Aboriginal Heritage Council Meeting

The Aboriginal Heritage Council considered four permit applications under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1975 to impact Aboriginal heritage. The Council agreed not to oppose all four permits in its recommendations to the Minister.  

One of the permit applications considered by the Council was for rehabilitation of a site that had been illegally impacted and the offender prosecuted. The site will be revegetated by Parks and Wildlife Aboriginal rangers. The money to fund the work comes from the fine paid by the offender that was allocated by the Court to PWS specifically for rehabilitation work to protect and maintain the site.

The Council considered a permit application from Hobart City Council (HCC) to impact Aboriginal heritage while undertaking Cornelian Bay track repairs. The timtumili minanya / Derwent River foreshore is an area unsurprisingly rich in Aboriginal heritage. The track currently traverses a section of an Aboriginal heritage site along the foreshore and the repair works are necessary for public safety. The HCC aim to undertake the work using methods that will minimise any significant impacts to the site. While the Council did not oppose the permit application in their advice to the Minister, they noted their preferred solution would be closure of the track and development of a better coordinated approach to the management of Aboriginal heritage along the timtumili minanya / Derwent River.

The Council also considered a permit application from a landscaping company to impact Aboriginal heritage while undertaking re-grassing and planting work within a housing development. The Council were impressed by the developer’s holistic approach that considered the Aboriginal heritage site in the landscape design plan and informed sensitive mitigation strategies to minimise any impacts.  

The next Aboriginal Heritage Council meeting will be on Friday 28 November 2025 in Hobart.