The New South Wales Heritage Act Review: a misdirected inquiry with a questionable purpose

Abstract

The New South Wales (‘NSW’) government published a discussion paper in April 2021 to encourage debate prior to commencing a review of the Heritage Act 1977 (NSW) ‘Heritage Act’. The paper had three key themes: making heritage easy, putting heritage to work and making heritage relevant. An inquiry into the review was referred to the Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues. Multiple public submissions to the standing committee criticized the government’s policy themes for having failed to include guiding principles for the Heritage Act, those being: to protect, conserve and celebrate the State’s cultural heritage. The National Trust (NSW) has sought that any future amendments to the Heritage Act result in better heritage outcomes, rather than a weakening of heritage protection. First, this article suggests that the NSW Government has misallocated the State’s resources by conducting a review of the Heritage Act, when many stakeholders have suggested the architecture of the Act is highly workable. Secondly, reform of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (NSW) (‘NPWA’) is long overdue, as NSW remains the only State in Australia that still manages indigenous heritage through flora and fauna legislation. Thirdly, it is of concern that the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) (‘EPAA’) can override any protection afforded under the Heritage Act if the project is deemed to be ‘State Significant Development’ (‘SSD’). The consequences arising from the Heritage Act review are important for all those who wish to preserve treasured older-style buildings and green space in NSW.