Overview of Heritage in SA

• About Heritage
• Types of Heritage
• Levels of Heritage Listing

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About Heritage

The Queen's Theatre, Gilles Arcade, Adelaide. Built in the late 1840s, it is the oldest purpose built theatre on mainland Australia. The State Government has managed the site since 1994.

Our heritage is our inheritance from the past. It includes the natural environment, the built environment, artefacts (movable cultural heritage) and our customs, language and beliefs. Heritage Places are important reminders of where we have come from. Built heritage provides us with physical evidence of the past, and links communities with attitudes and values that have shaped their environment.

Each generation has a responsibility to protect significant places for future generations. Communities can decide which parts of their inheritance they value and wish to retain for the long term.

In South Australia, the South Australian Heritage Council and the Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH) are responsible for implementing legislation for non-Aboriginal heritage of State significance, with a focus on built and maritime heritage, but extending also to archaeological heritage and to significant geological, fossil and cave sites. Places of local heritage significance are the responsibility of local Councils and are managed under the provisions of the Development Act 1993.

To find out more about the role of DEH see About Us.

For information about the State Government's current heritage policies see Government Heritage Directions.

Types of Heritage

In South Australia, different types of heritage are identified and protected by different agencies and legislative frameworks. The Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH) Heritage Branch administers legislation relating to:

• Built heritage of State significance
• Geological, Archaeological, Palaeontological and Speleological heritage
• Maritime heritage
• Movable heritage related to State Heritage Places

Other agencies or other parts of DEH administer legislation relating to:

• Aboriginal heritage
• Built heritage of local significance
• Movable heritage in museums
• Natural heritage
• Significant trees

More information about Types of Heritage.

To find out more about who is responsible for managing different types of heritage see Guide to Heritage Agencies in South Australia.

Levels of Heritage Listing

There are different levels of heritage protection as well as various types of heritage lists. Some lists provide protection for places, while others acknowledge significance but provide no statutory protection.

The following levels of heritage protection apply in South Australia:

• World Heritage Places (currently only one place in South Australia)
• National Heritage Places (currently two places in South Australia)
• Commonwealth Heritage Places (owned by the Commonwealth)
• Register of the National Estate (over 1,200 'historic' places and over 500 'natural' and 'indigenous' places, but only Commonwealth-owned or managed places are protected)
• State Heritage Places and State Heritage Areas (approximately 2,200 places and 17 areas)
• Local Heritage Places and Local Heritage Areas (over 5,000 places and areas)

Heritage lists that do not provide protection include:

• National Trust Register of Historic Buildings (Information on 'recorded', 'classified' and uncategorised places. The Register was closed for new entries in 1989)
• The Australian Historic Engineering Plaquing Program of Engineers Australia
• The Royal Australian Institute of Architects (SA) Register of Notable 20th Century South Australian Architecture

More information:
Heritage lists with statutory force in South Australia
Non-statutory heritage lists in South Australia