General information, not legal or planning advice. In NSW check with Heritage NSW and your council; in WA, with the Heritage Council and your local government. Other states keep their own registers.
Note 1 · The layers
Heritage is listed at several levels at once
A building can be listed by more than one body, under more than one law. Heritage NSW sets out the layers that apply in New South Wales:
| Listing | What it recognises | Made under |
|---|---|---|
| World Heritage | Outstanding value to humanity. | Designated by UNESCO. |
| National Heritage | Significance for Australia. | The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. |
| Aboriginal Place | Special significance to Aboriginal people and their culture. | The National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, by declaration of the Minister for Environment. |
| State Heritage Register | Significance for all of NSW. | The Heritage Act 1977, by the Minister for Heritage on the Heritage Council of NSW’s recommendation. |
| Local heritage | Significance to the local area and community. | A council’s local environmental plan, under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. |
Heritage NSW looks after State Heritage Register listings and Aboriginal Places; councils are responsible for local listings, and are the ones to ask about them.
Note 2 · Checking in NSW
Four checks for a NSW property
- Search the State Heritage InventoryThe inventory is Heritage NSW’s online search of heritage-listed items, with more than 30,000 records kept up to date by Heritage NSW, councils and NSW Government agencies. For a basic search, enter the street name and choose the local government area; the department advises leaving out the street number.
- Check for interim heritage ordersAn interim heritage order can protect a place of potential heritage significance for up to 12 months while its significance is assessed. The Minister can make one on the Heritage Council’s advice, or a council can under authorisation, and they are generally only made if there is a threat of harm. Heritage NSW notes the newest orders may not yet appear in the inventory.
- Confirm it in writing, if it matters legallyFor legal purposes such as conveyancing, a section 167 certificate under the Heritage Act confirms whether a property is on the State Heritage Register or being considered for nomination. It is applied for through the Heritage Management System.
- Ask the council about local listingLocal items and conservation areas sit in the council’s local environmental plan, so the council is the place to confirm them.
Note 3 · If it is listed
What a listing changes about demolition in NSW
For an item on the State Heritage Register, or under an interim heritage order, works that could have a moderate or greater impact on its heritage significance need a section 60 approval under the Heritage Act 1977, unless an exemption applies. Heritage NSW publishes standard exemptions for work that may not need approval, and offers a free pre-lodgement service.
- Lodged online through the Heritage Management System, and checked for completeness within 14 days.
- Assessed within 40 days, or 60 days if it is advertised; the clock stops while more information is sought.
- Advertised for 21 days in two cases: when the proposal may have a major impact on heritage significance, or when it is in the public interest.
- The Heritage Council of NSW is the approval body, though most applications are decided by a delegate.
On land in a heritage conservation area or draft heritage conservation area, the NSW Demolition Code for complying development only allows demolition of “dwelling house walls that do not face or connect to a wall that faces a primary road”; “an outbuilding or detached development that may be constructed under the Housing or Rural Housing Code”; and “internal walls and other elements of a dwelling”.
Anything beyond that list cannot go through the complying development pathway on that land. Sheet 01 sets out the other pathways.
Note 4 · Western Australia
Checking a property in Western Australia
The State Register of Heritage Places is WA’s statutory list of places of state cultural heritage significance, from buildings and gardens to cemeteries, landscapes and archaeological sites. Places are entered after an assessment that includes extensive consultation with owners and local governments.
Search inHerit
inHerit holds the State Register, local government inventories and other lists, the Australian Government’s heritage list, and some non-government lists. Places on the State Register, or protected by another Heritage Council listing, show pink shading in the search results.
Know which local list it is
A local heritage survey records places that are, or might become, significant, but in itself has no statutory role. It is a heritage list or heritage area that identifies places to be protected under the local planning scheme. Each local government should also give access to its heritage information at its main office.
WA’s heritage page notes that some listings give statutory protection and others are lists with unofficial or semi-official status, such as places classified by the National Trust. A place can appear on several. Whatever a search shows, ask the local government what the listing means for demolition on that lot.
Asbestos is the next check, listed or not. The Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says a home built or renovated before 1990 might contain it. It also says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and New South Wales and Western Australia set limits in law: in New South Wales a home owner may legally take out non-friable material covering less than 10 square metres themselves, but must take the same strict safety precautions as professional removalists, and any friable material, or more than 10 square metres, needs a licensed removalist; in Western Australia a home owner may remove non-friable material covering less than 10 square metres themselves but must follow strict safety precautions and wear personal protective equipment, and any friable material, or non-friable material over 10 square metres, must be removed by a licensed removalist. The national agency adds that asbestos waste can only go to a landfill licensed to accept it. Sheet 03 covers that step.