Frequently asked questions—Cape York Peninsula heritage

World Heritage Tentative List

What is a World Heritage property?

World Heritage properties are places with significant cultural and/or natural values that are internationally recognised for their Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) as assessed against one or more of the World Heritage criteria.

Australia has 20 World Heritage properties including Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Kakadu National Park and Purnululu National Park.

Queensland is home to five World Heritage properties: Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh Section), K’gari (Fraser Island), Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (Queensland section), the Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics of Queensland.

What is Australia’s World Heritage Tentative List?

Australia currently has six sites on the Tentative List.

Both the Australian and Queensland governments are committed to a pathway to World Heritage listing for parts of Cape York Peninsula. The first step is a Tentative List Submission.

What is the process for including Cape York Peninsula on Australia’s World Heritage Tentative List?

Tentative Listing is the first step towards progressing a future World Heritage Nomination.

It is a signal of intention to UNESCO that the Australian and Queensland governments are committed to doing the work necessary to progress a World Heritage Nomination.

A Tentative Listing Submission must follow a specific format. It is a technical document that requires demonstrated evidence against the ten World Heritage criteria.

A boundary is not required for Tentative Listing, and only a single GPS coordinate is required as an ‘anchor’ for the Submission. Multiple GPS coordinates that represent different locations that have consent may be included.

Consultation and free, prior and informed consent is required from Traditional Owner groups who are interested in including their Country in a Tentative List Submission.

Considerable work has been done to contribute to preparing a Tentative List Submission including identifying cultural and natural values across Cape York Peninsula and consulting with communities. Also, delivering grants to support Traditional Owners to undertake Country Based Planning and other cultural value assessment work.

Traditional Owner groups that are included in the Tentative List Submission can at multiple decision points in the years-long progression, choose not to participate in the World Heritage process.

Why are the Queensland and Australian governments pursuing the Cape York Peninsula World Heritage Tentative Listing Submission?

There are many reasons why we are seeking Tentative Listing for the region, primarily because it opens the door to progress towards a World Heritage Nomination.

World Heritage Listing may offer increased tourism opportunities, greater environmental protections, increased land management opportunities and employment. It may also result in other economic development opportunities.

What area does the Tentative Listing Submission cover?

The Tentative Listing Submission will represent Cape York Peninsula through one or a number of GPS coordinates, not a boundary on a map.

The GPS coordinates will fall within Queensland’s protected area estate, or Indigenous-owned land and have the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of the relevant Traditional Owners who speak for that Country.

Boundaries for a final World Heritage Property will take years to negotiate and will only be decided when there is agreement and FPIC from all parties.

Is a World Heritage property one big parcel of land?

No. A World Heritage property does not have to be one parcel of land.

Several locations that are not connected can be included in one World Heritage property which is known as a ‘serial property’.

For example, the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites World Heritage Area has one parcel of land in Queensland (Riversleigh) and the other parcel in South Australia (Naracoorte). Both areas make up the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites World Heritage Area.

Does World Heritage Listing affect land tenure?

No. World Heritage listing does not affect tenure. Tenure remains as it was before Nomination and state and local laws still apply.

World Heritage properties do not become Commonwealth property, nor does ownership pass to any international organisation.

What tenures can World Heritage Listing apply to?

World Heritage listed places do and can include a range of land tenures including pastoral leases, national parks, conservation parks, freehold land,  Aboriginal-owned  land, unallocated state land, sea country, private property, and council reserves.

Any World Heritage Nomination must have landholder consent for all areas within the boundary.

What impact will a World Heritage Listing have on pastoral leases?

There is an opportunity for the terms of pastoral leases to be extended. The Cape York Peninsula Heritage Act 2007 amended the Land Act 1994 to enable pastoralists to apply for a 75-year lease on land that is within a declared area of international conservation significance if the land is considered to be in good condition and managed to protect the significant values.

It is anticipated that any pastoral lease included within a World Heritage Nomination may be a declared area of international conservation significance.

Will a World Heritage Listing restrict or alter access, such as roads, and how will they be maintained?

It is unlikely that changes will occur to the existing public road network or private roads.

Upgrading some public roads could occur over time in response to new tourism opportunities.

Management of roads will remain the responsibility of state and local governments.

To achieve best practice road maintenance, a code of practice may be developed in consultation with the community and the Queensland Government.

Proposals for new or upgraded roads likely to have a significant impact on World Heritage values would need to be referred under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

What is happening now in Cape York Peninsula?

The Australian and Queensland governments have been working closely with the Traditional Owners of Cape York Peninsula to help identify and quantify the cultural values of Cape York.

A Cape York World Heritage Taskforce is in place to talk with Traditional Owners and the community about what inclusion on the Tentative List means.

We continue to engage with the community to help them understand the initial Tentative Listing Submission process and future opportunities to be involved.

What has already happened?

In 1982, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) described the significant natural values of Cape York Peninsula in ‘The world’s greatest natural areas: an indicative inventory of natural sites of world heritage quality’.

The Cape York Peninsula Heritage Act 2007 provides a legislative basis to identify the significant cultural and natural values of Cape York Peninsula, and the cooperative and ecologically sustainable management of Cape York Peninsula.

In 2011, the Queensland Government invited Traditional Owners of Cape York Peninsula to participate in an ‘opt in’ Country Based Planning program.

Government supported interested groups to undertake planning for their Country to consider whether they wished to nominate their Country, or parts of their Country, for possible inclusion in a National Heritage and/or World Heritage nomination.

In December 2015, the Meeting of Environment Ministers agreed to explore the possibility of including Cape York Peninsula on Australia’s World Heritage Tentative List.

An Agreed Statement detailed the governments’ support for exploring World Heritage nominations for Cape York Peninsula and the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape in Victoria. Budj Bim Cultural Landscape was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2019.

Following a Country Based Planning Process, Traditional Owners submitted a National Heritage nomination for Quinkan Country which, in 2018, became the first place on Cape York Peninsula to be included on the National Heritage list.

How are the cultural and natural values on Cape York Peninsula currently protected and recognised?

For many years, successful programs run by Traditional Owners and local communities, in partnership with the Queensland Government, have managed and protected the cultural and natural values of the region including:

• Cape York Peninsula Tenure Resolution Program
• Cape York Peninsula Joint Management Program
• Queensland Indigenous Land and Sea Ranger Program (with a number of Ranger groups based in Cape York Peninsula)
• Cape York Heritage Assessment Grants

What are the next steps if placed on the Tentative List?

Inclusion on the Tentative List indicates Australia’s commitment to do the work necessary to progress towards a World Heritage Nomination.

There are multiple consent decision points throughout the World Heritage process enabling Traditional Owners to opt out or opt in at any time.

• Traditional Owners who are part of the Tentative Listing may opt out of continuing through the Nomination process.
• Traditional Owners who are not part of the Tentative Listing can participate in the World Heritage Nomination process.

Agreement on the final boundary and area for World Heritage Listing is often negotiated over years and can change up until the Nomination is finalised.

More information about the World Heritage process is available.

Who can prepare a Tentative List Submission?

States and Territories lodge Tentative List Submissions to the Australian Minister responsible for World Heritage who is the decision-maker.

Once approved by the Australian Minister, it is submitted to the World Heritage Centre, the coordinator within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).  UNESCO reviews the Submission but does not assess it.

Once the World Heritage Centre has accepted the submission, it is published on Australia’s Tentative List.

What is the approach to ensuring the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of Traditional Owners?

The Queensland Government has a ‘rights-based’ approach to World Heritage, including for both Tentative List Submissions and World Heritage Nominations.

Areas of Cape York Peninsula can only be included in the Tentative List Submission if the relevant Traditional Owner groups have provided their free, prior and informed consent, and the place is considered to meet the threshold for Outstanding Universal Value against one or more of the 10 World Heritage criteria.

Neither the Queensland or Australian governments will progress the World Heritage nomination on Cape York Peninsula without the free, prior and informed consent of Traditional Owners.

What is a rights-based approach?

The concept of a rights-based approach to World Heritage began in 2007 with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

It identified an urgent need to respect and promote the rights of Indigenous peoples, especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources. UNDRIP calls on governments to adopt free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as a pre-requisite for any activity that affects the ancestral lands, territories and natural resources of Traditional Owners.

The Queensland Government is committed to reframing relationships with First Nations people and the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation operationalises this commitment through the Gurra Gurra Framework 2020–2026.

The Queensland First Nations World Heritage Strategy sets out the department’s commitment to placing Country and people at the heart of World Heritage business, including new nominations, governance, planning, decision-making and management.

How will Traditional Owners provide consent for their Country to be included on Australia’s World Heritage Tentative List?

Consent must be free, prior and informed (FPIC) and, if given, will only be for Tentative Listing. There will be multiple FPIC decision points during the years-long World Heritage Nomination process.

Involved Traditional Owners have been given the opportunity to find out more and ask questions to enable them to talk with their community and make a decision that is free, prior and informed.

Demonstrated agreement from appropriately authorised persons of a group/body is required for any location that will be included in a Tentative List submission.

Will Tentative Listing change what can be done on Country?

Tentative Listing does not provide any additional protections for a place and does not have any impact on what can be currently done on Country.

It is only when a site is inscribed on the World Heritage List that it becomes a Matter of National Environmental Significance and is protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

For the most part, activities occurring on the land can continue when a site is World Heritage listed. The EPBC Act protects the listed outstanding universal value of the place, not the place as a whole.

The EPBC Act requires that any action that has, will have or is likely to have a significant impact on the World Heritage values, be carefully considered before changes in land use or new developments are approved. This may trigger a referral to the Australian Government under the EPBC Act. The Australian Minister for the Environment and Water is the decision-maker on EPBC Act referrals.

World Heritage Nomination

What is the general process for any World Heritage Nomination?

After a property is Tentative Listed, a deep and extensive consultation process is undertaken to identify the values of potential areas and document the Outstanding Universal Value of the proposed property against the 10 World Heritage criteria.

Engagement will continue with Traditional Owner groups and community and others with rights and interests in the area, such as landowners, councils and the broader community.

The World Heritage Nomination process will also include broader engagement which will enable other Traditional Owner groups and stakeholders to consider if they may like to participate in the World Heritage Nomination process.

Traditional Owner groups that are already included in the Tentative Listing Submission can choose not to participate in the World Heritage process.

Traditional Owner groups that are not part of the Tentative Listing Submission can opt-in to the future World Heritage Nomination process.

There are various decision points through the World Heritage Nomination process, which are entirely voluntary and consent based.

Will World Heritage affect the future of the grazing industry?

The Australian and Queensland governments recognise the social and economic importance of the grazing industry of Cape York Peninsula and its value to the local community.

Grazing, and a range of other commercial activities, can and do occur in World Heritage areas around the world.

Where grazing could threaten World Heritage values, appropriate management arrangements, such as fencing or spelling, can be negotiated with landowners before a World Heritage Nomination is submitted.

Will existing pastoral activities need Australian Government approval if a World Heritage area is declared?

Australia’s national environmental law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), commenced in July 2000 and protects matters of ‘national environmental significance’.

Matters of national environmental significance include World Heritage properties.

If an area is listed as part of a World Heritage property, legal land-use activities that took place prior to the listing may continue.

This means that if the area used for grazing on Cape York Peninsula is included in a World Heritage property, then existing grazing and other existing activities can legally continue on the property.

Any new activities, or any enlargement, expansion or intensification of grazing or other activities that are likely to have a significant impact on World Heritage values, would need to be referred to the Australian Government for assessment and approval.

A new activity on land outside a World Heritage property would also need approval if it could have significant impact on a World Heritage value.

How will a World Heritage area be managed?

World Heritage Nominations must show that the management arrangements for an area ensure its protection for current and future generations.

The management system would need to specify how potential impacts on World Heritage values will be managed (e.g. fire, pest and/or weed management).

Existing management arrangements that are effective may form, or be part of, the proposed arrangements for a World Heritage nomination.

Relevant Queensland legislation still applies to any nominated World Heritage area.

How will the broader community be consulted on a Cape York World Heritage Nomination

A World Heritage nomination can play an important role in the life of the community and the Queensland Government recognises that whole communities need to be consulted along the process.

During the years-long journey towards a World Heritage Nomination, the Queensland Government will provide opportunities for the communities of Cape York Peninsula to be involved.

If an area is World Heritage listed, will management be resourced?

The engagement process to progress towards World Heritage Listing will consider which areas to include, how they will be managed and what resources would be required for future governance and management of a World Heritage property.

The proposed World Heritage Nomination will need to include information on the future governance and management arrangements of the proposed World Heritage property. These requirements would need to be discussed and negotiated throughout the process.

If an area is World Heritage listed, what are the reporting arrangements?

How long does it take for a World Heritage Nomination process?

The process from inclusion on Australia’s World Heritage Tentative List to a World Heritage Nomination and successful inscription on the World Heritage List requires deep engagement and commitment and will take at least five years.

National Heritage

Who can submit a National Heritage nomination?

Anyone can nominate a place with heritage values for the National Heritage List, providing they meet the criteria. Information about the nomination process is available on the Australian Government National Heritage Listing website.

For further information

For any further information or to ask specific questions, please email the World Heritage team at capeyorkworldheritage@des.qld.gov.au.