Central Land Council

HERITAGE ACT REVIEW

(Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984)

The Federal Government appears to want to make changes to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act which would reduce the protection for places and objects that are significant for Aboriginal people. It may do this by handing responsibility for heritage protection to the States and Territories except in cases of national interest.

But Central Land Council Director Tracker Tilmouth said any 'national interest' test for protection declarations would be an impossible hurdle. "It's a trick because for every important sacred site, how can the owners show that looking after it is in the national interest?" Mr Tilmouth said "Probably only Uluru would fit the criteria for protection.That would leave everything else at risk." There are also reports the Federal Government wants to make protection declarations short - a maximum of five yaers. Mr Tilmouth believes it is critical that the Act is kept strong and in Commonwealth hands. "Under the Act, the Federal Minister can declare places or objects that are significant for Aboriginal people should not be damaged or interfered with - but only if State or Territory authorities don't give proper protection," Mr Tilmouth said. "There's been a lot of publicity about the Act because of the Hindmarsh Island Bridge controversy, but our experience in Alice Springs shows we need protection at the national level.

"The Alice Springs dam (Junction Waterhole/ Werlatye Atherre) is the only declaration under the Heritage Protection Act still in existence anywhere in Australia. "Those sacred sites (at Junction Waterhole) would have gone under water if the Northern Territory Government had its way. "They're only protected now because the former Minister, Robert Tickner, issued a 20-year protection declaration in May 1992. "The NT Government clearly wasn't interested in protecting the sites, because it had issued a certificate under the (NT) Aboriginal Sacred Sites Protection Act authorising the dam be built." Northern Territory people have a chance to show their support for the beleaguered Act this month when the parliament committee reviewing its future visits Alice Springs and Darwin. The parliamentary Joint committee is the same committee that has been looking into the future of the Native Title Act.

"It's very important we let the Committee know that our sacred places and objects need proper, reliable protection from the Commonwealth Government." Mr Tilmouth said. The Committee had been instructed to investigate the "urgent need for amendments to the Heritage Act, consistent with the review of that Act by Justice Elizabeth Evatt, in order to avoid or minimise the repetition of any further incidents, such as the Hindmarsh Island Bridge situation, in which the spiritual and cultural beliefs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not able to be properly considered under existing legislative requirements."

The Keating Government appointed Justice Evatt to review the Act in 1995 to see why it was not working very well. She recommended retaining the Act with some changes. Importantly, she said the Commonwealth Act should provide a simple procedure for protection when state and Territory legislation does not, and that Aboriginal people should have more power to make decisions about what should be protected.