Heritage

Heritage Agreements and Heritage Surveys

This information is current for the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 1972 (WA). Information on the new Act will become available soon.

Please contact heritagemailbox@ysrc.com.au if you have any questions or concerns.

When a proponent (e.g. mining company) applies for a land license or agreement in the area, YSRC receives a notification regarding the new tenement and the proponent must enter a Yamatji Proponent Standard Heritage Survey Agreement (YPSHA) prior to the tenement being issued.

Once a proponent signs up to a YPSHA and it has been signed by the BYAC Chair, YSRC Chair then they have a small amount of activities that can be undertaken without providing YSRC with an Activity Notice. When they are doing medium- high levels of ground disturbance they are required to submit an Activity Notice, or if they want to enter any Aboriginal Heritage Site which has been identified on AHIS system- Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (dplh.wa.gov.au). (For further information on YPSHAs, refer to YN ILUA – Schedule 17 in the following link Yamatji Nation Indigenous Land Use Agreement.

The process once an Activity Notice has been fully executed is as follows:
The Proponent submits an Activity Notice. This lets us know what the Proponent wants to do and where they want to do it. We also send the Activity Notice to our Heritage Service consultant, Sticks and Stones Cultural Resource Management (SandS) to get any technical and/or specialist advice. YSRC are the initial point of call and all discussions with proponents MUST occur through the Heritage team.

The YSRC Heritage Team provide due diligence assessments and send this Activity Notice to the relevant Cultural Committee for the area of the activity. We then ask the Cultural Committee for advice about the way the heritage should be managed in relation to the activity. This could mean allowing the work to go ahead, putting monitors for the ground disturbance or undertaking further investigation such as a site walkover of Heritage Survey.

Between the Cultural Committee and Sticks and Stones Cultural Resource Management, an approach is made and YSRC go back to the proponent to advise of the type of survey they will be required to undertake and an estimation for costs.

Once the proponent agrees with the approach and costs, we ask the Cultural Committee to nominate the right people to go on a survey or monitoring project. As of 1st January 2024 all Yamatji Survey Consultants MUST transition to become qualified Heritage Consultants. This information is below.

The Cultural Committee then provide the names to SandS. Please note that SandS does not choose the people for surveys, they get nominations from the Cultural Committees directly. These names cannot be change without approval from YSRC and the relevant Cultural Committee. SandS then contacts the people who were nominated at least 3 times and then they will move on to the reserve members until all positions are filled. Any site specific paperwork needed will be required in 48 hours otherwise you may be denied entry for your shifts.

Qualified Survey Consultants then complete the survey/monitoring programme with the proponent. Finally, SandS writes the Heritage Survey / Monitoring Report and submits to the proponent and YSRC Heritage Team who ensure any recommendations are undertaken when the work commences.

How to sign up for Heritage Work

YSRC is required to provide a healthy and hazard-free environment by minimising all preventable factors related to the Occupational Health and & Safety Act and Taxation obli8gation. YSRC wants to ensure that Consultants provide a professional Cultural Heritage service, meaning that we are all well, fit for work and comply with relevant standards for insurance, taxation, and financial obligations.

This information will be required as part of standard operating procedures for any person to safely participate in Cultural Heritage monitoring and surveys. You are encouraged to provide as many of their qualifications upfront Members who are pre-qualified will be provided on a list for Cultural Committee to consider nominations.

So that that Heritage Team can put your name forward to the relevant Cultural Committee could you please complete this form and forward to the heritage team. We can provide assistance to complete the forms.

You must answer all questions honestly and provide any information so that we can ensure you are qualified as a Survey Consultant as soon as possible.

We also ask for all information so that YSRC and SandS can contact you when you are nominated by the Cultural Committee for a survey and to ensure you are qualified. Please let the YSRC Heritage Team know when your number changes, to ensure we have up to date contact information on the spreadsheet, so that you don’t miss out on work.

All Survey Consultants names are put into a spreadsheet that is shared with the relevant Cultural Committees and only those who commence the qualification process will be rotated to ensure that everyone gets some Heritage work.

We are trying to ensure that the right people speak for the right country. Please provide as much information as possible when applying for Heritage work, to allow the Cultural Committees to make informed decisions.

The pre-qualification process slowly transitions Consultants into complete the relevant activities required to be fully qualified. By 31^st December all Consultants should/must have attained the following aspects.

January 2024 (ongoing)

You will be contacted by YSRC Heritage team to complete an onboarding checklist You will need to provide a declaration on your medical health and fitness, along with provide your Tax File Number, Bank and Superannuation details.

You will need to tell YSRC if you have a driver’s license as well access to a reliable and registered vehicle. YSRC will ensure at least half of the participants have a licence/vehicle, and this is for safety and evacuation purposes.

You will need to participate in a 1-hr presentation on the roll-out plan. You can ask questions and understand what the process changed are and why. This will be available online, in person at Perth/Geraldton and at least within each cultural group (to be confirmed).

April 2024- October (ongoing)

You will need to book in to complete the heritage training session. This will be a 1-day course which will cover heritage administration and communication processes, OH&S processes along with a small heritage survey/ monitoring training outdoors.

You will need to provide a copy of a Police Clearance. Some businesses have high security because of the work they do (gold mines/ technology). People can have a criminal record and complete monitoring/ surveying.

You will need to complete a White Card. This is a standard induction requirement for being on most active working sites. This will be available in Perth/ Geraldton and other site (to be confirmed) and you can complete this through other organisations if you wish.

December 2024 (ongoing)

As part of continued Professional Development all Consultants who are qualified may be invited to participate in additional activities (Senior First Aid, 4WD course, Rail tickets, Heritage conferences, external training, etc).

Expressions of Interest for the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Survey please see link below.

YSRC Heritage Survey Application Form