Jabree has prepared a submission to the Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships (DATSIP), on behalf of the Gold Coast Native Title Group, to inform its review of Queensland’s Cultural Heritage Duty of Care Guidelines.

The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 and the Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Act 2003 set out provisions for the protection of Cultural Heritage. This includes establishing a duty of care on all persons to take reasonable and practicable steps to prevent harm to Cultural Heritage.

As background to the review, the Queensland Government has identified the need for greater synergy between the potential Cultural Heritage values of an area and the nature of land use and proposed activity in that area.

Jabree’s submission to the review has proposed a simpler approach to assessing the likelihood of harm to Cultural Heritage. We emphasise the importance of early and regular engagement with Traditional Owners as part of the assessment process.

Our submission also recommends broadening the list of Areas of Cultural Heritage Sensitivity to include intangible cultural heritage (referring to other knowledge or expression of Aboriginal tradition) and greater definition of sensitive land forms and landscapes, in addition to known Aboriginal sites and places listed on the DATSIP database.

Feature image courtesy of Erin Finnegan, 2016.