After the approval: keeping track.
A section 18 consent or a completed heritage survey is not the end of a project's heritage obligations. Places that were avoided still need to stay protected while work goes on around them. Consent conditions and heritage management plans need to be followed, and you need to be able to show they were. Records also drift out of date as sites change and projects expand.
Trace Archaeology audits Aboriginal Cultural Heritage (ACH) sites and heritage compliance for miners, explorers, infrastructure operators, local governments and Aboriginal Corporations in Western Australia. For help obtaining approvals in the first place, see Auditing & Development Approvals.
What we audit
- Place condition. We revisit recorded places, compare them with earlier records, and note any disturbance, erosion, vegetation change or encroachment.
- Protection measures. We check that exclusion zones, fencing, signage and buffers are in the right place and still doing their job.
- Consent conditions and commitments. We review activity against the conditions of any section 18 consent and the commitments in heritage agreements and management plans.
- Systems and records. We look at how heritage information is held and used: whether field crews have current maps, whether new ground disturbance is checked against them, and whether new finds are reported.
What you receive
Each audit ends with a plain report: what was inspected, what was found, how serious each issue is and what to do about it, in order of priority. Where a place has been disturbed, the report sets out the reporting steps under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 and the next actions to take.
Traditional Owners are invited to take part in audits, and site information is handled according to their direction and the requirements of the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage. Audits can be one-off or scheduled, for example each year, or before and after a major works program.
Related projects: heritage surveys and monitoring for CBH Group and monitoring at Broome Pioneer Cemetery.
Trace Archaeology is a division of Trace Enterprises, which brings heritage, environmental and planning specialists together under one roof.
Every heritage, environmental and planning project starts with the right conversation.
Tell us what you are planning and where. We'll tell you what assessments and approvals it needs, who should be involved and what happens next.