Historic

Key Messages

  • Heritage places are central to our community’s character and identity — allowing us to trace our history and feel connected to the important stories about our progress.

    Protecting, conserving and promoting heritage places and their stories plays an important role in creating community identity, sustaining local economies and contributing to Queensland’s cultural heritage tourism industry.

  • The National Heritage List is Australia’s list of natural, historic and Indigenous places of outstanding significance to the nation.

    The Queensland Heritage Register is a comprehensive and representative state-wide record of Queensland’s most significant historic heritage places. This diverse heritage includes buildings and structures, cemeteries, archaeological sites, gardens and landscapes.

    Local heritage comprises places from the past that communities respect, want to keep, and pass on to future generations. Identifying places in a local heritage register or local planning scheme helps protect heritage places that are important to local communities.

  • There are ships, aircraft wrecks and associated artefacts found in Queensland waters which reflect the diverse stories of adventure, industry, disaster and ingenuity that stem from our heritage. Many of these wrecks are enjoyed as recreational diving locations.

  • The Open House initiative connects Queenslanders and visitors with our rich history and diverse built environment.

    Each Open House event unlocks a region’s significant buildings, allowing the community to explore and gain a greater appreciation of some of our iconic heritage places.

    Heritage buildings feature in each of the Open House events held in Queensland — and are among the most popular places to visit on the itinerary.

State

Queensland heritage places

Since 2018, 48 Queensland Heritage Places have been entered in the Queensland Heritage Register and 4 places have been removed.

Local heritage places and areas

Most local governments identify and protect local heritage places and areas through a planning scheme.

Underwater cultural heritage (historic ship and aircraft wrecks and artefacts)

Since 2018, 14 existing Queensland shipwreck entries were updated and 4 new Queensland shipwrecks entries, 3 new aircraft entries and 2 new artefact entries were added to the Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database (AUCHD).

Queensland open house events

Since 2010, Open House public events have been staged in 6 Queensland cities as part of the global Open House movement, highlighting history and architecture.

Queensland places in the National Heritage List

One new place — Quinkan Country, Cape York Peninsula — was entered in the National Heritage List 2018, bringing to 13 the number of Queensland places held on the register.

Pressure

Queensland heritage places destroyed

Three State Heritage Places were removed from the Queensland Heritage Register in 2018–2020 as destroyed places.

Resources

Queensland Heritage Register

The Queensland Heritage Register is a list of Queensland’s significant heritage places. The Department of Environment and Science manages the details about places on the Queensland Heritage Register, but the Queensland Heritage Council makes decisions about which places are entered in or removed from it, and when substantial changes are made to those entry documents.

Underwater Cultural Heritage Program

Popular and vulnerable historic ship and aircraft wrecks are periodically inspected and monitored by government agencies to ensure they have not deteriorated quickly due to environmental or human impacts and to undertake compliance checks. These inspection enable the capture and recording of valuable information about site conditions on the Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database.

Open House Events Queensland

At each event throughout the state, volunteers collect visitor numbers for each featured building, including heritage places. After the event, Open House Event managers collate the statistics and supply a report on the outcomes to the department.

Digitally-mapped terrestrial and maritime heritage sites

Innovation in digital scanning and mapping and the use of drones contributes to the conservation, management and interpretation of heritage sites.

Last updated: 03 September 2021