Notice of an application for the protection of significant traditional areas located within the Abbot Point State Development Area, Queensland. Invitation to make representations

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

Notice of an application for the protection of significant traditional areas located within the Abbot Point State Development Area, Queensland.

Invitation to make representations

I, Daniel Leo, hereby give notice as follows:

The Minister for the Environment, responsible for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) (the Act), has received an application made under section 10 of the Act. The application is seeking long term preservation and protection of significant Aboriginal areas located within the Abbot Point State Development Area, Queensland, and appointed me to provide a report to her under section 10(1)(c) of the Act.

The Applicant

The application is made by Mr Andrew Morrell, who identifies himself as a “Traditonal Owner, Juru Common Law Holder, Chairman of Juru Enterprises Ltd, and Advisory Committee member to Administrator of Kyburra Munda Yalga RNTBC”.

The purpose of the application

The application seeks the preservation or protection of the three areas specified in the application, shown at Figure 1 below, from injury or desecration. Section 10 of the Act enables the Minister to decide whether to make a declaration to preserve and protect the specified area, if the Minister is satisfied that the area is a significant Aboriginal area and is under threat of injury or desecration. In the Act, the term ‘significant Aboriginal area’ refers to an area that is of particular significance to Aboriginal people in accordance with Aboriginal tradition. Section 3 of the Act provides definitions of ‘significant Aboriginal area’ and other relevant terms including ‘Aboriginal tradition’ and ‘injured or desecrated’. The area specified for protection, the claimed significance of the area, and the claimed nature of the threat of injury or desecration, are set out below.

Matters the report is required to deal with

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. Under section 10(4) of the Act, the report is required to deal with 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 area sought to be protected (the 'specified area')

The Applicant specifies three areas for which protection is sought as traditional areas located within the Abbot Point State Development Area, Queensland. These include:

  • Mt Roundback, which is known to the Juru People as Deeryunga, and which contains rock art / rock carving sites and a sacred ochre ground (see the large, bottom-left oval shape in Figure 1 below).
  • Burial sites and middens (the middle oval shape in Figure 1 below)
  • Burial site and major midden site (the top oval shape in Figure 1 below)

Figure 1: Map showing the specified area within the Abbot Point State Development Area, Queensland

Claimed nature of particular significance

The Applicant states that the three specified areas are of particular significance in accordance with Aboriginal tradition because they have long been recognised to be significant Aboriginal areas. Other statements made by the Applicant include that:

  • The specified areas are part of Juru traditional homelands and as such retain immeasurable cultural and spiritual values.
  • Deeryunga (Mt Roundback) is surrounded by areas named Worrul Burrul (plains area) and Bobbawobba (wetland area) and Nulla (Saltwater Creek).
  • The painted rock art depicts our history/stories and the carved art sites depict mapping to water, hunting or fishing spots or they depict the overlapping areas of tribal boundaries.
  • The sacred ochre ground is the only source of ochre within approximately a 100km radius.  The ochre is used for rock art and body paint for ceremonies.  The ochre is used on paintings in the Whitsunday Islands, and for trade between Juru people and the neighbouring language groups of Gia, Ngaro and Birriah.
  • The two other specified areas contain highly significant cultural sites and values in the form of extensive Aboriginal shell middens and campsites (that also contain stone artefacts and shell artefacts) along the foredunes and beach ridges, plus an adjacent stone-wall fish trap in the intertidal zone.
  • The specified areas and surrounding landscape were economically important to the Juru people in traditional times as a major fishing ground, and for hunting and gathering both animal and plant resources.
  • Local Elders continue to visit the Abbot Point area to collect shellfish, fish, turtle and other bush tucker.
  • Elders are today actively involved in ‘caring for country’ along the Abbot Point coastline (for example, through turtle conservation and monitoring programs, Coast Care and native plant re‐vegetation programs).

 

Claimed threat of injury or desecration

The Application states that the specified area would be injured or desecrated by the proposed future construction and further operation of the Adani Rail and Port developments or any future developments within the declared Abbot Point State Development Area, Queensland, including the Port Expansion Project and Rail Project.

Invitation to make representations

Interested persons are invited to make representations on this matter to:

Mr Daniel Leo
Director, Leo Anthropological Services Pty Ltd

PO Box 1453

Ballina  NSW  2478

Ph: 0487 266 622

Email: danleo@mail.com

Representations must be made in writing by close of business on Thursday 14 February 2019 or within such further period as may be allowed. You should not send your representations directly to the Minister.

If you wish to claim confidentiality over any part of your representation, please identify why you are claiming confidentiality and how you want 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, along with the section 10 report. Representations, even those subject to confidentiality, may be disclosed where it is authorised or required by law, to meet procedural fairness requirements, and in response to a request by a House or Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth.

Overview

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) was enacted to address the need for the protection of culturally significant sites for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Act empowers the Minister for the Environment to protect areas that are considered significant Aboriginal areas from injury or desecration. This Act was introduced by the Commonwealth Parliament with the policy objective of ensuring the preservation of cultural heritage and the rights of Indigenous Australians to protect their ancestral lands. In a recent application under this Act, an application has been made for the protection of significant traditional areas located within the Abbot Point State Development Area in Queensland. The applicant, Mr Andrew Morrell, seeks long term preservation and protection of these areas from injury or desecration, particularly in light of the proposed Adani Rail and Port developments. The Minister has appointed Mr Daniel Leo to provide a report on the matter, which will consider the significance of the area, the nature of the threat, the extent of the area to be protected, and other relevant factors before a decision is made on whether to make a declaration.

Scope and Application

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) applies to areas of significance to Aboriginal people as per Aboriginal tradition, and it provides for the protection of such areas from injury or desecration. The Act applies to both individuals and entities that may be involved in activities that could impact these areas. The Act's jurisdictional reach is at the Commonwealth level, thereby affecting projects that have a national or interstate significance. It extends its protection to significant Aboriginal areas within the entire territory of Australia. Notably, the Act does not specify any exclusions, exemptions, or thresholds, meaning that any area deemed significant by Aboriginal people can potentially be protected under its provisions. The Act can also be extended or restricted through subordinate instruments, which may provide further detail on the application and enforcement of the Act.

Key Provisions

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) (the Act) primarily focuses on the protection of significant Aboriginal areas from injury or desecration. Section 10 of the Act allows for an application to be made to the Minister for the Environment to seek the preservation and protection of such areas. The Minister is empowered to make a declaration if satisfied that the area is significant and under threat. The application process involves an appointed person, in this case, Daniel Leo, who must prepare a report under section 10(1)(c) of the Act. This report is to be considered by the Minister before any decision is made. The Act imposes several obligations on the parties involved. The applicant, Mr Andrew Morrell, must provide detailed information about the significance of the area and the threat it faces, as per the requirements of section 10(4) of the Act. Mr Leo, as the appointed person, must prepare a comprehensive report addressing various aspects such as the significance of the area, the threat of injury or desecration, the extent of the area to be protected, and other relevant considerations. The Minister, upon receiving the report and any representations, must then make an informed decision about whether to declare the area as protected under the Act. The Act also outlines consequences for non-compliance. While the primary focus is on protection rather than punitive measures, any activities that lead to injury or desecration of a declared significant Aboriginal area could be considered a breach of the Act. Such breaches could result in civil or criminal proceedings, depending on the nature and severity of the contravention. The Act does not specify maximum penalties within the text provided, but generally, penalties for such breaches could include fines and imprisonment, reflecting the seriousness with which the protection of Aboriginal heritage is regarded under Australian law.

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Indigenous Peoples & Native Title Law
Environmental Law
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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.