{"id":"F2024L00999","name":"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection (Kings Plains) Declaration 2024","slug":"aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-heritage-protection-kings-plains-declaration-2024","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":442514,"registerId":"F2024L00999-fast-fetch-1775957490132","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection (Kings Plains) Declaration 2024","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection (Kings Plains) Declaration 2024\n\nI, Tanya Plibersek, Minister for the Environment and Water, make the following declaration.\n\nDated  13 August 2024\n\nTANYA PLIBERSEK\n\nMinister for the Environment and Water\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1  Name\n\n2  Commencement\n\n3  Authority\n\n4  Definitions\n\nPart 2—Declaration of an area as a significant Aboriginal area to be preserved and protected from injury or desecration\n\n5  Declared area\n\n6  Protection and preservation of declared area\n\nSchedule 1—Map of declared area—Kings Plains, New South Wales\n\n \n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection (Kings Plains) Declaration 2024.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument The day after this instrument is registered.\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984.\n\n4  Definitions\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984.\n\nbulk earthworks means the excavation or other movement of large quantities of soil or rock with the intent or effect of changing the level or elevation of an area of land.\n\ndeclared area means the area specified in section 5.\n\n        land includes soil and vegetation.\n\nmining activities means activities that include, or are related to, the extraction of materials or minerals from the ground.\n\nNote: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in section 3 of the Act, including the following:\n\n(a) area;\n\n(b) significant Aboriginal area.\n\n \n\nPart 2—Declaration of an area as a significant Aboriginal area to be preserved and protected from injury or desecration\n\n5  Declared area\n\n(1)    For the purposes of subsection 10(1) and paragraph 11(a) of the Act, the area specified in subsection (2), that is a significant Aboriginal area, is declared for protection and preservation in accordance with section 6.\n\n(2)    The declared area is the area which comprises part of the Belubula River, its headwaters and its springs, at Kings Plains, near Blayney in New South Wales.\n\n(3)    The declared area is indicated by the map in Schedule 1.\n\n6  Protection and preservation of declared area\n\n(1)    For the purposes of subsection 10(1) and paragraph 11(b) of the Act, the declared area is a significant Aboriginal area that is to be preserved and protected from injury and desecration.\n\n(2)    A person must not engage in any conduct that will, or is likely to, injure or desecrate the declared area.\n\nNote 1: Subsection 3(2) of the Act relevantly states that for the purposes of the Act, an area shall be taken to be injured or desecrated if:\n\n(a)       it is used or treated in a manner inconsistent with Aboriginal tradition;\n\n(b)       by reason of anything done in, on or near the area, the use or significance of the area in accordance with Aboriginal tradition is adversely affected; or\n\n(c)       passage through or over, or entry upon, the area by any person occurs in a manner inconsistent with Aboriginal tradition.\n\nNote 2:   A person commits an offence if the person engages in conduct that contravenes this provision: see subsection 22(1) of the Act.\n\n(3)    Without limiting subsection (2), a person must not:\n\n(a)    undertake any mining activities within the declared area; or\n\n(b)    construct any bulk earthworks on the declared area; or\n\n(c)    seal any part of the declared area, including with concrete; or\n\n(d)    undertake any activity that will, or is likely to, significantly alter the landform or course of water flowing within the declared area; or\n\n(e)    conduct any drilling activities or preliminary activities associated with drilling; or\n\n(f)     conduct any clearing activities or preliminary activities associated with clearing; or\n\n(g)    disturb native vegetation or soil in a way that will, or is likely to, damage the declared area.  \n\n\nSchedule 1—Map of declared area—Kings Plains, New South Wales\n\n \n\n![The map at Schedule 1 indicates the declared area, that is a significant Aboriginal area, that is declared for protection and preservation. The area is at Kings Plain in New South Wales.](image.002.jpeg)\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument operates exactly as intended under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984. It is a site-specific emergency declaration — the core purpose of the Act. The scope has not expanded beyond protecting a specific significant Aboriginal area from injury and desecration."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument: only 6 substantive sections plus a schedule","Minimal defined terms: only 4 definitions in section 4, plus 2 incorporated from the parent Act","Simple structure: preliminary provisions, single declaration, specific prohibitions","No nested exceptions or conditional logic — prohibitions are absolute","Clear cross-references to parent Act (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984) for context rather than complex dependency","Straightforward prohibition format: 'A person must not...' with specific examples in subsection 6(3)"],"plain_english_summary":"This declaration urgently protects the Kings Plains Aboriginal cultural area (Belubula River headwaters and springs) by recognising it as a “significant Aboriginal area” under federal law and criminalising activities that damage or disrespect its cultural values.  \n\nIt halts mining, drilling, major earthworks, sealing, altering watercourses or landforms, and harmful clearing while longer-term heritage arrangements are made — affecting developers, land users, government agencies, Traditional Owners and the local Blayney community."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument exercises the Minister's declaration power under section 10 of the Act (see s.3 of the instrument) to declare and protect a specified area; it does not amend the Act or change the statutory scope beyond imposing protections on the named area (see s.5–6 and Schedule 1)."},"complexity_factors":["Short, single-purpose instrument but relies on cross‑references to the Act (authority: s.3; made under s.10 of the Act).","Map-based boundary in Schedule 1 requires spatial interpretation to identify exact limits.","Prohibitions use open‑ended language such as \"will, or is likely to, injure or desecrate\" (s.6(2)) which requires evidentiary assessment against Aboriginal tradition (note referencing s.3(2)).","Enumerated banned activities are specific (s.6(3)) but include broad categories (\"mining activities\", \"bulk earthworks\", \"disturb native vegetation\") that may interact with other land uses and approvals.","Criminal liability exposure for individuals or entities for contraventions (note re s.22(1)) creates compliance and enforcement risk.","Defined-term dependence (definitions in s.4 and additional definitions in s.3 of the Act) can create interpretive questions about scope of prohibited conduct.","Interaction with existing rights, licences or approvals is not addressed in the instrument and may require administrative coordination."],"plain_english_summary":"This declaration (made under s.10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984) designates part of the Belubula River at Kings Plains, NSW as a significant Aboriginal area to be preserved and protected from injury or desecration. \n\nIt bars persons (for example, miners or land developers) from actions likely to injure or desecrate the area — including mining, bulk earthworks, sealing, drilling, clearing, or disturbing vegetation or soil — and attaches possible criminal liability for contraventions (s.6(2)–(3); note re s.22(1))."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-heritage-protection-kings-plains-declaration-2024","history":"/api/acts/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-heritage-protection-kings-plains-declaration-2024/history","analysis":"/api/acts/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-heritage-protection-kings-plains-declaration-2024/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-heritage-protection-kings-plains-declaration-2024/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-heritage-protection-kings-plains-declaration-2024/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-heritage-protection-kings-plains-declaration-2024/documents"}}