The ACT Heritage Council is to be dissolved following an Environment, Planning, and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD) review into the workings of the Council and its supporting Government Agency, ACT Heritage.
In its Review of the ACT Heritage Council – Public Report, EPSDD said strained Council relationships, together with inefficient Heritage Unit systems, presented an imminent risk to ACT heritage sites.
“Relationships among Council members, and between the Council and the Heritage Unit, have become strained,” EPSDD said.
“Frustration with structural workload issues has contributed to stress,” it said.
“The Council lacks a unified direction and understanding of their strategic outlook and purpose.”
EPSDD said the Heritage Unit’s resources did not match the increasing demand or complexity of the work required.
It also noted that trust among Council members had eroded, “with no clear paths to resolution”.
Announcing her decision to dissolve the Council, the Minister for Heritage, Tara Cheyne said EPSDD’s review highlighted the wide ranging and complex structural issues impacting the performance and relationship of the Heritage Council and ACT Heritage.
Ms Cheyne said multiple Heritage Council members had provided her with their resignation following the release of the findings of the initial review.
“I have ended the appointment of all remaining Council members,” Ms Cheyne said.
“I am conducting a large-scale review into how the ACT Government works with our heritage, including both the workings of the ACT Heritage and the structure and statutory functions of the Heritage Council under the Heritage Act 2004.”
She said the large-scale review, which has already commenced, was looking at the legislative framework in which the Council and staff operate, processes and procedures for heritage across the ACT, and systems that support their work – such as the ACT Heritage Database.
Ms Cheyne said reform would commence with a jurisdictional review, to begin shortly, which would examine how heritage matters were dealt with across the country, and the role of Council equivalents.
“Of critical importance for me through this review is enhancing protections for First Nations heritage,” the Minister said.
“While this is underway, an interim Heritage Council will be appointed early in the new year once the necessary recruitment process has occurred.”
EPSDD’s two-page Public Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
