The Trace Story

Joshua Davis began his consulting career in 2018 as a sole trader, founding Major Oak Heritage Services. Operating across WA's mining, development and government sectors, Joshua built a reputation from the start for thorough, defensible heritage assessments and genuine, respectful engagement with Aboriginal communities and Traditional Owners.

The approach that would eventually define Trace Enterprises was established in those early years — honest advice, quality work and relationships built on trust. Major Oak grew quickly, and the demand it generated made one thing clear: the opportunity was bigger than a sole trader could capture alone.

In 2020, Joshua transitioned Major Oak Heritage Services into a proprietary limited company, establishing Trace Archaeology. The new structure brought with it a formal team of archaeologists, anthropologists and osteologists, a more sophisticated project management capability and the capacity to take on larger and more complex heritage programmes.
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Trace Archaeology quickly established itself as one of WA's most respected Aboriginal and historic heritage consultancies — known for the rigour of its surveys, the strength of its community relationships and a track record of delivering results on projects that required both technical expertise and genuine cultural sensitivity.

In 2021, Joshua founded Trace Ecology alongside Trace Archaeology — building the environmental science division that would become one of Trace's most active and fastest-growing practices. With a team of botanists, zoologists, ecologists, marine biologists and freshwater biologists, Trace Ecology brought a comprehensive, multidisciplinary environmental assessment capability to the Trace offering.
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The two divisions operated side by side, sharing the same commitment to scientific rigour, community engagement and client outcomes. For the first time, clients whose projects required both heritage and environmental expertise had a single firm that could deliver both — to the same standard, under the same roof.

In 2023, Joshua brought Trace Archaeology, Trace Ecology and the newly established Trace Planning division together under a single parent entity — Trace Enterprises. The formation completed the vision: a fully integrated heritage, environmental and planning consultancy with three specialist divisions, one leadership team, one quality system and a single point of accountability for clients whose projects required expertise across all three disciplines.
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Trace Planning added town planning, statutory approvals, subdivision consulting and development advisory services to the group — making Trace Enterprises the only firm in WA capable of delivering heritage surveys, environmental assessments and planning approvals entirely in-house. The parent company also formalised the governance, operational infrastructure and strategic direction that would underpin the next phase of growth.