Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Key Messages
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Australia is home to the oldest continuous culture on Earth with 65,000 years of uninterrupted heritage. Queensland is even more unique because it is home to 2 distinct cultural groups with their own diversities. The Aboriginal peoples and the Torres Strait Islander peoples share a symbiotic relationship with the land, waters and sky country and everything in it.
There are many different types of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sites and places throughout Queensland and numerous ways of describing them.
In Queensland, the protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage is a legislative obligation and all land users have a responsibility to take all reasonable and practicable measures to avoid causing harm.
State
- Cultural heritage site locations
Artefact scatters are the most prevalent type of site location recorded on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage database.
- Cultural heritage places
Six new places have been recorded on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage register since July 2016.
Pressure
- Cultural heritage management plans
There is increasing pressure on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage from major development projects, particularly in the resources, energy generation, public infrastructure, and residential development sectors.
- Cultural heritage search requests
There is consistent pressure on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage from general land use activities.
Resources
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Register | The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Register holds information regarding cultural heritage studies, designated landscape areas, cultural heritage management plans, cultural heritage bodies, and statutory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parties. The register is available to the public. |