Commonwealth Heritage Protection Law
This factsheet provides information about how World Heritage, National Heritage and Commonwealth Heritage Places are protected in Australia and will be useful for people wanting to nominate a place or matter for heritage listing.
Summary
Key takeaways
- The Commonwealth is responsible for protecting World Heritage, National Heritage and Commonwealth Heritage places, primarily under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth).
- The Commonwealth is also responsible for protecting Indigenous heritage items and places under the the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth).
- It is important to remember that Commonwealth approvals may be needed in addition to any other approvals required under State or Territory Law.
Key actions
You can see the World Heritage, National Heritage and Commonwealth Heritage lists here.
Visit the Commonwealth Government’s pages on:
- Nominating a heritage place to nominate a place for the National and/or Commonwealth Heritage Lists
- National Heritage List criteria to check whether the place meets the criteria
- Request a nomination kit to receive a nomination form for the National and/or Commonwealth Heritage Lists
