Tasmania’s new Aboriginal Heritage Council has now been established with Rodney Dillon as Chair.
My government has deep respect for Tasmania’s first people and strengthening the role of the Aboriginal Heritage Council by making it a statutory body reflects this.
The role of the Council is to directly advise the Minister on policy and procedures, and promote public understanding and awareness of Aboriginal cultural heritage.
It will also provide advice on matters including land management and permit applications for development proposals.
Other members of the Council include Sarah Wilcox as Deputy Chair, David Gough, Greg Lehman, Zoe Rimmer, Rocky Sainty, Sonya Searle and Angela Triffitt.
I look forward to working closely with members of the Council and welcome the wealth of knowledge and experience they bring in Aboriginal heritage management. My thanks goes also to outgoing members for the significant contribution they have made.
Formalising the role of the Aboriginal Heritage Council is part of recent amendments to the State’s Aboriginal Heritage legislation which comes into effect today.
The legislation also provides additional protection for the state’s Aboriginal heritage by increasing penalties for damage to Aboriginal heritage to be in line with the penalties for damage to historic heritage (non-Aboriginal).
It also introduces scaled offences, in association with the removal of the ignorance defence and removal of the six-month time limit for prosecuting offences.
The new statutory Aboriginal Heritage Council will meet monthly and the first meeting will be on the 31st of August.
More information about the Aboriginal Heritage Council and the amended legislation can be found on the Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania website: http://www.aboriginalheritage.tas.gov.au