SoE 2006 > Human settlement > 2.6 Heritage

2.6 Heritage

The recording of Aboriginal heritage usually occurs during the assessment of development proposals. Regional-scale assessments of Aboriginal heritage are being piloted. A program to assess the condition of NSW heritage items is also to be trialled in 2006–07.

A little over 3.1% of NSW has been assessed for its Aboriginal heritage, declared an Aboriginal Place of Significance, or reserved for its specific Aboriginal heritage values. The majority of assessments have been restricted to archaeological surveys, which do not always identify places or landscape features that are culturally significant to Aboriginal people, including places of historic value. Assessments at the regional scale are needed to determine the significance of Aboriginal heritage and the impacts of changing land use.

Knowledge of the extent and diversity of cultural heritage in NSW continues to expand as items are added to heritage registers and schedules. Despite this increased knowledge, there is continuing loss and damage to State heritage through changes in land use – especially through urban development and the intensification of agricultural activities – and there are currently no means in place to monitor the rate of change.

NSW Indicators

Introduction

The term 'heritage' encompasses all those places, objects, customs and traditions that communities have inherited from the past and wish to preserve for current and future generations. Heritage values differ among and between individuals and groups with different cultural backgrounds. A diverse range of heritage values is recognised across NSW.

For management purposes, heritage is divided into the sub-categories of 'cultural' and 'natural' heritage. Distinguishing between cultural and natural heritage is often difficult because they can be elaborately intertwined. Aboriginal people have always had culturally specific associations with natural landscapes, making their culture inseparable from nature. The cultural dimensions of the natural environment have now also become a common experience of many non-Aboriginal people in NSW, including families with long-standing connections to rural properties through successive generations. This dichotomy can create challenges for heritage managers.

The Valuing the Priceless report commissioned by the Heritage Chairs and Officials of Australia and New Zealand in 2005 revealed that 93% of Australians believe that it is important to protect heritage places even though they may never visit them (Allen Consulting Group 2005).

Current status and trends

Heritage values can be lost or degraded as a result of land-use changes, expanding residential areas and infrastructure development. Conversely, a decrease in population in some towns and rural areas can result in heritage places being decommissioned or abandoned.

The development of land for urban and other uses has resulted in more Aboriginal heritage sites being recorded in recent times through environmental impact assessment processes. The Forests NSW impact assessment program includes broadscale Aboriginal heritage assessment. Table 2.4 shows areas of land that had been investigated for Aboriginal heritage significance by December 2005.

Table 2.4: Areas of land investigated for Aboriginal heritage significance

Source: DEC data December 2005

Cultural heritage indicators measure the extent to which cultural heritage values have been identified and protected across NSW. However, there is only limited data on whether the State's heritage is adequately protected and conserved and no centralised monitoring is undertaken. Consequently, the condition of identified places and objects, and the pressures and threats facing heritage in NSW are not reported here. Additional baseline data and indicators need to be introduced and reported against in order to identify trends or changes to cultural heritage.

Heritage listings

The State Heritage Register was created in 1999 to provide a comprehensive list of heritage items of State significance. The Heritage Act 1977 requires State Government agencies to protect and manage their heritage assets. It also recognises the substantial role played by local government in listing and managing local heritage items through the schedules to their local environmental plans (LEPs), and sets out an important role for the community in identifying and listing items.

In addition, DEC maintains a register of known Aboriginal objects and Places recorded in NSW.

As well as the statutory protection of heritage items at local and State levels, a number of community and professional organisations compile registers of heritage items, notably the National Trust, the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Engineers Australia, the Art Deco Society and some local Aboriginal land councils. These lists demonstrate community esteem for these places, but do not have a statutory effect.

State Heritage Inventory and Register

The State Heritage Inventory, managed by the Department of Planning's Heritage Office, is a database of all items and places listed on NSW statutory registers, including the State Heritage Register and heritage schedules to LEPs. At March 2006, the inventory recorded 44,871 statutory heritage items. Over 80% of these items are privately owned; more than 76% are of local heritage significance and listed by local councils.

Maintaining the State Heritage Register is a statutory responsibility of the Heritage Council of NSW and Heritage Office. The register comprised 1507 items in 2004–05 (Table 2.5). Around half of these items are publicly or State-owned. The majority (67%) of items on the register are buildings. Generally, the older the listing the less reliable is the data associated with it, particularly items of built heritage from the 19th century. A broader concept of what constitutes cultural heritage has only developed over the last 15 years.

Table 2.5: Type of physical items on the State Heritage Register

Source: Heritage Office data March 2006

Notes: Aboriginal heritage items can be found within each of these categories.

^(a) 'Metropolitan' includes all local government areas within and bounded by and including Wollongong, Camden, Campbelltown, Liverpool, Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Gosford, Wyong, Lake Macquarie and Newcastle local government areas.

^(b) 'Moveable' items include historic machinery, railway items, ferries and significant collections held in museums or historic places.

Aboriginal places and objects are primarily managed under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, although Aboriginal heritage places can also be listed on the State Heritage Register.

The Heritage Council's Aboriginal Heritage Committee has facilitated the listing of sites recognised as being important to more than one Aboriginal community, such as the Burra Bee Dee mission near Coonabarabran and Ulgundahi Island near Maclean. This is despite 'State significance' being a problematic concept for Aboriginal communities, because their affiliation is to 'Country' rather than the concept of 'NSW'.

The Heritage Office also researches Aboriginal connections to sites of significance to non-Aboriginals prior to recommending their listing.

Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System

DEC maintains and manages the Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System database. This replaces the previous NSW Aboriginal Site Register and includes a computer database with index and recording cards for all recorded Aboriginal sites, artefacts, places and other Aboriginal heritage values in NSW that have been reported to DEC. As the data sets only include sites brought to the attention of DEC, it does not represent the totality of sites across the State. Many 'intangible' sites and places which have high sensitivity and significance to Aboriginal communities may not be recorded on the database.

At May 2006, there were 47,966 Aboriginal sites recorded on the database, some consisting of more than one feature. Of these sites, 6853 had been added to the database since January 2003. The database also contains copies of archaeological reports and surveys that have been undertaken throughout NSW.

Other lists

Heritage items considered to be of national significance by the Australian Heritage Council are listed on the National Heritage List, created in 2004. There were 21 NSW properties on the list in December 2005, including Kurnell Peninsula, Sydney Opera House, First Government House site and the Brewarrina fish traps.

In addition, the Register of the National Estate is a database of natural, historic and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander places maintained by the Australian Government. At December 2005, there were 3846 registered places in NSW on the database, comprising 221 Indigenous, 488 natural and 3137 historic listings. Some places on the register also appear on the State Heritage Register and local lists.

At an international level, areas of natural and cultural heritage significance which are considered to be of 'outstanding universal value' and meet the strict criteria of the World Heritage Convention may be entered onto the World Heritage List. Four such areas have been listed in NSW: the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia, Lord Howe Island, Willandra Lakes and the Greater Blue Mountains area (see Biodiversity 6.1). A nomination for the Sydney Opera House was submitted to UNESCO in January 2006.

Response to the issue

Heritage studies

Before heritage items can be conserved, they must first be identified and assessed, usually as a result of a heritage study. Over 90% of local councils have completed heritage studies (mainly non-Aboriginal) and listed identified items in their LEPs. In addition, a wide range of thematic studies has helped to establish the relative significance of items of the same type, such as rural homesteads or ocean rock pools.

Heritage condition

While the number of listed items is known, there is a lack of information on the condition of the heritage estate or of its loss through neglect or demolition. This situation is improving for Government-owned heritage items that are now to be managed under heritage asset management strategies for State agencies endorsed and monitored by the NSW Heritage Council. Individual State Government agencies are also undertaking monitoring programs, such as DEC's State of the Parks reporting program, and projects that monitor the condition of heritage sites in state forests.

The Heritage Office has planned a pilot program in 2006–07 to survey the condition of all items listed on the State Heritage Register. This data will provide a benchmark for future surveys of the condition of these items.

Interpretation

As more of our cultural heritage is valued, retained and conserved there will also be a need for an increased emphasis on interpretation to enhance the connection between communities and places from the past. In 2005, the Heritage Office released its Interpreting Heritage Places and Items to assist developers and heritage managers find innovative and creative ways of making these connections (NSW Heritage Office 2005).

Cultural and natural heritage

At a policy level, NSW Government agencies are working towards bridging the divide between 'cultural' and 'natural' heritage, including through the Government's Aboriginal affairs plan, Two Ways Together (NSW Government 2003).

New listings on the register are reinforcing the idea that the context of an item is critically important. For example, the listing of the town of Braidwood in its setting acknowledges that the rural lands surrounding the town are as fundamental to its heritage significance as the Georgian layout and Victorian buildings of the town itself.

Metropolitan Strategy

The NSW Government's Metropolitan Strategy (DoP 2005a) aims to protect Aboriginal and other cultural heritage by:

• developing protocols for assessing Aboriginal heritage to guide matters such as methodology, level of survey effort required, community consultation, data collection for research purposes and management actions for sensitive areas
• involving Aboriginal communities in the identification of regionally significant Aboriginal cultural heritage and the development of assessment protocols
• introducing precinct-level heritage impact permits to enable heritage issues to be considered early in the planning process when land-use decisions are being made.

Working with the community to conserve heritage

Since 2000, there has been increasing emphasis on working in partnership with communities in the management of their heritage. Positive outcomes from this process are detailed below.

Formation of the 'Two Ways Together' culture and heritage cluster of public sector agencies has facilitated improved inter-agency collaboration on actions to improve Aboriginal people's access to, control of, and ownership of lands, heritage, and natural resources.

A program of Aboriginal co-management of national parks and other conservation reserves meant that, by mid-2006, 12 parks were being co-managed in NSW under arrangements between the Government and local Aboriginal people. Co-managing parks enables Aboriginal communities to sustain spiritual and cultural activities, renew their cultural learning, protect cultural sites and heritage, and educate non-Aboriginal people about their culture.

Work continues with Aboriginal communities to identify, assess and list places and collections of value and assist with their management financially through the Heritage Incentives Program and the Protecting Our Places Program. Work to identify areas of regional Aboriginal cultural heritage significance has been planned as part of the Government's comprehensive coastal assessment.

The Return of Indigenous Cultural Property Program facilitates the return of Aboriginal ancestral remains and cultural material to communities. Since the program began in 2002, more than 170 remains and four significant cultural material collections held by Australian museums have been handed back to over 15 Aboriginal communities across NSW.

There is now increased emphasis on community-based heritage studies to identify and assess heritage items in local government areas. These projects aim to increase the involvement of communities in managing archaeological excavations through open days, volunteer work and annual presentations of the NSW Government Heritage Volunteer Awards to community members and groups. For example, the Wreck Spotter program encourages coastal communities to alert Heritage Office maritime archaeologists to the location of underwater heritage items.

The NSW Government has been working with ethnic communities to develop an increased awareness of multicultural heritage and to assist with listing places that are particularly important to these communities. The community-initiated Chinese Australian Cultural Heritage Project is mapping the heritage of the Chinese community around the whole State. Thematic histories of Greek and Italian settlement have also been completed.

There is a range of funding programs that support the community's identification and management of heritage. These include:

• the NSW Heritage Incentives Program, which has funding for projects to assist Aboriginal and ethnic communities identify, conserve and manage places or objects
• the Australian Government National Heritage Investment Initiative, which provides funding for built and indigenous heritage items on the Register of the National Estate or State Heritage Register
• local council grants or loans to assist heritage projects
• the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and the NSW Environmental Trust Program, which fund community environmental restoration and rehabilitation projects.

Future directions

Increased diversity of heritage items on lists and registers reflects growing community recognition and awareness of heritage, but current data systems and management processes do not allow for a systematic assessment of their condition. Monitoring procedures need to be piloted and reviewed to provide agencies and organisations with better management tools.

Maintaining traditional uses or adapting new uses of old buildings can contribute to sustainability but this may require upgrades that compromise their heritage values. This tension may be partially eased by the new template for LEPs, which includes heritage in the broad framework of issues that need to be addressed in local government decision-making.

Other changes under recent reforms to planning include the facilitation of critical infrastructure projects that will no longer require approval under the Heritage Act 1977. It is too soon to determine the impact of this change.

The Two Ways Together Culture and Heritage Action Plan recognises the need to broaden Aboriginal cultural heritage assessments beyond the current impact assessment for developments and archaeological surveys. The plan aims to address this issue through new Aboriginal heritage assessment and planning guidelines for use by agencies and local government (NSW Government 2003).

The Valuing the Priceless report revealed that 93% of Australians believe that it is important to protect heritage places (Allen Consulting Group 2005). At the same time an inquiry into historic heritage by the Productivity Commission revealed some concern that this wider public interest needs to be balanced against the rights and financial responsibilities of private owners of heritage properties. This should see the issue of appropriate levels of public investment in heritage conservation receive increased attention in coming years.