The future of Australian urban heritage policy
- James Lesh
- Jul 1, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 18
Saving heritage policy: The past and future of conservation in the Australian city
Australian urban heritage is at a major juncture. Since the early 2000s, the capacity for authorities to pursue innovative heritage policy and to facilitate sophisticated conservation outcomes has been eroded. Heritage governance has not been responsive to evolving professional and community expectations for the historic environment. After the closure of the Australian Heritage Commission (1975–2004), the nation has had no effective national leadership in urban heritage. This devolution agenda, making state and local authorities exclusively responsible for urban heritage, while professional and voluntary bodies uphold conservation standards, has generated issues. The authorities and bodies are disparate and under-resourced. Traditional outlooks and approaches have become entrenched (Sullivan 2015). For instance, the capacity for urban heritage to advance social, economic, and environmental sustainability has not been substantively recognised in the Australian context, raising questions about the continuing relevance of heritage conservation.
James Lesh, “Saving heritage policy: The past and future of conservation in the Australian city” In Australian Urban Policy: Prospects and Pathways, eds. Robert Freestone, Bill Randoph and Wendy Steele. ANU Press (2024): 125–145.
