Archaeological Consent Reviews are conducted by the Heritage Council so that consent applicants or owners or custodians who are dissatisfied with a decision about an archaeological consent can have a third party review the decision.
Using the HCV Hub for Archaeological Consent Reviews
The ‘HCV Hub’ is the Heritage Council of Victoria’s online platform for lodging forms and material in relation to its regulatory processes, conducted pursuant to the Heritage Act 2017. All forms and review-related material is to be lodged with the Heritage Council by way of the HCV Hub. In turn, all correspondence and material provided by the Heritage Council will be made available to hearing participants via the HCV Hub.
Where a person or organization is unable to access the HCV Hub for the purpose of lodging forms etc., they should liaise with the Secretariat.
Where a protocol or the Act requires the ‘lodgment’ or ‘submission’ of forms etc. to be made ‘in writing’, this is to be done via the online forms on the HCV Hub.
Who can request an Archaeological Consent Review?
You can request a review of the Executive Director’s Archaeological Consent decision if you are:
- the person to whom the consent was issued or refused
- the owner of the site or artefact
- the government asset manager of the site or artefact.
Requests for a review must be lodged within 28 days of the Executive Director’s decision by filling out Heritage Council Form H – Request for a Consent Review, available on the HCV Hub. This form asks you to detail the reasons why you want to request a review of the decision.
Who can contribute to the Archaeological Consent Review?
A Committee of at least three (3) members of the Heritage Council will conduct the review. The Committee will notify the following people of the Review, and request they provide any additional information that will assist the Committee in conducting the review:
- the Executive Director, Heritage Victoria
- the consent applicant
- the owner or government asset manager of the place or artefact
- the responsible authority
- the relevant Municipal Council
- any person the Committee allows who can provide more information.
Additional information must be lodged with the Committee by the deadline.
Material Information
If the Committee receives new information from the consent applicant, and the Committee considers the information to be material, the Committee will remit the matter to the Executive Director for reconsideration and the review will cease.
Meeting of the Committee
If the Committee considers it necessary, you may be invited to an informal meeting in relation to the review. At the meeting, the Committee may ask attendees questions that help it in making its decision.
This meeting is not a hearing. Opportunities for presentations and direct questioning between attendees will not be provided.
Withdrawing from a review
The person requesting the review may withdraw from the process by advising the Committee as soon as practicable. This may be done directly via the HCV Hub.
Once a withdrawal notification has been received, the Committee will cease the review and the Executive Director’s original decision will stand.
Archaeological Consent Review decisions
The Heritage Council will communicate their determination by:
- notifying all parties involved in the Archaeological Consent Review via the HCV Hub
- publishing it on the Heritage Council website
- including it in the Australasian Legal Information Institute’s Victorian Law Resources database.
- if the Committee determines to set aside the determination of the Executive Director and substitute it with a determination to issue the consent, the Executive Director must issue the consent within 5 business days of the Committee’s determination.
Additional Information
Further information about Archaeological Consent Reviews can be found in Heritage Council Protocol 4 – Archaeological Consent Review.
If you would like more information in relation to an upcoming Archaeological Consent Review please contact the Heritage Council via email at heritage.council@delwp.vic.gov.au.
Please note that any information received in relation to an archaeological consent review will be treated as public documents. While the Heritage Council will endeavour to respect any privacy wishes of which it is informed, it is bound by the Freedom of Information Act 1982. You should expect any information you provide to be freely and wholly available to anyone seeking access to it.