4. Statutory Management Frameworks

4.1. Background

The management framework for Old Parliament House and Curtilage is entirely exercised by the Commonwealth, with two parties administering the area: the National Capital Authority (NCA) and Old Parliament House as a Statutory Agency.

The place sits in a broader Commonwealth Heritage listed area known as the Parliament House Vista, comprising some 260 hectares administered by the NCA, and is adjacent to other important places, buildings and landscapes.

The place must be managed as a feature in the broader landscape, as well as an individual element with its own heritage values. The key relationships are determined by the place’s symbolic location in the landscape, together with the social and historic functions performed there over time that have a broader community appeal across Australia and internationally.

The role of management is to continue to express and maintain the heritage values of the place by ameliorating risks and maintaining the attributes of the place in its setting; and to interpret and communicate the values to the broader Australian community so that the place continues to be alive and meaningful to the existence of the nation.

Management of the heritage values of Old Parliament House is undertaken within a statutory planning framework. There are four key pieces of Australian legislation that apply to the management of the place’s heritage values:

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act)
Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management) Act 1988
National Capital Plan 1990
Parliament Act 1974.

The management and protection of the heritage values is integrated into the vision and strategic objectives for the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.

4.2. Statutory Listings

4.2.1. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act)

The principal legislation governing the management of Old Parliament House is the EPBC Act. Under this Act Old Parliament House is responsible for ensuring the protection of the National and Commonwealth Heritage listed values pursuant to the Act. The key objectives of the Act relevant to Old Parliament House are to:

provide for the protection of the environment, especially those aspects of the environment that are matters of national environmental significance
provide for the protection and conservation of heritage
promote a cooperative approach to the protection and management of the environment involving governments, the community, landholders and indigenous peoples.

The EPBC Act also identifies and defines the principle of ecologically sustainable development that should underpin management decision-making and defines key heritage management principles.