Aboriginal Heritage Surveys

At Archaeological Excavations our team of experts provide advice to ensure that the consultation process and heritage preservation. We offer experience and transparency in the facilitation of archaeological and anthropological surveys.

What is an Aboriginal Heritage Survey?

Heritage surveys are the relevant assessment for Aboriginal cultural heritage in Western Australia. At Archaeological Excavations, we help our clients to meet the requirements of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (WA). The surveys aim to avoid, minimise, and reduce our negative impacts on Aboriginal heritage sites wherever practicable. In order to do that, proposed activities are screened for potential impacts in compliance and where there is a potential risk of impact to an Aboriginal heritage site, further investigations are undertaken.

Heritage surveys identify and record both tangible and intangible Aboriginal heritage places. The types of assessment vary according to the stage of the project, and to the extent of the impacts on the heritage. The assessment can be ethnographic, archaeological or both, and the consultation with Traditional Owners is a crucial step of the assessment.

The consultation process with Traditional Owners includes stakeholder groups such as Prescribed Body Corporates, Registered Native Title Determination Applications and Native Title Representative Bodies and Aboriginal Corporations.

What Methodology is used in Aboriginal Heritage Assessments?

The heritage assessment methodology will vary according to its purpose:

Work Program Clearance: The methodology aims to ensure proponents that the area to be impacted by a certain activity is cleared of any Aboriginal heritage values.  From the results of the assessment, proponents can move the proposed activity somewhere else, and avoid harm to Aboriginal cultural heritage. When this methodology is used, Aboriginal cultural heritage is not recorded by our team of heritage experts. 

Work Area Clearance:  Such surveys are designed to provide proponents with statements regarding the acceptability (in terms of impact on Aboriginal sites) of particular work areas or programs. To ensure the success of this survey methodology, proponents must provide a precise description of their proposal, together with high-quality maps, to the relevant Aboriginal groups (Guidelines for Aboriginal Consultation WA, 2004).

Site Avoidance Survey: A site avoidance survey provides the proponent with information that will enable them to avoid impacting upon Aboriginal sites. Consequently, whilst broad location information (i.e. the boundaries of areas that contain sites) and the general nature of sites will be divulged, precise locations (i.e. the boundaries of the sites themselves) and detailed cultural information is not disclosed (Guidelines for Aboriginal Consultation WA, 2004).

Site identification: By adopting this methodology, a survey of the entire proposed works area is usually conducted to physically locate and document Aboriginal sites of significance. A heritage consultant who works with Aboriginal groups that have a knowledge of and connection with the survey area, carries out the site identification survey. Upon completion of the fieldwork component of the survey, a detailed report is produced, which presents the results of the survey and contains detailed maps of any Aboriginal place or area of sensitivity documented during the survey (Guidelines for Aboriginal Consultation WA, 2004).

What if there are impacts on the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage site?

If the impacts to the heritage cannot be avoided, we facilitate the process of consultation, seeking consent to harm as the works cannot progress without approval from either the Registrar of Aboriginal Sites or the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.

If the impacts can be considered minimal, it is possible to consult with the Traditional Owners, and under Regulations 7 and 8 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (WA) submit an approval by the Registrar of Aboriginal Sites (Regulation 10). 

Under Section 18 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 it is possible to seek approval from the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs after a heritage survey has been undertaken if the proposed impacts have the potential to be significant.