Following decades of campaigning and tireless battles for protection, reforms to the outdated Aboriginal Cultural Heritage laws in NSW are on their way. 

The current laws have allowed destruction to sacred heritage sites, leaving little protection for the custodians of that land, according to North West Aboriginal Land Council Councillor Anne Dennis.

“We’re talking about laws from the 1970s. A classic example was the destruction around Juukan Gorge, where a site in Western Australia was 46,000 years old,” Ms Dennis said. 

The Gorge was destroyed by mining company RioTinto, who later issued an apology for breaching trust granted by the Traditional Owners of the land. 

Ms Dennis said the laws give her little hope that something similar wouldn’t happen at the Brewarrina Fish Traps, one of the oldest known human-made structures in the world. 

“We’ve got these significant sites as the oldest living culture in the world, and yet they’re still under threat from being destroyed through development, whether it’s mining or building a road,” Ms Dennis said. 

“There are markings like carved trees (to indicate burial sites) and local people know that, but we’re not the ones at the table,” she said. 

Under the proposed reforms, First Nations representatives will be given their place at the table, and have been heavily involved in informing the new laws. 

“It’s really critical that local Aboriginal people are consulted. Now we can actually protect and promote and really show the world who we are, and what we actually do in the community,” Ms Dennis said. 

NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) Chairperson Danny Chapman welcomed the renewed focus on the laws, after decades of frustration. 

“Culture and heritage reform is crucial to Aboriginal people and should be valued by Parliamentarians and our fellow Australians,” Mr Chapman said. 

The reform principles from the NSWALC are in line with the United Nations Declaration on the RIghts of Indigenous Peoples and have been developed following community engagements. 

Key principles from the reform include being led by Aboriginal people, and improving right to say no. 

“It’s 25 years since the first National Sorry day and the last referendum was 55 years ago. It doesn’t happen overnight but we are quite prepared to sit down and work with the government through these policies and procedures,” Ms Dennis said.