The Heritage Council of Victoria is an independent statutory body that makes decisions about the inclusion of places in the Victorian Heritage Register and the Heritage Inventory, and conducts reviews of the Executive Director’s decisions relating to permits, archaeological consents and nomination refusals.
If you would like to nominate a place or object for the Victorian Heritage Register or make changes to a registered place or object you will need to apply to Heritage Victoria, a part of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
An informative video can be found on Heritage Victoria’s website.
In accordance with section 41 of the Heritage Act 2017, recommendations are made to the Heritage Council of Victoria by the Executive Director, Heritage Victoria on a frequent basis. See the latest recommendations here.
Registration Hearings are public processes that allow interested people to present their views on whether or not a place or object is added to the Victorian Heritage Register or an existing registration is amended.
Read some of the Heritage Council’s recent registration decisions.
Permit reviews are conducted by the Heritage Council so that owners or custodians who are dissatisfied with a decision about a permit to alter a heritage place or object can challenge that decision and present their case in person.
Nomination Reviews provide an opportunity for nominators dissatisfied with a decision by the Executive Director to refuse a nomination to have that decision reviewed.
Archaeological Value Hearings are public processes that allow interested parties to present their views on whether or not a place should be included in the Victorian Heritage Inventory as a site of ‘archaeological value’.
Archaeological Consent Reviews are conducted by the Heritage Council so that consent applicants or owners or custodians who are dissatisfied with a decision by the Executive Director, Heritage Victoria on an archaeological consent can have a third party review the decision.
The Management Plan (and therefore the Strategy Plan) for the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens (‘REB & CG’) site must be reviewed every seven years. The Executive Director, Heritage Victoria, has prepared a new draft Strategy Plan which is now available for public response.
Any review or hearing processes that begins after 1 November 2017 will be governed by the Heritage Act 2017. The below protocols outline the usual process Council will follow when conducting these hearings and reviews.