Correction to Gazette Notice - Notice of an application for the protection of the Ravensworth Estate Homestead Complex and Surrounds (NSW) as a significant Aboriginal area

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CORRECTION TO GAZETTE NOTICE – Notice of an application for the protection of the Ravensworth Estate Homestead Complex and Surrounds (NSW) as a significant Aboriginal area

This notice corrects information in the Gazette notice published on 14 June 2019. The original notice contained inconsistent information regarding the description of the Specified Area. The correct description of the Specified Area appears in the notice below. This notice also extends the period for representations to 12 August 2019.

 

A complete copy of the corrected notice is reproduced below:


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth)

Notice of an application for the protection of the Ravensworth Estate Homestead Complex and Surrounds (NSW) as a significant Aboriginal area.

Invitation to make representations
 

I, CHRISTOS MANTZIARIS, HEREBY GIVE NOTICE AS FOLLOWS:

The Minister for the Environment has received a written application under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) (the Act) for a declaration for the protection and preservation of an area described as the ‘Ravensworth Estate Homestead Complex and Surrounds’ (Specified Area) on the basis of its Aboriginal significance. The Specified Area is located in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, and is further identified on the map in Figure 1 below.

The Minister has appointed me to provide a Report in relation to the application under section 10(1)(c) of the Act. This Notice invites interested persons to make representations in relation to the application for the purposes of my Report to the Minister. 

The applicants

The application is made by Mr Scott Franks and Mr Robert Lester, as representatives of the ‘Plains Clan of the Wonnarua People’. Mr Lester is the Chairperson of the PCWP Aboriginal Corporation, the representative body for a native title claim by the Plains Clan of the Wonnarua People over an area of land that includes the Specified Area.  

 

The purpose of the application

Section 10 of the Act confers power on the Minister to make a declaration to protect and preserve an area where, among other matters, she is satisfied that the area is a ‘significant Aboriginal area’ and that it is under a threat of injury or desecration. A ‘significant Aboriginal area’ is defined by section 3 of the Act as an area ‘of particular significance to Aboriginal people in accordance with Aboriginal tradition’. ‘Aboriginal tradition’ is defined as ‘the body of traditions, observances, customs and beliefs of Aboriginals generally or of a particular community or group of Aboriginals’.

 

Matters the report is required to address

The Minister will consider my Report under section 10 of the Act in relation to the area specified for protection before deciding whether to make a declaration. The Report is required to address the following matters:

(a)           the particular significance of the area to Aboriginal people;

(b)           the nature and extent of the threat of injury to, or desecration of the area;

(c)            the extent of the area that should be protected;

(d)           the prohibitions and restrictions to be made with respect to the area;

(e)           the effects the making of a declaration may have on the proprietary or pecuniary interests of persons other than the applicants on whose behalf the application is made;

(f)             the duration of any declaration;

(g)            the extent to which the area is or may be protected by or under a law of a State or Territory, and the effectiveness of any remedies available under any such law; and

(h)           such other matters (if any) as are prescribed.

 

The Specified Area

The applicants specify the ‘Ravensworth Estate Homestead Complex and Surrounds’, between Singleton and Muswellbrook, New South Wales as the area for which protection is sought. The Specified Area for the purposes of this application is depicted in Figure 1 below. More detailed mapping will be provided to persons wishing to make representations.

Figure 1: Map showing the Specified Area described as the ‘Ravensworth Estate Homestead Complex and Surrounds’, NSW


Claimed nature of particular significance

The applicants state that the Specified Area is of particular significance in accordance with Aboriginal tradition for three reasons:

  1. The Specified Area was the site of a massacre of Aboriginal people described as the Wonnarua People in late 1827. The massacre was conducted by ‘a posse of soldiers and civilian volunteers’ as a reprisal for the murders of two white men in August 1827.
  2. The Specified Area was the site of a series of violent confrontations between Aboriginal people (the Wonnarua) and local mounted Police and local farmers that occurred between 1825 and 1826. These attacks were part of a pattern of confrontation that occurred in the broader area from the early 1800s up until the late 1850s.
  3. The Specified Area is a well–known location where the Wonnarua ‘lived and sustained a continued connection’ to the land, and was a place for hunting and gathering and the conduct of ceremonies.

The application states the relevant ‘traditions, observances, customs and beliefs’ of the Wonnarua People in relation to the Specified Area as including:

(a)  Oral histories passed down by their forebears to them, and to other members of their immediate family, about the events that occurred in the Specified Area in the early 1800s, particularly at Ravensworth.

(b)  Traditions and beliefs relating to respect for and protection of places of Wonnarua burial or places in Wonnarua country where ancestral remains are believed to be (ie that such areas and places are sacrosanct and should not be disturbed). This includes those places where Wonnarua persons are understood to have perished without Wonnarua mortuary rites and practices being able to be properly performed for them.

(c)  Traditions and beliefs relating to the spirits of Wonnarua people who perish without Wonnarua mortuary rites and practices being able to be properly performed for them (ie that the spirit inhabits the country where the person passed away and is not at rest).

(d) Traditions and beliefs relating to known areas of physical conflict between Wonnarua people and other Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal people. Reference is made to the mythological story of the Wingen Maid which commences with warfare between the Wonnarua and Gomeroi people in the Upper Hunter and Liverpool Range. These traditions and beliefs are similar to those attaching to places at Parkville, Jerry's Plains, Medford, Cessnock and Hillcrest (just to the north of the Specified Area) which are of particular significance under Wonnarua tradition because they are known to be related to instances of large scale intra-Aboriginal and settler-related conflict.

 

Claimed threat of injury or desecration

The applicants claim that the Specified Area would be injured or desecrated by the proposed expansion of the existing Glendell open cut mine, known as the Glendell Continued Operations Project by Glencore Australia (the Project). The Project proposes to dismantle and relocate the Ravensworth Homestead, after which the entire specified area would become an open cut coal mine.

 


Invitation to make representations and access to materials

Persons interested in making representations in relation to the application should contact me by email in order to obtain secure electronic access to the application and associated materials. All communications in relation to this report should be directed to: 

 

Dr Christos Mantziaris (St James Hall Chambers, Sydney)
ravensworthreporter@counsel.net.au


If an interested person is not able to use email, I may be contacted during business hours on (02) 9223 0185 so that alternative access to the relevant materials can be arranged.

Any person who registered an interest in response to the 14 June 2019 Gazette Notice is not required to register that interest again. 

Deadline for representations
Representations in response to this Notice must be made in writing and by email, by 5:00 pm on Monday, 12 August 2019. Please do not send your representations directly to the Minister.

Confidentiality
If you wish to claim confidentiality over any part of your representation, please identify why you are claiming confidentiality and how you wish confidentiality to apply. All representations, whether or not they are provided in confidence:

  • will be provided to the Minister for the Environment and the Department of the Environment and Energy as part of my Report; and  
  • will be disclosed where disclosure is authorised or required by law (eg under a Court order or in response to a request by a Parliamentary Committee).

Overview

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) was enacted to provide a framework for the protection and preservation of places and objects of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage. The Act aims to address the problem of the potential injury or desecration of significant Aboriginal areas by allowing the Minister for the Environment to make declarations to protect and preserve such areas. The enacting body for this Act is the Parliament of Australia. The policy objective of the Act is to safeguard Aboriginal cultural heritage and ensure that areas of particular significance to Aboriginal people are protected from harm. This notice pertains to an application under the Act for the protection of the Ravensworth Estate Homestead Complex and Surrounds in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, due to its Aboriginal significance and the threat posed by the proposed Glendell Continued Operations Project. The Minister for the Environment has appointed Dr Christos Mantziaris to provide a report on the application, inviting interested parties to make representations by 5:00 pm on 12 August 2019.

Scope and Application

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) applies to the protection and preservation of areas deemed to be of significant Aboriginal heritage. The Act applies to the Ravensworth Estate Homestead Complex and Surrounds in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, as per the application made under section 10 of the Act by Mr Scott Franks and Mr Robert Lester, representatives of the Plains Clan of the Wonnarua People. The application seeks to protect the area based on its Aboriginal significance and due to the threat of injury or desecration posed by the Glendell Continued Operations Project by Glencore Australia. The Minister for the Environment has appointed Dr Christos Mantziaris to provide a Report on the application. The Minister will consider this Report in deciding whether to make a declaration to protect the area, taking into account the particular significance of the area, the threat of injury or desecration, the extent of the area to be protected, the prohibitions and restrictions to be made, the effects on proprietary or pecuniary interests of non-applicants, the duration of any declaration, the existing protections under state or territory laws, and any other prescribed matters. Interested persons can make representations in relation to the application, and these representations will be provided to the Minister and the Department of the Environment and Energy as part of the Report. Confidentiality can be claimed for any part of a representation, subject to the conditions outlined in the notice.

Key Provisions

The primary operative sections of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) relevant to this application involve the provisions under section 10, which empowers the Minister for the Environment to make a declaration to protect and preserve an area deemed to be a 'significant Aboriginal area' under threat of injury or desecration. Section 3 of the Act defines 'significant Aboriginal area' as one that holds particular significance to Aboriginal people in accordance with Aboriginal tradition, while 'Aboriginal tradition' is defined in section 3 as the body of traditions, observances, customs, and beliefs of Aboriginals generally or of a particular community or group of Aboriginals. This declaration process is further detailed under section 10(1)(c), which mandates the appointment of a person to provide a report to the Minister on the application. The Act imposes specific obligations and requirements on the parties involved in the application process. The applicants, in this case, Mr Scott Franks and Mr Robert Lester representing the Plains Clan of the Wonnarua People, must demonstrate the particular significance of the specified area and the nature and extent of any threats to it. The report appointed under section 10(1)(c) must address various aspects, including the significance of the area, the threats it faces, the extent of the area requiring protection, the potential prohibitions and restrictions, the impact on non-applicants' interests, the duration of any declaration, existing protections under state or territory laws, and any other prescribed matters. In terms of potential offences and penalties, the Act does not explicitly state penalties for breaches within the context of this notice. However, any breaches related to the desecration or injury of a significant Aboriginal area protected under this Act could potentially lead to civil or criminal consequences. Civil penalties could include fines or orders for restitution, while criminal penalties could involve imprisonment, reflecting the serious nature of actions that desecrate or injure areas of significant Aboriginal heritage. The exact penalties would depend on the specific provisions of other related laws and the severity of the breach.

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Indigenous Peoples & Native Title Law
Instrument
Gazette Notice
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Definitions & Interpretation
Reporting & Disclosure Obligations
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Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.