The Queensland Government has adopted all 22 recommendations of the Queensland Heritage Advisory Panel’s report into heritage places. The recommendations include significant changes to the powers under the Queensland Heritage Act 1992 (Qld), including the introduction of interim protections for heritage places subject to listing applications and broadening the powers regarding the essential repair and maintenance of heritage places.
Snapshot
The State Government has released a report adopting 22 recommendations made by the Queensland Heritage Advisory Panel (the Panel) in respect of heritage places and the functionality of the Queensland Heritage Act 1992 (Qld) (the Act), explaining how those recommendations are to be actioned by the Government.
The recommendations were made in a report prepared by the Panel at the request of the Government in 2021 to assist the Heritage Council with providing advice to the Minister about reforms to the Act and other measures to support stakeholders and community engagement.
The report of the Panel was focused on 3 themes: 1: Legislative reform and strengthening Queensland’s heritage framework, 2: Support for heritage stakeholders and 3: Better communication, understanding and engagement.
We discuss some of the recommendations under those key themes below.
The recommendations
Legislative reform
Registration process
In preparing the report, the Panel identified that currently, additions and removals from heritage registers is largely ad hoc, leading to some heritage places being underrepresented on the registers. The Panel also identified that, at a local government level, the listing process is not consistent and creates confusion.
To address this, the recommendations included working with key stakeholders to undertake a gap-analysis to determine under-represented place types and undertake focused thematic surveys to work towards the register being more balanced and representative.
Interim protection measures
Unlike in other states and territories, Queensland’s heritage protection laws currently afford no protection to potential heritage places. Contrary to community expectations, the registration process and stop orders under the Act cannot overturn an existing development approval or change the outcome of a development application.
The Panel recommended that options to reform the Act be considered to provide measures to protect places the subject of listing applications.
Essential repair and maintenance powers
Under the current framework, State and local governments have limited powers to take action when a heritage place is left to fall into disrepair. As it currently stands, the Act cannot be relied on to require any more than minor work be undertaken to a heritage place.
Government has committed to reviewing and strengthening the essential repair and maintenance powers, including the process for issuing notices about repair and maintenance work to heritage places.
Support for stakeholders
The Panel identified a number of measures the Government could investigate and implement to expand the support, both educational and financial, to heritage stakeholders. These recommendations included:
- Review and update the heritage publications and resources available online to ensure they are informative, user-friendly and engaging;
- Undertake a survey of local governments across Queensland to identify protection and management processes, how the local governments support heritage place owners and implement training and education opportunities to build capacity within local government heritage professionals, place owners and managers.;
- Reviewing the process for the granting of aid to heritage place owners; and
- Determine how increased support can be given to heritage places in regional areas.
Better communication, understanding and engagement
The Panel found that the community at large lacked understanding about the protection of heritage places and that the educational resources available online could be improved.
The following recommendations were made by the panel:
- Investigate the establishment of a single search platform and mapping tool with all State and local heritage listings;
- Create toolkits for key stakeholders about heritage place management;
- Improve the quality of the Government’s heritage web presence and associated content such as publications and other resources, including promoting the benefits of heritage and heritage tourism; and
- Investigating opportunities to build the profile of and increase community engagement with heritage places, such as engaging with organisations that run events that promote Queensland’s heritage places.
Key takeaways
The 22 recommendations, particularly the ones we have considered above, will have significant implications for owners of both listed heritage places, and unlisted places that might have cultural heritage significance.
If the legislation is amended to incorporate the recommendations, owners of heritage listed places may be subject to a larger range of powers to issue repair and maintenance notices.
Significantly, owners of unlisted places that may have cultural heritage significance with plans to develop the land should keep an eye out for legislative amendment, as the implementation of interim protection measures may impact future planned development of the land.
By Kathryn Pacey and Holly Vaughan
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Disclaimer
The articles published on this website, current at the dates of publication set out above, are for reference purposes only. They do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action.