ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE SERVICES
800. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the minister representing the
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs:
I refer to the Aboriginal Cultural
Heritage Act 2021.
(1) Has any of the $10 million allocated over the
forward estimates to the one-off establishment, administration and
capacity building for local Aboriginal cultural heritage services been
distributed?
(2) If yes to (1), will the
minister please detail this distribution?
(3) If no to (1), why not?
(4) How many FTE within the
department are assigned to this process?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by
the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.
(1)–(3) During
the government's extensive consultation processes on the Aboriginal
Cultural Heritage Act 2021, a number of prescribed bodies corporate—PBCs—expressed
interest in undertaking the role of Local Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Services—
LACHS—as set out in the act. The government is committed to consulting
further with those PBCs, other Aboriginal corporations and industry to seek
their views on the establishment and capacity-building requirements for LACHS.
The outcomes of this consultation process will inform a funding program that
will respond to the specific requirements identified. The government is
separately investigating a range of training options that will be made
available to LACHS.
(4) Several
officers are involved in this process, with two FTEs having a specific focus on
the administrative and capacity building of LACHS.