About

This Symposium provides an opportunity after 50 years of operation of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1975 (formerly the Aboriginal Relics Act 1975) and almost 30 years of operation of the Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995 to review these two key pieces of Tasmanian cultural heritage legislation. It is an opportunity to explore how well this heritage is understood, valued and managed today, how well the legislation has worked to achieve this, and what might be required to provide better protections for Tasmania’s cultural heritage into the future.

The Symposium provides a forum for cultural heritage and allied professionals to share their knowledge and experience to help inform future legislative change. It aims to bring together a range of voices, to present informed perspectives, and engender discussion to help ensure that future legislation meets the range of needs and is relevant and effective.

Come and join the discussion, and help encourage the development of best practice cultural heritage legislation for Tasmania.

This milestone event is being held in National Archaeology Week 2026.

Pricing:      Full day Symposium (with lunch and refreshments) - $80; or Morning Only (with lunch) - $55

Enquiries:  To Anne McConnell, CHPT Coordinator – annemc@aaa.net.au, or phone (03 6239 1494).

Cultural Heritage Practitioners Tasmania is a non-profit group comprising heritage practitioners from a range of disciplines. Formed in 1997, Cultural Heritage Practitioners Tasmania has an expert and long-term perspective on cultural heritage management in Tasmania, and an interest in the ongoing protection of significant Tasmanian cultural heritage.

Provisional Programme (1/4/2026)

Aboriginal Heritage Legislation

• An Aboriginal speaker (Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre) – speaker and title to be advised
• Caleb Pedder – Reflections on the Operation and Management of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1975 over the last Thirty Years
• Greg Jackman – Objectives, Officialdom and Outcomes: Aspects of the Aboriginal Heritage Act performance in working landscapes – a view from Hydro Tasmania
• Jamin Moon – Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Legislation: A Victorian Perspective
• Alice Johnson – Aboriginal Heritage Bill Exposure Draft.
• Aboriginal Heritage Discussion and Wrap Up

Historic Heritage Legislation

• Melissa Ford - Administering the Historic Cultural Heritage Act
• Lucy Burke-Smith - Minimum Standards of Maintenance and Repair: Legislative strategies to avoid demolition by neglect
• Jen Jones Travers - Recognising and Protecting Tasmania’s Archaeology under the HCHA1995: A Review
• Anne McConnell – Looking Forwards and Outwards: The need for better protection for historic heritage at the landscape scale in Tasmania
• Danielle Gray - Heritage and Planning Interplay in Tasmania under the Resource Management Planning System
• Richard Mackay - Looking Backwards – in Tasmania it was the 1970s!
• Historic Heritage Discussion and Wrap Up

Date

Location

Hadleys Orient Hotel (John Webb Room)
34 Murray Street, Hobart Tasmania 7000

Contact Event Organiser