New Heritage Strategy
The NSW Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has released a new document for comment called the NSW Heritage Strategy, Sustaining the past for the future – Draft for public exhibition. (DCCEEW 2025)
The Hon Penny Sharpe MP, Minister for Heritage, states that this is the first time NSW has had a broadly based heritage strategy, not just ‘focused on old buildings’. (DCCEEW 2025)
The minister has recognised that how heritage is understood and appreciated has changed.
She has said that the Heritage Act 1977 provided ‘a framework for the protection of state significant heritage’, and that heritage framework has not been ‘significantly updated’ in over twenty years. (DCCEEW 2025)
The framework needed to ‘evolve’ and respond to changes in the community’s understanding of heritage and new pressures, especially in the face of NSW housing reforms.
The state government has taken advice from a variety of stakeholders and
has been informed by the findings and recommendations of the 2021 Upper House Inquiry into the Heritage Act 1977 (Heritage Act) and the 2023 audit of Heritage NSW’s oversight and administration of state heritage assets. (DCCEEW 2025)
Between August 2023 and April 2024, the government heard from over 1,750 people and groups.
For many years, NSW’s heritage matters have focused on old buildings and historic precincts.
According to Minister Sharpe, heritage needed to ‘encompass storytelling’, engage with ‘cultural traditions’, acknowledge ‘different experiences of the past’, and protect ‘historic precincts and buildings’.
The strategy acknowledges First Nations cultural heritage, and ‘champions activation and adaptive reuse of heritage places and spaces for the significant social and economic benefits’. (DCCEEW 2025)
The strategy contends that heritage contributes to the construction of place, a sense of belonging and community identity.
As the draft strategy is centred around the concept of heritage, it is useful to understand its meaning. So, what is heritage?
What is heritage?
According to The Open University website heritage is difficult to define. (TOU 2025)
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, heritage is
‘property that is or may be inherited; an inheritance’, ‘valued things such as historic buildings that have been passed down from previous generations’, and ‘relating to things of historic or cultural value that are worthy of preservation’. (https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/what-heritage/content-section-2.1)
Heritage is broader than this. There are ‘objects and places of heritage’ and ‘various practices of heritage’that are conserved or handed down from one generation to the next’. (TOU 2025)
History is not heritage and it
must be seen as separate from the pursuit of history, as it is concerned with the re-packaging of the past for some purpose in the present. (TOU 2025)
According to The Open University
‘Heritage’ also has a series of specific and clearly defined technical and legal meanings. Heritage is created in a process of categorising and a series of moral and legal obligations come from that. Some authors would define heritage (or at least ‘official’ heritage) as those objects, places and practices that can be formally protected using heritage laws and charters. (TOU 2025)
Heritage Strategies in Australia
Australia has various official heritage strategies, and it is useful to examine some.
Victorian Heritage Strategy (2003)
The Victorian Government developed a Heritage Management Strategy in 2003, taking a narrow view of heritage.
The objectives of the strategy are to:
- define Parks Victoria’s role in heritage conservation and management
- facilitate more effective on-ground management of and reporting about historic places and objects
- provide direction for allocating resources for managing historic places and objects based on significance and historic themes
- provide direction on communicating heritage significance, themes and stories to the broader public
(https://vgls.sdp.sirsidynix.net.au/client/search/asset/1145680)
Australian Heritage Strategy (2015)
The Federal Government developed a heritage strategy in 2015 and takes a broader view of heritage.
The 2015 Australian Heritage Strategy:
- recognises that heritage is diverse and encompasses natural, historic and Indigenous values
- considers ways in which Australia’s heritage places can be better identified and managed to ensure their long-term protection
- explores new opportunities to support and fund heritage places
- considers how the community enjoys, commemorates and celebrates these special places and the stories that underpin them
- highlights how heritage can lead to increased tourism and economic returns to place managers or owners and their communities
- makes clear that heritage identification, protection and management is a shared responsibility with state and local governments, businesses and communities
- is to be reviewed after five years by the Australian Government, with periodic monitoring, evaluation as required.
(https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/heritage/publications/australian-heritage-strategy)
South Australia Heritage Strategy (2021)
The South Australian strategy uses a UNESCO definition of heritage, and it states:
Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. (The Heritage Tourism Alliance 2021)
The South Australian government has an annual review of its strategic plan, and the 2025 strategic plan states:
The South Australian Government has a strategic plan, which it has applied to heritage tourism and called Growing Our Future Heritage.
The heritage tourism strategy aims to:
• inform state and local government about heritage tourism objectives in South Australia, and
• guide stakeholders – including tourism operators, regional tourism organisations, communities, Aboriginal heritage, heritage owners, custodians and managers who wish to capitalise on the potential of heritage (The Heritage Tourism Alliance 2021)
NSW Draft Heritage Strategy (2025)
The new NSW draft heritage strategy takes a broad definition of heritage and it is defined as
the places, objects and stories we have inherited from the past and want to protect for generations to come. It includes:
- Aboriginal culture and landscapes spanning tens of thousands of years
- Natural heritage such as landscapes and ecosystems
- Historic buildings and structures
- Gardens, precincts and cultural landscapes
- Archaeological sites and shipwrecks
- Moveable heritage such as collections and objects
- Intangible heritage such as cultural practices and traditions.
(https://www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/nsw-heritage-strategy)
One-page summary of the draft strategy
A call for action
Heritage NSW is calling for public comment on the draft strategy and is inviting the public to have a say on the draft of the NSW Heritage Strategy.
So get involved and have your say.
The contact details for the state government are
Heritage NSW
Department of Climate Change, Energy, The Environment and Water (DCCEEW)
T 02 9873 8500 E heritage.policy@environment.nsw.gov.au
References
DCCEEW (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water) 2025. A Heritage Strategy for NSW. NSW Government. [online] Available at: https://www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/nsw-heritage-strategy [Accessed 23 May 2025].
DCCEEW 2023, Australian Heritage Strategy. Australian Government. Online at https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/heritage/publications/australian-heritage-strategy
Parks Victoria 2003. Heritage Management Strategy. Victorian Government. Onliine at https://vgls.sdp.sirsidynix.net.au/client/search/asset/1145680
The Heritage Tourism Alliance 2021, Growing Our Heritage Future, A 10-year strategy for heritage tourism in South Australia. South Australian Government. Online at https://cdn.environment.sa.gov.au/environment/docs/her-gen-tourism-strategy-growing-our-heritage-future.pdf
The Open University 2025, ‘What is heritage’. OpenLearn. Online at https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/what-heritage/content-section-2.1
Discover more from Camden History Notes
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
