Asks whether prescribed burns in areas of high cultural heritage without advising the Department of Aboriginal Affairs via a section 18 application is an offence under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972. The response states that breaches of section 17 are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

AnsweredQoN 1213Legislative Council
Asked
22 November 2018
Portfolio
Aboriginal Affairs

QuestionView source ↗

ABORIGINAL HERITAGE —
PRESCRIBED BURNING
1213. Hon ROBIN CHAPPLE to the minister representing the
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs:
(1) Is it an
offence under section 17 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 to not advise the
Department of Aboriginal Affairs, via the lodgement of a section 18
application, of an impending prescribed burn in areas where there are high
levels of cultural heritage?
(2) If no to (1), why not?
(3) If yes to (1), how is this
applied?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1)–(3) Section
17 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 outlines the circumstances in which an
offence occurs, and section 18 provides the mechanism by which the minister can
provide consent to any use that may otherwise constitute a breach of section
17. Whether a proposed use would breach section 17 needs to be assessed on a case-by-case
basis, having regard to the individual circumstances.

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