria include:
In addition to criteria, there is also a question of the threshold for heritage listing. The threshold is the level of heritage value that a place must demonstrate in order to be included in a heritage list. The heritage lists at each level differ in the threshold used to decide what places to include. Examples of the thresholds used at different levels are indicated below.
Introduction Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act), the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts (the Minister) is responsible for the National Heritage List. The provisions in the EPBC Act and Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations govern the National Heritage Listing process. These guidelines are intended as a general interpretative guide on those statutory provisions. The guidelines have no statutory force. In the event of any inconsistency between the EPBC Act and Regulations and the guidelines, the Act and Regulations must be followed. National Heritage Listing process For a place to be included in the National Heritage List the Minister must be satisfied that the place meets one or more of the National Heritage Criteria. The usual process for listing under the EPBC Act is that the Minister can only take this decision after receiving a formal recommendation from the Australian Heritage Council (the Council). (The Minister may include a place in the National Heritage List as an emergency listing without a prior recommendation from the Council. The Minister must review an emergency listing in the light of an assessment by the Council.) A place has one or more National Heritage values only if it meets one or more of the National Heritage Criteria prescribed in the regulations. The National Heritage Criteria for a place are any or all of the following:
(i) a class of Australia’s natural or cultural places; or (ii) a class of Australia’s natural or cultural environments;
Note: the cultural aspect of a criterion means the Indigenous cultural aspect, the non-Indigenous cultural aspect, or both. The EPBC Act requires Council to undertake a rigorous statutory assessment process of whether places in the Finalised Priority Assessment List for inclusion in the National Heritage List meet any of the National Heritage criteria. The process must consider and analyse relevant information as to whether a place meets one or more of the National Heritage criteria. In making this assessment the Council may only consider material that is relevant to the question whether a place satisfies the National Heritage criteria. As part of this process there is a public consultation phase, as well as a requirement to consult in writing with owners, occupiers and Indigenous people with a right or interest in the place, if the Council has found that the place might have National Heritage values. An overview of the statutory assessment process is outlined below. If a place is included on the National Heritage List certain actions that have, will have or are likely to have a significant impact on the National Heritage values of the place is prohibited unless the Minister has approved the taking of the action following environmental assessment or some other provision in the EPBC Act allows the action to be taken. It is, therefore, extremely important that National Heritage values identified in an assessment are described precisely. Particular attention is paid to identifying the scope of the values. Values are described in plain English. In general technical language is not used. If the values are described in ways that are ambiguous or obscure this is most likely to cause significant difficulties in both management and compliance. The values are, therefore, be described in terms that can be understood for the purpose of management of the property and compliance (including possible Court proceedings) under the EPBC Act. National Heritage List guidelines Statutory Provision A place can only satisfy a National Heritage criterion if it has ‘outstanding heritage value to the nation’ for the reason set out in that criterion. The fundamental question that must be asked in all assessments for the National Heritage list is whether the place satisfies the statutory threshold of ‘outstanding heritage value to the nation’ for the reasons set out in the National Heritage criteria. The conclusion whether a place satisfies the threshold or not must in each case be based on evidence and reasoned analysis of the evidence against the relevant criterion. About this guideline This guideline provides general assistance for determining whether a place satisfies the threshold and provides evidence in support of the conclusion. It must be read together with each of the National Heritage criteria. The guideline uses concepts such as indicators of significance, authenticity and integrity which are not referred to in the EPBC Act and Regulations. These and other concepts discussed below may assist in determining whether a place satisfies one or more of the National Heritage criteria, and in identifying the National Heritage value that causes the place to the meet the criterion. The examples used in this guideline are all of the places assessed for the National Heritage List. These are found in Section 3 at the back of the document. They have been arranged according to each criterion for which they have been assessed to allow more convenient access to past decisions when considering assessment against a particular criterion. It is expected that the Guidelines will be reviewed periodically, drawing on new assessment advice prepared by the Council adding further examples or other relevant material to provide assessment guidance. Yüklə 0,91 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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