Heritage delegations

Under the Heritage Act 1977, the Heritage Council of NSW delegates some of its functions to allow timely decision making on proposals that may impact State Heritage Register listed items.

Heritage NSW

Senior officers within Heritage NSW exercise delegation, to support the work of the Heritage Council in administering the Heritage Act 1977.

NSW Government agency

Delegations given to NSW Government agencies enable them to be more efficient in self-managing the State heritage assets they own or manage. For example, senior officers within Place Management NSW and Sydney Water exercise various delegations under the Heritage Act 1977.

NSW Government agencies responsible for State heritage items are also granted exemptions from approval in some cases. For example, Sydney Living Museums has an exemption from approval for works to State heritage items they own or manage. Transport for NSW have exemptions for some maintenance works and other activities such as infrastructure repairs and upgrades, signage, and community initiatives and special events. Exemptions are published in the NSW Government Gazette.

Check the State Heritage Inventory for who owns or manages a State Heritage Register listed item.

Local government: City of Sydney example

The Heritage Council has delegated a range of regulatory functions to the City of Sydney Council. The delegation allows the City of Sydney Council to grant approvals for changes to State Heritage Register listed items where the works or activities would not have a major adverse impact or materially affect an item’s heritage values. Refer to the Material Threshold Policy for more information.

NSW Government agencies with delegation continue to make decisions for the State Heritage Register listed items they manage within the City of Sydney local government area.

The Heritage Council continues to determine applications that impact state significant archaeology and historic shipwrecks. However the Heritage Council collaborates with the City of Sydney Council to assess and determine applications which have a relatively minor archaeological component.