New Act comes into effect from 1 July, 2023
| Date: | Monday, 26 June 2023 |
|---|
The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) is working with the Department of Planning Lands and Heritage (DPLH) to support the implementation of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2021 (WA) [ACH Act].
DMIRS is also working with other key government stakeholders to review current practices and policies to ensure alignment with the ACH Act, which includes a review of the current Regional Standard Heritage Agreement Policy. During this review process, proponents should be aware that they are required to comply with the new ACH Act from 1 July 2023 and resolve any inconsistencies between the ACH Act and their existing Heritage Agreements.
The new ACH Act does not vary, or invalidate any post-grant mining activity approvals such as Programmes of Work (PoW) or Mining Proposals (MP), however, tenement holders should be aware that they remain responsible for obtaining all other relevant statutory approvals, including those identified under the new ACH Act. Approval of a PoW, MP or any other approval under resource tenure legislation should not be considered as an approval under the ACH Act. Proponents will need to comply with the ACH Act regardless of whether their PoW, MP (or other DMIRS activity approval) was approved prior to 1 July 2023.
Contact DPLH for further information on the operation of the ACH Act. For details and contacts on the ACH Act, please visit Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2021.
