State of the Environment Report 2007
Heritage refers to something that we inherit and that we want to preserve and pass on to future generations. Western Australia has abundant heritage that enriches our lives and helps shape our individual and community identities. Heritage is present in many forms including places, objects, languages and other intangible forms. In this report, only heritage places (or sites) are considered as part of the environment. Other forms of heritage (heritage objects in museums, intangible heritage and languages) fall outside the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Authority and are beyond the scope of the Environmental Protection Act 1986.
The State's heritage places range from landscapes, to landmarks, to sites and buildings that have heritage significance for current and future generations. Heritage places are important to WA because they help us to understand our past, enrich our understanding of our society and contribute to social cohesion and community and individual wellbeing. They support urban and rural amenity by contributing to a sense of place and by enhancing the quality of our environment generally.
Heritage places are defined by the heritage values that people recognise in them. These may be natural and/or cultural values that are significant for aesthetic, historic, scientific or social reasons (Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Act (No.1), 2003 [Commonwealth]). Heritage values are important as they are the underlying reason for conserving heritage places (Allen Consulting Group, 2005). For the purpose of this report, heritage encompasses natural heritage places, Aboriginal heritage places and historic heritage places. It should be recognised that heritage places can have multiple heritage values and that many values are interrelated and require integrated management. In WA, there are many heritage places that have multiple heritage values and most have values that are rarely realised in financial terms. However, heritage conservation can aid economic prosperity by contributing to the attractiveness of the living and working environment, by stimulating and supporting tourism and by encouraging economic diversification and investment in a locality or region.
The identification and formal listing (registration) of heritage places underpins effective protection and management of natural and cultural heritage. It demonstrates the extent to which our knowledge has been compiled in a comprehensive and publicly accessible form, enables sound management of heritage and in many cases, provides legal protection for listed places. An exception is Aboriginal heritage places, which are protected by the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972, regardless of whether they have been registered.
There is currently no formal list of all heritage places in WA. Several heritage registers or lists, serving different purposes, exist at the Commonwealth, State and local government levels (Table H0.1). Not all lists provide statutory protection of registered places. The number of heritage places that have been recorded on a formal list varies across the State (Figure H0.1). The distribution of registered heritage places reflects the historical pattern of settlement and development across the State and the factors leading to the identification of heritage places. For various reasons, there are many other heritage places that have yet to be listed or formally identified - especially Aboriginal heritage places (see 'Loss or degradation of Aboriginal heritage').
Natural heritage on some publicly owned land is largely protected through the conservation reserve system (see 'Conservation'). Mechanisms are not well-established or coordinated for the protection of natural heritage areas on other public lands or on privately owned land. As of June 2006, the size of WA's formal conservation reserve system was 20.4 million hectares with nearly 1.7 million hectares being added between 1999-2000 and 2005-06. Also during this period, areas under conservation covenants have tripled to 260 000 ha.
Aboriginal heritage places are protected by the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 and formally recognised on the Aboriginal Sites Register. As of June 2006 the register contained over 23 205 aboriginal heritage sites. About 4800 sites were added to the register between 2000-01 and 2005-06.
As of June 2006, there were 1166 historic heritage places in the State Register of Heritage Places and over 17 000 recognised in local government inventories. Over 350 places were added to the State register between 2000-01 and 2005-06.
![Figure H0.1: Number of heritage places (natural, Aboriginal and historic) by local government area in 2005. [Data source: Department for Planning and Infrastructure – Bushforever [ver. 2002], Department of Conservation and Land Management – Marine Reserves [ver. 2005], Managed Lands and Waters [ver. 2004], Department of Environment – Wild Rivers [ver. 2002], Department of Environment and Heritage – Collaborative Protected Areas Database [ver. 2002], Commonwealth Heritage List [ver. 2004], Directory of Important Wetlands [ver. 2001], Marine Protected Areas [ver. 2004], National Heritage List [ver. 2004], Ramsar Wetlands [ver. 2000], Register of the National Estate [ver. 2004], World Heritage Areas [ver. 2004], Department of Indigenous Affairs – Indigenous Heritage Sites [ver. 2005], Heritage Council of WA – Local Government Heritage Inventory [ver. 2005]; Analysis: EPA; Presentation: EPA..]](/site/files/images/Figure-H0.1_Large.jpg)
Significant impediments exist to the effective protection and management of heritage places. The current approach to statutory recognition and protection of heritage in WA is fragmented, with several acts protecting different types of heritage and no comprehensive register of heritage places. Incomplete recognition, monitoring and maintenance of heritage places is often the result of inadequate resources at the State and local government levels. There are also significant gaps and deficiencies in heritage legislation.
The Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 makes some attempt to rectify these problems, requiring all forms of environment and heritage protection to be within one framework. The Act also establishes the National Heritage List comprising natural, historic and indigenous places that are of outstanding national heritage value. Generating this list will be challenging due to the different legislation governing various heritage components and it will only cover a small number of WA's heritage places.
There is inadequate knowledge about the condition of heritage places due to insufficient and inconsistent data. Therefore, it was not possible to assess the overall condition of natural, Aboriginal and historic heritage places in WA. Limited historic heritage survey data does show a decline in the condition of places and anecdotal evidence suggests that many Aboriginal heritage places are deteriorating
Data on the loss of heritage places is poor, despite this being a significant issue. There has been progressive loss of cultural landscapes and Aboriginal and natural heritage in Perth due to redevelopment, urban expansion, clearing of remnant vegetation, draining of wetlands, and landscape modification and development. It is not known how many Aboriginal heritage places have been destroyed over the past few years as there have been inadequate resources to conduct appropriate monitoring and reporting. Between 2000-01 and 2005-06, 13 historic heritage places in the State Register of Heritage Places were demolished. Demolition of historic heritage places in local government inventories is occurring at a faster rate compared to places on the State register, but data on the precise number of local heritage demolitions is not available.
Better information about the condition and loss of heritage places is crucial to the preservation, protection and management of these valuable cultural and natural resources.
Heritage was not covered in the 1998 State of the Environment Report and therefore no assessment of effectiveness can be undertaken.
8.1 Review the operation of heritage legislation, with a view to strengthening heritage conservation, management and enforcement capabilities. The legislation should be based on national standards for heritage legislation as described in the Commonwealth Government's A National Strategy for Australia's Heritage Places (Commonwealth of Australia, 1999).
8.2 Develop and implement a State Heritage Strategy to improve governance arrangements and community involvement in heritage management, adoption of common standards and other processes to ensure that heritage issues are included in government decision making in a more integrated and accountable manner.
8.3 Establish effective mechanisms for monitoring and reporting the condition of the State's heritage places with collaboration at all levels of government.
8.4 Build on existing education programs to broaden community understanding and appreciation of heritage places.
