Heritage Today And Tomorrow: An Update On Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Legislation In Western Australia

On Tuesday, the Western Australian (WA) State Government formally announced the new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2021 (WA) (ACH Act) will be repealed, just over a month after it commenced. Regulation of Aboriginal cultural heritage will revert back to the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (WA) (AHA). In this blog post, we explain what the repeal legislation contains, implications for companies operating during the transition period and what might be on the horizon over the next year in this space.

The WA State Government has now published the Aboriginal Heritage Legislation Amendment and Repeal Bill 2023 (WA) (Repeal Bill) which will repeal the ACH Act and reinstate an amended version of the AHA. Until the time that the ACH Act is formally repealed, and the Repeal Bill commences, all land users in WA will continue to be required to comply with the ACH Act. There will therefore remain continuing practical implementation issues for compliance, including, for example,