ACT heritage system needs overhaul, Legislative Assembly inquiry finds

The ACT Heritage Council needs to meet more frequently to deal with the volume of applications and the government's heritage staff need more funding to exercise their duties, the inquiry's report said.

The government should also develop an ACT heritage strategy, which was first flagged in 2016 but has never been completed.

The territory's heritage laws also need to be updated, the inquiry said, to better recognise and protect First Nations heritage, and the laws also need to change to make the heritage council proactively consider and advise on heritage issues.

"It is clear to the committee that the ACT's heritage arrangements are no longer fit for purpose, having remained largely static since the enactment of the Heritage Act 2004 almost twenty years ago," the committee inquiry report said.

"The absence of both a strategy or a vision for heritage and clearly defined governance arrangements has led to a lack of clarity on how the different parts of the heritage system are meant to interact and work together, impacting on the effectiveness of those arrangements in protecting and promoting the territory's heritage scene."

The Legislative Assembly's standing committee on environment, climate change and biodiversity tabled its report with 37 recommendations for changes to the territory's heritage system on Tuesday.

The government should also consider removing its chief planner as an ex officio member of the heritage council as part of its governance review and consider adding an expert in sustainability and renewable technology, the inquiry found.

An ACT homeowner had told the inquiry he had been limited in installing solar panels on the roof of his two-decade-old house, which is not heritage-registered but is located in a heritage area, by the heritage council.

The inquiry report said: "Under-resourcing over time has impacted the ability of the heritage unit to effectively support the heritage council in the delivery of its core functions, and a failure to keep up to date with contemporary issues such as climate change and sustainability has also seen the heritage council and heritage unit fail to adapt policies and processes to address these significant matters."

The committee said it believed several aspects of the territory's heritage system needed reviewing, updating and strengthening.

"This process should aim to create a best practice system that ensures heritage in the ACT is respected, valued, and promoted for its unique characteristics and rich history," the committee's report said.

The committee's wide-ranging recommendations also included making it easier for low impact changes to be made to heritage-listed properties, ensuring climate change is considered in heritage advice, a funding boost for heritage grants, and introducing a broader definition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage.

The government should strengthen protections for Aboriginal heritage by appropriately resourcing the heritage council's Aboriginal heritage taskforce.

A review of staff in the heritage unit was also needed to make sure staff were appropriately supported, resourced and trained to carry out the unit's functions, the committee said.

The government should also spend more on the ACT Heritage Library to cover more future digitisation of its collection.

A review of the Heritage Act 2004 should consider its compliance system, appeal rights and the remit of the heritage council, the committee found.

Liberal committee member Ed Cocks wrote a dissenting report, saying the main report was "based on the notion that tinkering around the edges will be sufficient to repair an outdated system which became deeply dysfunctional".

Mr Cocks made four dissenting recommendations, which included the release of the 2022 heritage council review with redactions "only where absolutely necessary to protect individuals' privacy", development of a heritage strategy by July 2024, and a new set of heritage laws.

Mr Cocks also called for an independent heritage office, more community engagement in heritage applications, and relief on general rates to owners of heritage properties "in recognition of the significantly increased responsibilities and costs that accrue for these buildings".

Mr Cocks criticised the main report as it might be seen to endorse an "unfettered development over heritage considerations" position.

The committee announced in December 2022 it would launch an inquiry into the territory's heritage system, following the Heritage Minister's announcement she had lost confidence in the heritage council.

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ACT Heritage Minister Rebecca Vassarotti told the Legislative Assembly in late November she had lost confidence in the heritage council after an independent review found evidence of unprofessional behaviour and a stressful working environment.

The review found the strained relationships between the council and inefficient heritage systems presented an "imminent risk to ACT heritage sites".

An interim heritage council was subsequently appointed in April, led by returning former chair Duncan Marshall, while the government completed its own wide-ranging review of the system.

Mr Marshall told the Assembly inquiry before his appointment the heritage system needed more resources to operate proactively, better recognise First Nations heritage and reset an "impoverished" conversation about the importance of heritage protections.

Ms Vassarotti in September tasked the interim council with considering the impacts of climate change and the environment for the first time, part of a new statement of expectations that set out 10 priorities for the heritage system.

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