Role of local and state government

​Local Government

​Local government is responsible for managing places and precincts of local heritage significance under the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 and the Resource Management and Planning System. These places and precincts are usually found in a Heritage Schedule or Code of the local planning scheme and regulated under the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993.

State Government

State government, through Heritage Tasmania, has three main roles: coordinating historic heritage strategy, policy and activity for the Minister and the State Government; supporting the Tasmanian Heritage Council to implement the Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995; and facilitating the development of the historic heritage sector.

Tasmanian Heritage Council

The Tasmanian Heritage Council implements statutory requirements under the Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995, including the registering of new places of state heritage significance on the Tasmanian Heritage Register, and managing works to those places in conjunction with local government.

The Tasmanian Heritage Council is a statutory body responsible for implementing the Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995 and the establishment of the Tasmanian Heritage Register. Its primary task is as a resource management and planning body, focused on heritage conservation issues. As such, any development places entered on the Tasmanian Heritage Register require the approval of the Heritage Council before works can commence.

Resource Management and Planning System

Local government, state government and the Heritage Council are all part of the Resource Management and Planning System (RMPS). The RMPS is the framework that guides all decisions about the use and development of land and natural resources in Tasmania. The RMPS consists of a suite of legislation and policies and has the following objectives:

  • to promote the sustainable development of natural and physical resources and the maintenance of ecological processes and genetic diversity
  • to provide for the fair, orderly and sustainable use and development of air, land and water
  • to encourage public involvement in resource management and planning
  • to facilitate economic development in accordance with the objectives set out in the above paragraphs
  • to promote the sharing of responsibility for resource management and planning between the different spheres of government, the community and industry in the State.
Local and state government, together with the Heritage Council, need to work together to ensure that we manage and protect our valuable heritage places across Tasmania.

These arrangements also reflect the COAG Agreement on the Environment (1997) that established a tiered system of heritage management across all Australian jurisdictions and levels of government.

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