Managing Commonwealth Heritage places

To protect the heritage values of Commonwealth Heritage Places they own or lease, Australian Government agencies are required to develop Heritage Strategies, a Heritage Register, and Heritage Management Plans for places in the Commonwealth Heritage List in accordance with the Commonwealth Heritage management principles.

Working Together: Managing Commonwealth Heritage Places is a user friendly guide which provides an overview of matters to consider in relation to the management of Commonwealth Heritage places. The guide has been specifically prepared for managers who have a responsibility for these types of heritage places.

Other helpful resources for management of Commonwealth Heritage include:

Commonwealth Heritage Management Principles

Heritage management principles provide a guiding framework for excellence in managing heritage properties. They set the standard and the scope of the way places should be managed in order to protect heritage values for future generations.

These principles should be used when preparing and implementing management plans and programs. In the absence of a management plans, they should guide the management of heritage values of a property.

  • The objective in managing Commonwealth Heritage places is to identify, protect, conserve, present and transmit, to all generations, their Commonwealth Heritage values.
  • The management of Commonwealth Heritage places should use the best available knowledge, skills and standards for those places, and include ongoing technical and community input to decisions and actions that may have a significant impact on their Commonwealth Heritage values.
  • The management of Commonwealth Heritage places should respect all heritage values of the place and seek to integrate, where appropriate, any Commonwealth, State, Territory and local government responsibilities for those places.
  • The management of Commonwealth Heritage places should ensure that their use and presentation is consistent with the conservation of their Commonwealth Heritage values.
  • The management of Commonwealth Heritage places should make timely and appropriate provision for community involvement, especially by people who:
    • have a particular interest in, or associations with, the place; and
    • may be affected by the management of the place;
  • Indigenous people are the primary source of information on the value of their heritage and that the active participation of indigenous people in identification, assessment and management is integral to the effective protection of indigenous heritage values.
  • The management of Commonwealth Heritage places should provide for regular monitoring, review and reporting on the conservation of Commonwealth Heritage values.