CTHIn Force
//
© 2026 Zoe. All rights reserved.
Zoe is a legal information platform. Always consult the Federal Register of Legislation for authoritative text.
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Villawood Immigration Centre—Removal of Commonwealth Heritage Value) Instrument 2022
Start here
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Villawood Immigration Centre—Removal of Commonwealth Heritage Value) Instrument 2022.
?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
Logo Description automatically generated
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Villawood Immigration Centre—Removal of Commonwealth Heritage Value) Instrument 2022
I, Sussan Ley, Minister for the Environment, make the following instrument.
Dated 30th March 2022
SUSSAN LEY
Minister for the Environment
Contents
Part 1 —Preliminary
1 Name
2 Commencement
3 Authority
4 Definitions
5 Removal of Commonwealth Heritage value
Schedule 1—Statement of reasons for the removal of a value from the Commonwealth Heritage List
1 Purpose of Schedule
2 Legislation
3 Evidence and material before me
4 Findings on material questions of fact
5 Reasons for decision
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Name
This instrument is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Villawood Immigration Centre—Removal of Commonwealth Heritage Value) Instrument 2022.
2 Commencement
(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.
Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made.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.
(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.
3 Authority
This instrument is made under subsection 341L(4) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
4 Definitions
Note: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in section 528 of the Act, including the following:
(a) Australian Heritage Council;
(b) Commonwealth Heritage criteria;
(c) Commonwealth Heritage List;
(d) Commonwealth Heritage place;
(e) Commonwealth Heritage value;
(f) heritage value;
(g) place.
In this instrument:
Act means the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
criterion D means paragraph 10.01A(2)(d) of the Regulations.
criterion D heritage value, in relation to Villawood Immigration Centre, means the following heritage value:
Criterion D—Characteristic values
The hostel demonstrates principal characteristics of migrant hostels throughout Australia, with the use of ex-military buildings, construction and adaptation of the buildings for civilian use, the arrangement of accommodation into units and the siting of the hostel close to industry.
Attributes
Adapted and reused buildings, the arrangement of buildings and site layout.
Regulations means the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000.
Villawood Immigration Centre means the Commonwealth Heritage place Villawood Immigration Centre, Miowera Rd, Villawood, NSW, Australia.
5 Removal of Commonwealth Heritage value
(1) For subsection 341L(3) of the Act, the criterion D heritage value, in relation to the Villawood Immigration Centre, is removed from the Commonwealth Heritage List.
(2) For subsection 341L(4) of the Act, a statement of reasons for the removal is set out in Schedule 1.
Schedule 1—Statement of reasons for the removal of a value from the Commonwealth Heritage List
1 Purpose of Schedule
This statement of reasons is provided for the purposes of subsection 341L(4) of the Act.
2 Legislation
Commonwealth Heritage values
(1) Under subsection 341D(1) of the Act, a place has a “Commonwealth Heritage value” if and only if the place meets one of the criteria (the “Commonwealth Heritage criteria”) prescribed by the Regulations. The “Commonwealth Heritage value” of the place is the place’s heritage value that causes the place to meet the criterion.
(2) Under subsection 341D(2) of the Act, the “Commonwealth Heritage values” of a Commonwealth Heritage place are the Commonwealth Heritage values of the place included in the Commonwealth Heritage List for the place.
(3) Under paragraph 10.03A(2)(d) of the Regulations, one of the Commonwealth Heritage criteria for the historic heritage values of places is criterion D.
Removing Commonwealth Heritage values included in the Commonwealth Heritage List for a Commonwealth Heritage place
(4) Under paragraph 341L(3)(a) of the Act, I may remove a Commonwealth Heritage value included in the Commonwealth Heritage List for a Commonwealth Heritage place only if satisfied that, ignoring subsection 341D(2) of the Act, the place no longer has the Commonwealth Heritage value.
(5) Under subsection 341L(4) of the Act, I may remove a Commonwealth Heritage value of a place only by an instrument including a statement of reasons for the removal.
(6) Under subsection 341L(6) of the Act, if the instrument deals only with removal for loss of value:
(a) it is a legislative instrument; and
(b) it takes effect on the first day it is no longer liable to be disallowed, or to be taken to have been disallowed, under section 42 of the Legislation Act 2003.
Process for removing a Commonwealth Heritage value
(7) Under subsection 341M(1) of the Act, before I remove from the Commonwealth Heritage List a place’s Commonwealth Heritage value in a removal for loss of value, I must:
(a) give the Chair of the Australian Heritage Council a written request for the Council to give advice on the proposed removal, within a period specified in the request; and
(b) publish, on the internet, in a daily newspaper circulating in each State and self‑governing Territory, and in each other way required by the regulations (if any), a notice:
(i) describing the proposed removal; and
(ii) inviting anyone to give comments, within 20 business days, on the proposed removal.
The notice must be published within 20 business days of giving the request.
(8) Regulation 16.05A of the Regulations prescribes publication requirements. In relation to subsection 341M(1) of the Act, additional publication requirements are specified only for advertisements that are relevant to various external territories.
(9) Under subsection 341M(2) of the Act, the Australian Heritage Council must give the advice within the specified period.
(10) Under subsection 341M(3) of the Act, I must consider the advice, if I receive it by the end of that period, and the comments (if any) received in accordance with the notice.
(11) Under subsection 341M(5) of the Act, I must:
(a) decide whether to remove from the Commonwealth Heritage List the Commonwealth Heritage value of the place concerned; and
(b) if I so decide—ensure that an instrument removing the value is made under subsection 341L(4) of the Act;
within 60 business days after the earlier of the advice being received and the specified period for giving advice ending.
3 Evidence and material before me
(1) In reaching this decision, I have considered the following:
(a) the listing of the Villawood Immigration Centre on the Commonwealth Heritage List (Place ID 105543);
(b) the criterion D heritage value, one of its Commonwealth Heritage value;
(c) the written request I gave to the Chair of the Australian Heritage Council on 26 November 2020 to give advice on the proposed removal of the criterion D heritage value from the Commonwealth Heritage List entry for the Villawood Immigration Centre, requesting advice by on or before the end of 2021;
(d) the notices describing the proposed removal, and inviting comments on it within 20 business days, which were published:
(i) on the internet http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/laws/publicdocuments/pubs/105543_comment_call_proposal_values_change_20210728.pdf on 31 July 2021; and
(ii) in The Australian newspaper on 31 July 2021;
(e) the written advice from the Australian Heritage Council which was provided to me on 15 March 2022.
(2) No comments were received in response to the internet or newspaper notices.
(3) The Australian Heritage Council’s advice:
(a) referred to:
(i) claims that the Villawood Immigration Centre had significant heritage value because of the place’s importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a post war migrant hostel; and
(ii) a major redevelopment of the Villawood Immigration Centre, which reflects the fact that the Centre now functions as a detention facility, and that there has been a need to improve the conditions for people residing in the Centre; and
(b) advised the following:
(i) while most of the migrant hostel buildings have been demolished, there are some that remain to represent the use of the site as a hostel;
(ii) in view of the place’s recent transformation and conversion into a different land use, the site is considered to have only limited capacity to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a post war migrant hostel;
(iii) the remnant aspects or characteristics of the place are considered to be better assessed under paragraph 10.01A(2)(a) of the Regulations;
(iv) the place might not have significant heritage value under criterion D.
4 Findings on material questions of fact
I find that, as a result of this redevelopment, the Villawood Immigration Centre no longer demonstrates the principal characteristics of migrant hostels in the way that it did prior to the redevelopment, and that it now has only limited capacity to demonstrate those characteristics.
5 Reasons for decision
(1) I decide to remove, from the Commonwealth Heritage List entry for the Villawood Immigration Centre, the criterion D heritage value because:
(a) as a result of the above finding, the Villawood Immigration Centre no longer satisfies criterion D, as it no longer has outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place’s importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of:
(i) a class of Australia’s natural or cultural places; or
(ii) a class of Australia’s natural or cultural environments; and
(b) as a result, the Villawood Immigration Centre no longer has the criterion D heritage value; and
(c) as a result, I am able to exercise the discretion under paragraph 341L(3)(a) of the Act to remove the criterion D heritage value from the Commonwealth Heritage List for the Villawood Immigration Centre; and
(d) there are no countervailing reasons not to exercise this discretion in this manner.
(2) In accordance with paragraph 341L(3)(a) of the Act, in reaching this view, I have ignored the effect of subsection 341D(2) of the Act. This subsection provides that the “Commonwealth Heritage values” of a Commonwealth Heritage place are the Commonwealth Heritage values of the place included in the Commonwealth Heritage List for the place. That is to say, subsection 341D(2) of the Act has the effect of deeming that the Villawood Immigration Centre does have, relevantly, the criterion D heritage value.
SUSSAN LEY
Minister for the Environment