Inland Rail Program:
Narrabri to North Star

Inland Rail Program

The 1,700 km Inland Rail Program will connect Melbourne and Brisbane via regional Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, transforming how goods are moved around Australia.

Our role in the project

Niche provides both historical and Aboriginal cultural heritage advice and services across the Inland Rail Program, including the post-approval and compliance stages of the Narrabri to North Star project, a State Significant Infrastructure project in NSW. This included an Addendum Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment (ACHA) including additional archaeological survey work for the expanded construction footprint; continued Aboriginal community consultation, development of an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Management Plan (ACHMP); historical heritage research and interpretation and photographic archival recording of historical heritage items for the Narrabri to North Star project.

“The project provided the opportunity to explore and research deeply interesting rural heritage places in NSW in places that you would often miss.”

John McLellan Gillen, Heritage Consultant

A collaborative, inclusive approach

Aboriginal community consultation for the project involved working collaboratively with 47 Registered Aboriginal Parties across three Local Aboriginal Land Councils; Narrabri, Moree and Toomelah. Niche assisted with facilitating project meetings with the RAPs at various key stages of the project to ensure clear, open lines of communication between heritage consultants, ARTC and Aboriginal stakeholders, allowing for a collaborative, inclusive approach to the assessment of Aboriginal objects and values and across the Project area.

The historical heritage team recorded a total of 19 items of heritage significance across the project area, working closely with community groups such as the local historical society, the Moree & District Historical Society, to develop a comprehensive, community-based understanding of the history of the area and the stories behind the heritage items being recorded. The interpretation strategy for many of these sites took into consideration the historical research and significance of the sites and aimed to apply strategies that were appropriate and long lasting for future audiences.

Read more about our Heritage Management services.