Bringing the voice of the practitioner to the Master of Cultural Heritage course at Deakin University in Melbourne, Shaun recently talked to a beginning class in the foundational unit ‘Understanding Significance’. This might technically have been called a lecture, but in practice it was a refreshingly idiosyncratic tour around archaeological…
Dr Linda Young, Senior Lecturer, Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies, Deakin University

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Due Diligence Assessments

Undertaking cultural heritage due diligence assessments contribute significantly to informed decision making by enhancing the amount and quality of information available to proponents and decision makers regarding the opportunities, risks, costs and benefits of any proposed activity or development. A due diligence assessment is the quantification of risk about a defined situation or recognizable hazards in relation to cultural heritage. Risks may arise as a result of an incomplete understanding of the likely harm or hazards to cultural heritage places or the value of those places to the relevant stakeholder groups.

The types of risks encountered in cultural heritage include:

accidental archaeological or ethnographic site destruction;
prosecution;
damage to stakeholder relationships;
time delays, and
major cost overruns.

Undertaking due diligence assessments for a project where cultural heritage may be an issue will:

save time and money;
assist in avoiding unintended harm to Aboriginal places or objects;
maintain positive relationships with all stakeholders;
provide certainty to landowners, managers and developers about appropriate cultural heritage management strategies to ensure the desired outcomes;
ensure that land owners, manager or developers are unlikely to be in breach of the relevant regulations and/or legislation, and
result in more sustainable and effective conservation outcomes for cultural heritage.

Call us on 1300 724 913 or Email Us for more information.