The Heritage Act 1977 protects and conserves environmental heritage in New South Wales. We consider applications for impacts to items listed on the State Heritage Register. The Heritage Council is the approval body. We provide advice and have delegation to determine some applications.
Works and activities for making alterations or change
For any proposed work or an activity, you will need to apply for and be granted approval before it can take place or confirm if your proposal meets the criteria for an exemption. This includes works and activities on or within the curtilage of a State Heritage Register listed item or a site that has an interim heritage order. In some cases, you may need more than one approval.
If your proposal is for a local heritage listed item (identified in a local environmental plan) contact the local council regarding approval.
What you need to do before you apply
Check the heritage listing
Check the State Heritage Inventory to confirm if your proposal may impact an item listed on the State Heritage Register or an item with an interim heritage order.
Check if an exemption applies
Some minor works and activities may meet the criteria for a standard exemption, or site-specific exemption, and may not require approval before taking place.
Exemptions are granted under section 57 of the Heritage Act 1977.
Consider using the pre-lodgement service
You can seek pre-lodgement comments for proposed development before lodging an application with us. See Pre-lodgement service for heritage applications for more information about this free service.
Prepare your application
Certain information is necessary so we can make decisions. The required information is summarised under each application type.
Your application must provide enough information for us to understand what you are proposing to do, and how any potential impacts to the heritage significance will be addressed.
Please ensure:
- you have all the information required
- reports are the final version, not draft
- consultation is complete
- reports, plans and consents are consistent
- all documents comply with the mandatory guidelines and Heritage NSW requirements.
Hard copies of documents are not required.
If you submit a complete application, we can more quickly assess it and make a determination.
Check if the integrated development application process is appropriate for your proposal
Integrated development is an efficient way for the Heritage Council of NSW and a local council to assess proposals at the same time. It relates to activities or works that require both development consent and one or more other approvals. See Integrated development for more information about this process and the benefits.