Culture and Heritage reforms

NSWALC has been advocating for better protections for Aboriginal culture and heritage since the late 1970’s. This page provides information regarding the laws managing Aboriginal culture and heritage in NSW.

NSWALC is seeking for the reforms to deliver better protections for Aboriginal culture and heritage and decision-making rights to Aboriginal peoples. For more information on the current laws please see NSWALC's Site Protection Fact Sheets below.

In 2018 the NSW Government released a draft Aboriginal Culture and Heritage Bill for public consultation.

NSWALC strongly advocated for Culture and Heritage laws that build on the existing structures of the Aboriginal Land Rights Network, and recognise the existing legislative powers and statutory functions of Aboriginal Land Councils relating to Aboriginal culture and heritage.

NSWALC prepared the following relating to the 2018 reform proposals:

Network Message

Guide to Draft Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Bill 2018

Summary of NSWALC position compared to Government model

Detailed comparison table of current laws, proposed models and NSWALC position

Information sheet for LALCs including public consultation details

NSWALC's Principles for Reform

NSWALC prepared a detailed submission in response to the NSW Government's proposed model for new Aboriginal Culture and Heritage laws released in 2013, outlining that NSWALC does not support key elements of the proposed government model.

NSWALC's submission makes over 50 recommendations, including that:

Further consultation with Aboriginal communities is needed prior to the release of any draft legislation,
Any new laws must build upon existing Aboriginal controlled administrative and governance structures,
New laws must provide rights for Aboriginal people to refuse an activity or development where there will be unacceptable impacts to Aboriginal heritage, in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples,
A genuinely independent Aboriginal Culture and Heritage Commission to undertake key oversight, governance, support, advocacy and compliance functions should be established,
Aboriginal Land Councils and Native Title groups must be incorporated into a new model,
Roles for Government should be kept to a minimum, and
Any new model must be properly funded.

'Our Sites, Our Rights - Returning control of Aboriginal sites to Aboriginal communities: A summary of key recommendations of past Aboriginal heritage reviews in NSW';

This report provides a succinct summary of the history of reforms to Aboriginal culture and heritage laws in NSW and outlines the key findings and recommendations of previous reform attempts, including the Keane Committee Reports in the early 1980's and the reports of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Working Group in the mid-1990's.

'Caring for Culture: Perspectives on the effectiveness of Aboriginal cultural heritage legislation in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia';

Original research was conducted and is used in this paper to examine some of the strengths and weaknesses in three other legislative regimes. Aboriginal people, government representatives, lawyers and heritage professionals in other states were interviewed to find out what some of the key issues are with the culture and heritage laws in Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia.

'Commonwealth, State and Territory Heritage Regimes: summary of provisions for Aboriginal consultation'.

This report, completed by the National Native Title Tribunal, provides an overview of the culture and heritage laws in other Australian states and territories, with a focus on provisions relating to consultation requirements.

SITE PROTECTION FACT SHEETS

DRAFT CULTURE AND HERITAGE BILL 2018 AND RELATED PROPOSALS

Draft Culture and Heritage Bill released for consultation