A Heritage Victoria blue plaque on the Ballarat Town Hall
Heritage Victoria is a branch of the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning. It is the regulator responsible for administering the Heritage Act 2017. [1] The Heritage Act provides for the protection and conservation of the cultural heritage of Victoria and establishes the Victorian Heritage Register and Heritage Inventory.[2] The Register is a list of places and objects which are of significance to the State of Victoria. The Inventory is a list of known historical archaeological sites. Both statutory lists can be searched via the Victorian Heritage Database.[3]
Functions
Heritage Victoria is responsible for the most important historic heritage sites in Victoria. This includes state significant heritage places, historical archaeological sites, and shipwrecks.
administering the World Heritage provisions of the Heritage Act, including preparing World Heritage Strategy Plans for World Heritage Environs Areas in Victoria[10]
managing the State's archaeological artefact collection
promoting best practice in heritage conservation
providing advice on heritage matters to the Minister for Planning and other State Government departments
History
Protection of heritage buildings
Statutory protection of Victoria's historic buildings commenced in 1974 with the passing of the Historic Buildings Act 1974 (Vic). This was the first law in Australia to recognise and protect privately owned heritage buildings.
The Historic Buildings Act established the Historic Buildings Preservation Council as a statutory authority to administer the Act. In 1974 the Historic Buildings Register commenced when 370 buildings were gazetted, most of which were recommended by the National Trust of Australia. All were in private ownership or owned by local government.[11]
The Government Buildings Register was established in 1982 under the Government Buildings Advisory Council Act 1972 (Vic). This was a register of around 472 historic State government buildings.
In 1995 with the commencement of the Heritage Act 1995, the Historic Buildings Register and the Government Buildings Register were migrated to the Victorian Heritage Register, and the former registers were dissolved.
Protection of historic archaeological sites
Historical archaeology has been protected in Victoria since 1972, when the Archaeological and Aboriginal Relics Preservation Act 1972 commenced. The Victoria Archaeological Survey administered the Act until the early 1990s. The Heritage Act 1995 saw the responsibility for historical archaeology transferred to Heritage Victoria.
Plaques
Heritage Victoria marks some places on the Register with a Blue plaque.[12]
Controversy
Heritage Victoria has been criticized in the past either for excessive restrictions on what private owners can do with registered places,[13]
While it has directly saved many buildings of heritage significance from demolition, it has also been criticised for failing to properly protect Victoria's Heritage. Several noteworthy buildings have been denied nominations to the Victorian Heritage Register and subsequently been demolished. Other listed buildings have been questioned for their heritage significance.
Though it claims that it would do so only under "exceptional circumstances"[14] it has also been criticised for approving demolition of buildings that it had listed including:
1980 demolition of Australia's former tallest building, Melbourne's earliest remaining skyscraper the Australian Building.[15]
1982 it failed to protect Robbs Building, one of Melbourne's finest Renaissance Revival office buildings after the approved demolition and construction of a (since demolished) podium for the Rialto Towers despite strong community opposition.[16][17]
2008 partial demolition of Melbourne Docklands' No 2 Goods Shed which resulted in what was once Australia's longest building being cut in half.[18]
2010 partial demolition of Melbourne's Windsor Hotel, last of the major historic 19th century hotels in Australia still operating for a hi-rise tower (though the development did not proceed).[19]
2015 complete demolition of the Princess Mary Club, Melbourne's most significant hostel for young women, for a new office tower.[20] *2018 complete demolition of Morwell Power Station, the centrepiece of the state's postwar strategy to revitalise the Latrobe Valley.[21][22]
2022 complete demolition of Melbourne Docklands' Central Pier, the remains of the century old Victoria Dock, the maritime centrepiece which transformed the city into a large international port.[23]
However it has on numerous occasions demanded urgent repair orders and the reconstruction of illegally demolished buildings. It has also won awards for some of its work, such as the mobile phone App for identifying and learning about heritage places.[24] It also maintains a publicly searchable on-line database of places,[3] and database of historical objects and archaeological finds.[25]
