How do you search for Aboriginal Places?
Search the NSW State Heritage Inventory. The State Heritage Inventory is a database of heritage items and places in NSW which includes declared Aboriginal Places. It provides detailed information including a map, photos, location information, gazettal notices, and an explanation of the significance for each of the declared Aboriginal Places in NSW.
How do you search for recorded Aboriginal objects?
Heritage NSW maintains the Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System (AHIMS) which includes:
- Information about Aboriginal objects that have been reported to the Director General, Department of Premier and Cabinet
- Information about Aboriginal Places which have been declared by the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs to have special significance with respect to Aboriginal culture archaeological reports.
AHIMS has operated since the 1970s, and contains detailed information on over 100,000 recorded sites and over 14,000 archaeological and other Aboriginal cultural heritage assessment reports.
AHIMS is used by government, industry and heritage professionals who need the information for land-use planning, regulation and conservation management. It is also used by Aboriginal communities to help them manage, conserve and protect local sites and heritage. Some of the many reasons people and organisations require information from AHIMS is for natural resource management, cultural heritage assessments, archaeological surveys, development proposals, property purchases and oral history projects.
Checking for Aboriginal sites on AHIMS is a step in the Due Diligence Code of Practice for the Protection of Aboriginal Objects in NSW process. This can be done by logging in to AHIMS web services and conducting a free AHIMS Basic Search in the area of your proposed activity.
If the results of the initial AHIMS Basic Search indicate that AHIMS contains information about an Aboriginal site in the area of your proposed activity, you must request an Extensive Search. For the purposes of due diligence, you may rely on the AHIMS Basic Search results for 12 months.
An AHIMS Basic Search will tell you whether there are any Aboriginal sites recorded in the search area. An Aboriginal site that is recorded on AHIMS could be:
- An Aboriginal object (as defined under the NPW Act)
- A group (i.e. a collection, scattering, deposit, etc.) of Aboriginal objects
- An area of land containing Aboriginal objects
- A 'potential' archaeological deposit which is an area where, based on previous investigation, Aboriginal objects are likely to be present
- A declared Aboriginal Place (as defined under the NPW Act) which may or may not contain Aboriginal objects
- An Aboriginal site that has been partially or completely destroyed under the conditions of a past consent.