What do Heritage Advisors do?
Heritage Advisors are practitioners with expertise about Aboriginal cultural heritage and its assessment and management. Heritage Advisors play an important role supporting the purposes of Victoria’s Aboriginal heritage legislation to protect and promote respect of Aboriginal cultural heritage, including intangible heritage.
A principal function of Heritage Advisors is to assist developers and land-users and land managers to prepare Cultural Heritage Management Plans for activities that could impact Aboriginal cultural heritage. A sponsor of a plan must engage a Heritage Advisor to assist them to prepare it.
Heritage Advisors can also:
- conduct cultural heritage audits
- supervise activities authorised by a Cultural Heritage Permit
- prepare Preliminary Aboriginal Heritage Test applications
- conduct archaeological surveys and investigations
- assist with making an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Land Management Agreement.
Much of the work of Heritage Advisors involves preparing technical written reports including applications, management plans and reports, and many of these must meet the prescribed standards of the Aboriginal Heritage Regulations 2018.
Heritage Advisors can also gain access to the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Register to identify and research areas of cultural heritage sensitivity, including registered places and objects, and to review past assessments and surveys. They can also report new information about Aboriginal places and objects.
Code of Conduct for Heritage Advisors
The Code of Conduct for Heritage Advisors (the Code) sets out the conduct expected of Heritage Advisors against these four principles:
- cultural respect
- professional integrity
- compliance, and
- ongoing professional development.
When Heritage Advisors opt to be listed on the Heritage Advisor List, they must agree to abide by the Code.
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