Western Australia

Western Australia's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2021 (WA) substantially commenced (briefly) on 1 July 2023.  We wrote about Western Australia's cultural heritage reforms in our Native Title Year in Review 2022-2023 article "1 July 2023 – WA's new Aboriginal cultural heritage laws have commenced".

Amid widespread public pushback that the legislation had been 'rushed through' without adequate consultation of industry stakeholders, the WA Government announced that it would repeal the 2021 Act shortly after it had commenced.  

The WA Government subsequently amended the preceding Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (WA) and introduced accompanying regulations, new application guidelines for consents to harm heritage (known as section 18 applications) and a consultation policy for section 18 applicants. The amended Act fully came into operation from 15 November 2023 and is now the primary State regime regulating Aboriginal cultural heritage.  

For more information, see our Native Title Year in Review 2023-2024 article "WA Aboriginal heritage laws restored with key changes"

Queensland

The review of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld) and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld) initially began in 2019, then recommenced in 2021 after a COVID-19 induced pause. The Queensland Government released its Options Paper in December 2021 and public consultation closed in March 2022. 

Since then, the Government has been finalising its review of the legislation and still has not committed to any timeframes. 

New South Wales

Reform of Aboriginal cultural heritage laws in NSW has been ongoing since 2011. It has been six years since the release of the draft Cultural Heritage Bill 2018, and targeted consultation with key stakeholders continues. 

According to Aboriginal Affairs NSW, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty is progressing the reforms, with a commitment to deliver standalone legislation within this term of Parliament (ie before March 2027). 

Victoria

There are not currently any Government led proposals for reform in Victoria. For a long time, the Victorian regime has been held up as a national benchmark for the management of cultural heritage.  

However, in 2021 the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council (a Traditional Owner advisory committee to the Victorian Government) proposed recommendations for reform to the legislation, that go towards making it clear that registered Aboriginal parties have the ability to say "no".  

These recommendations have not been adopted by the Government.  

There has been recent criticism of the current regime as obstructing development, in particular subdivision of land for housing. Not long after the 2024 Referendum outcome, the Victorian coalition indicated that its support for Treaty making in Victoria would be contingent on the loosening of some of the protections in the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 (Vic) (see the ABC article from 22 January 2024).

For the first time in many years, the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 (Vic) is coming under scrutiny, both from RAPs, who think they have insufficient power, and the Coalition, who think the opposite. It is not likely however that this will lead to reform, at least until the outcomes of the Federal cultural heritage reform process is known.

South Australia

South Australia released draft legislation to amend the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 (SA) in early 2023. The draft reforms proposed significant increases to current penalties, expanded penalties beyond just fines and imprisonment and clarification of the obligations to report Aboriginal cultural heritage discoveries.  

We wrote about SA's proposed reforms in our Native Title Year in Review 2022-2023 article "Joining the national movement – South Australia begins process for cultural heritage law reform".

Consultation on the draft amendments ended on 6 April 2023. The SA Government has not committed to any timeframes to progress this further.  

Tasmania

In 2022, the Tasmanian Government invited submissions on its consultation paper: A new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Protection Act – High-level Policy Directions.   

We wrote about Tasmania's proposed reforms in our Native Title Year in Review 2022-2023 article "Tasmania continues to progress towards new Aboriginal cultural heritage protection legislation".

In December 2023, the Tasmanian Government released an update on the development of its draft Exposure Bill for new Aboriginal cultural heritage protection legislation.  It committed to releasing the exposure draft in 2024.  

It is not known whether the outcome of the 2024 Tasmanian election (the incumbent Liberal party returned with a minority government) will have any impact on these plans.

Northern Territory 

According to the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority's (AAPA) 2022-2023 Annual Report, the AAPA is working with the Northern Territory Government to make the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989 stronger in response to the A Way Forward recommendations.  

The AAPA has also held discussions with the NT Environment Protection Authority (EPA) about accounting for aspects of tangible and intangible heritage that are not protected under the Sacred Sites Act or the Heritage Act 2011. In particular, situations where provisions of the Native Title Act 1993 do not grant sufficient rights to recognise such values. Resolution of these issues remains a key challenge for the AAPA and the NT Government.

The NT EPA in its 2022-2023 annual report states that it is currently focusing on how it delivers its responsibilities under the Environment Protection Act 2019 (NT) in relation to Aboriginal cultural heritage. It seeks to do so without unnecessarily taking on the responsibilities of other statutory authorities and is committed to increasing its engagement with First Nations people and their representative bodies. 

The Northern Territory Government has not released any materials relating to legislative reform.