Heritage Strategy

The National Capital Authority (NCA) performs the role of trustee of the National Capital, and in this capacity, serves the interests of the Australian Government, the nation and its people.

The NCA’s mission is:

To shape Canberra as a capital that all Australians can be proud of by ensuring it is well planned, managed and promoted, consistent with its enduring national significance.

In line with this mission, the NCA is responsible for:

• shaping the National Capital into the future;
• managing and enhancing the nationally significant parts of Canberra; and
• fostering awareness of Canberra as Australia’s National Capital.

The NCA manages and controls land throughout the Australian Capital Territory on behalf of the Commonwealth, including a range of places of cultural significance. These places include 19 places entered on the Commonwealth Heritage List and two places entered on the National Heritage List that are of heritage significance to the Canberra community and all Australians.

In accordance with the requirements under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act), the NCA has prepared an updated Heritage Strategy.

The Heritage Strategy sets out the NCA’s strategic approach to identifying, assessing, protecting and conserving Commonwealth and/or National Heritage values of places under its ownership and control. The Strategy outlines the NCA’s management context and how heritage has been integrated into its corporate management framework.

The objectives of the Heritage Strategy are:

• to assist the NCA in assessing places it owns or controls to identify potential Commonwealth, National and other heritage values;
• to assist to the NCA in the best-practice conservation and management of heritage values and places under its ownership and control, and the presentation and transmission of these values to future generations;
• to provide guidance to the NCA on the integration of heritage assessment, conservation and management into its organisational and corporate management framework, processes and policies;
• to assist the NCA in meeting its obligations under the EPBC Act, in particular the preparation of management plans (s341S), heritage strategies (s341ZA), heritage assessments and registers (s341ZB), and under the EPBC Regulations, particularly Division 10.5.