New South Wales State Heritage Register facts for kids
| NSW State Heritage Register | |
Elizabeth Farm, the first item inscribed on the Register
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| Type | Natural and cultural heritage register |
|---|---|
| State | New South Wales, Australia |
| Status | Active |
| Years | 2 April 1999 – present |
| Compiled by | Heritage NSW and the Heritage Council of New South Wales |
The New South Wales State Heritage Register (or NSW State Heritage Register) is a special list of important places in New South Wales, Australia. These places are protected by laws, mainly the Heritage Act of 1977 and its updates. It's managed by the Heritage Council of NSW and Heritage NSW, which are parts of the Government of New South Wales.
This list started in 1999. It includes places protected by heritage plans at the state, regional, and local levels. There are over 20,000 items on the list. These can be owned by the public or private citizens. They are valued for their history, culture, and architecture.
About 1,785 of these items are very important for all of New South Wales. The rest are important for local areas or regions. The items can be buildings, objects, monuments, Aboriginal places, gardens, bridges, landscapes, old archaeological sites, shipwrecks, and even whole streets.
Usually, an item is first listed as important by a local council. Then it might become important for a region or the whole state. If an item is important for all of Australia, the state government might suggest it for the Australian National Heritage List. If it's important for the whole world, the Australian Government might suggest it for the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Heritage Council of New South Wales
The Heritage Council of New South Wales is a group chosen by the NSW Government. It includes people from the community, government, and conservation experts. They make decisions about how to care for and protect heritage places and items. These are places that are important to the people of NSW.
The Council also gives advice on heritage matters to the Minister for Heritage. They suggest places and objects to the Minister for listing on the State Heritage Register. The work of the Council and the State Heritage Register follows the Heritage Act of 1977. This law was updated in 2010.
Under this Act, government groups in New South Wales must keep a list of their heritage items. They also need to look after these items for everyone. Other laws help protect Aboriginal heritage.
How Items Get Listed: Criteria
When an item is suggested for the register, it's checked against special rules. These rules help decide how important it is. To be listed on the State Heritage Register, an item must meet one or more of these rules:
- a) The item is important in the history of NSW's culture or nature.
- b) The item has a strong link to important people or groups in NSW's cultural or natural history.
- c) The item shows great beauty, creativity, or technical skill in NSW.
- d) The item has a strong link to a community or cultural group in NSW for social, cultural, or spiritual reasons.
- e) The item could give us new information to help understand NSW's cultural or natural history.
- f) The item is rare, uncommon, or endangered in NSW's cultural or natural history.
- g) The item is important because it shows the main features of a type of NSW's:
* cultural or natural places; or * cultural or natural environments.
An item won't be left off the list just because other similar items are already on it.
