… in cultural heritage management
The Aboriginal Heritage Council will be expanded and made a permanent advisory group as part of enhancing the role of Aboriginal community groups in the ongoing management of their culture.
The Government has adopted a recommendation by the interim Aboriginal Heritage Council to expand the current six member Council to 10 members and will be inviting a further four Aboriginal community groups to nominate a member for the Council.
The four additional Aboriginal community groups nominated by the interim Aboriginal Heritage Council are:
• Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC)
• Southeast Tasmania Aboriginal Corporation (SETAC)
• Six Rivers Aboriginal Corporation
• Melythina tiakana warrana Aboriginal Corporation.
The Government is committed to ensuring that Aboriginal people lead the ongoing management of their cultural heritage.
The Government recognises that different areas and features have different meaning to Aboriginal people so it is vital the Council includes representatives from a wide range of Aboriginal community groups.
This is an important step in ensuring the voices of as many Aboriginal representative groups as possible are heard in the ongoing management of their cultural heritage.
The Government has recently approved changes to the role of the interim Aboriginal Heritage Council, and acknowledging the ongoing need for the work that they do, has removed the word ‘interim’ from the name.
This revised Aboriginal Heritage Council will continue with its previous role, and will also take on the role of developing and overseeing a major study of Aboriginal cultural heritage in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. In time, other projects and initiatives will be undertaken by the Council.
These changes were recommended by members of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, and are fully supported by the Tasmanian Government.
The Council was established in late 2012 to provide advice and recommendations on the protection and management of Aboriginal heritage in Tasmania, on behalf of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community.
Rocky Sainty has been Chair of the Council since its creation. In addition to Mr Sainty, there are currently six members, from across the various Tasmanian Aboriginal communities.
The changes will take place immediately with the new members to be in place shortly.
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Matthew Groom, Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage
