Niche’s heritage team leader Renée Regal,a specialist in Aboriginal archaeology, community consultation and NSW heritage regulation, gives her advice on completing an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessmen..
Community consultation will take 5 to 6 months to complete at a minimum, so make sure you start the process early to give community members sufficient time to comment on the project and to be compliant.
All Aboriginal Heritage Impact Permit Applications (AHIP) need to be applied for in conjunction with the DECCW (2010) Aboriginal cultural heritage consultation requirements for proponents 2010. This four staged process is aimed at inviting Aboriginal community members to be consulted with during the life of a project to determine the significance of Aboriginal object(s)/and or place(s) in the area of the proposed project.
Meetings with community members during the project information and draft report stages are a great way to discuss any concerns the proponent and community members may have in regards to the proposed project.
Be sure to accurately record and outline all consultation findings in the final Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment report to demonstrate that your consultation was compliant.
AHIP applications should be submitted as soon as you have an approved development consent to give the Office of Environment and Heritage plenty of time to consider your application.
To discuss your project’s requirements, contact us.
