OUR HERITAGE AT RISK -  AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY - 2007

Place:    Register of the National Estate

Threat:  Neglect and Devaluation of Heritage Values

Significance:

The Register of the National Estate is Australia’s most comprehensive national inventory of natural, Indigenous and historic places considered worthy of conservation and protection for current and future generations.  Compiled and maintained by the Commonwealth’s independent advisor, it identifies over 13,000 places of aesthetic, historic, scientific, social or other special value. 

 Risk:

The2006 amendments to EPBC Act and the AHC Act 2003 provide for the eventual disbandment of the Register of the National Estate.  From February 2007 no more places may be entered in or removed from the RNE.  In five years time all reference to the RNE will be removed from the AHC Act and the EPBC Act.

 The loss of the RNE puts at high risk hundreds of heritage listed sites Australia wide that do not have legislative protection from any Commonwealth, State, Territory or local government legislative protection. 

 Desired Outcome:

The continued maintenance and operation of the RNE as Australia’s most comprehensive list of local, regional and national heritage places, to ensure that the Australian community continues to understand, recognise and appreciate places of heritage significance and their importance to and the contribution they make to Australian values.

 Recommendation:

In anticipation of the eventual disbandment of the RNE by the Commonwealth, it is essential that another agency or interested expert body continues to manage, review, revise, update and maintain this valuable heritage database.   The National Trust of Australia successfully nominated over 5,500 places directly from the lists of places maintained by the Trusts for entry in the RNE from 1976 to 1980 inclusive.  In subsequent years the National Trusts continued to nominate places for the RNE and was the nominator of the vast majority of places included in the RNE. 

 It is recommended that, with a view to gradually taking over the management and maintenance of the RNE once it is removed from Commonwealth legislation:

• the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT) commence negotiations with the Australian Government,
• the management and maintenance of the RNE to be co-ordinated by the ACNT and day to day listings and heritage advice to be the responsibility of the respective State and Territory Trusts.