Question On Notice No. 763 asked in the Legislative Council on 13 March 2018 by Hon Robin Chapple
Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Question
I refer to
section 38 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972, "The
Registrar shall, so far as practicable, maintain, in such manner and
form as the Minister may determine, a register of – All
protected areas;
All Aboriginal cultural material; and All other places and objects to which this Act applies, whether within the State or elsewhere", and I ask:
(a) is it possible within the current system at the Department of Planning Land and Heritage to add information to existing site files within the Register of Aboriginal Sites that are made available to Land Councils, Aboriginal heritage custodians and researchers;
(b) if yes to (a), was there a period when the system would not permit the addition of relevant information to existing sites on the Register of Aboriginal Sites;
(c) if no to (a), and/or if there was a period when it was not possible to add information to the existing listings on the Register of Aboriginal Sites, how many sites were not updated with relevant information submitted by heritage custodians, consultants, members of the public and/or as part of Applications under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972;
(d) if no to (a), and/or there was a period when it was not possible to add information to the existing listings on the Register of Aboriginal Sites, how long will it take and what resources will be necessary to update information submitted to the Department of Aboriginal Affairs or Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage during this period;
(e) if no to (a), and/or there was a period when it was not possible, why was the relevant system designed in this manner;
(f) previously it was possible to download from Aboriginal Heritage Inquiry System (AHIS) a pdf list of reports relevant to specific sites, but this is no longer possible. Will the Minister please explain why;
(g) will the Minister please explain why the current AHIS website is slow compared to what is was a couple of months ago;
(h) a number of experienced senior heritage officers were made redundant in December 2016. Have any of them been replaced since then; and
(i) how many senior heritage officers are in the department now, and who are they?
Answered on 10 April 2018
(a) Yes
(b) No
(c)-(e) Not applicable
(f) This process ended on 1 May 2014 when then Department of Aboriginal Affairs implemented a new system.
(g) It is not possible to specify reasons for an individual user’s website experience.
(h) No
(i) The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage has three designated senior heritage officer positions in its Aboriginal Heritage Operations directorate.