Submission
It is now some 50 years since the first Tasmanian Aboriginal heritage legislation was enacted, and reform is long overdue. However, new legislation must meet contemporary standards for the protection of Aboriginal heritage. We do not consider that the Draft Bill, in its current form, meets this bar. We are also concerned that there exists a lack of clarity regarding the ways in which the Draft Bill will operate with the regulations not yet released. We urge the Government to revise it in genuine partnership with the Tasmanian Aboriginal Community and release the revised Bill, together with key supporting Regulations and Guidelines, for further public consultation.
We also recommend that the Bill itself include some high-level direction on how it will apply across different land tenures, and that any guidelines developed be subject to broad public and stakeholder consultation.
