Cultural heritage
Main Roads recognises the significance of different cultures and the importance of conserving Indigenous, historical, shared and natural heritage. This includes objects and artefacts, landscapes and ecological communities, documentary records and works of art, religious beliefs and folklore, ideas, memories and skills and practices.
Indigenous cultural heritage
There are two major pieces of legislation that govern Indigenous cultural heritage in Queensland – the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 and the Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Act 2003, administered by the Department of Natural Resources and Water. The Acts recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the primary guardians, keepers and knowledge holders of their cultural heritage. This enables Aboriginal ownership of human remains and artefacts. The Acts also recognise that a significant area does not necessarily have markings or other physical evidence indicating occupation or denoting its significance. The area may be associated with tradition and history. The most important part of the Acts is the Duty of Care provisions that require those conducting activities in areas of significance to take all reasonable and practicable measures to avoid harming cultural heritage.
Main Roads developed Indigenous cultural heritage policies and guidelines that complement the legislation.
The documents provide direction for:
- statutory obligations
- engagement with Indigenous people
- roles and responsibilities
- managing projects by incorporating processes for Indigenous cultural heritage into project management
- entering agreements with Indigenous parties
- a range of templates for the processes to adopt for use in development projects.
The "Bitumen Dreaming" training program complements these documents. The program consists of:
- a half-day Indigenous Cross Cultural Awareness course (applicable to all staff)
- a one-hour induction session with personal handbook for work site employees (applicable to all development sites)
- a two-day training program for the policy and guidelines (applicable to all staff who are responsible for managing Indigenous cultural heritage on development projects).
Organisations may obtain a copy of the manual and training program, upon written request to the Director-General of Main Roads. This material will only be made available subject to conditions for non-commercial use and provided that the request is for adoption and use by the requesting organisation's staff.
The policy, guidelines and "Bitumen Dreaming" training program make a major contribution to the Queensland Government's initiatives for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Historical cultural heritage
Historical cultural heritage includes artefacts, places and buildings that are not Indigenous in origin, but commonly of European origin. Historical cultural heritage also includes shipwrecks and artefacts from pre-colonial occupation, such as visits by Indonesian fishermen to northern Australia prior to 1788.
The major piece of historical cultural heritage legislation is the Queensland Heritage Act 1992, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Act underwent a major revision and update in 2003 and late 2007. It makes provision for the conservation of Queensland’s cultural heritage by protecting all places and areas listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.
The Act has a new Part 7, which regulates investigation of Queensland’s historical archaeology. It regulates the excavation of sites containing objects of significance to Queensland’s cultural heritage. A good example is the former Deebing Creek Mission, near Ipswich, which was listed for its significance to Indigenous people, its archaeological potential and also for its association with the Salvation Army.
The Department of Main Roads is responsible for a number of heritage listed bridges throughout Queensland as shown below. Approval must be sought from the Queensland Heritage Council before undertaking work on these special places.
Heritage listed bridges looked after by Main Roads:
- Annan River Bridge - Annan River
- Burnett Bridge - Bundaberg
- Hornibrook Highway Bridge - Brighton/Sandgate
- Kennedy Bridge - Bundaberg
- Lamington Bridge - Maryborough.
Cultural heritage general enquiries:
Senior Environmental Officer (Cultural Heritage), Engineering and Technology
Phone: +61 7 3834 5148
Fax: +61 7 3834 9444
Last updated: 14 June 2009
