OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE AND CURTILAGE HERITAGE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2008–2013

J. Condition of Values
Part D – Appendices
Old Parliament House and Curtilage Heritage Management Plan 2008–2013
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J. Condition of values - details and methodology
Background research on methods of assessing the condition of Heritage Values
The concept of assessing the condition of heritage values is new and the heritage industry is struggling
to make sense of it. In the Australian context it is believed to be first used in the heritage amendments
to the Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 which came into force at the start
of 2004. Prior to that, the heritage industry worked with the concept of the condition of heritage
places which was mostly understood to mean the condition of the fabric of heritage places.
As a footnote, it is understood the Australian Government did not mean to introduce a new concept
as such. The Government adopted a policy position which turned away from the concept of
identifying and protecting heritage places to one which focused on heritage values. Accordingly, it
tended to replace the term place with value throughout the legislation, and this included references
related to condition. This has led to confusion in the industry as there is uncertainty about whether
the old approach to condition still applies or whether some new approach is required.
This report attempts to reconcile this confusion.
The best guidance to date from the former Department of the Environment and Heritage (DEH) is contained in the
guidelines for management plans for Commonwealth Heritage places. This provides the following information.
(e) Describe the condition of the Commonwealth Heritage values of the place.
The purpose of this provision is to ensure the management plan includes a discussion about the integrity of
the values of the place at the time the management plan is being prepared. This would include statements
on the degree of intactness of its attributes and whether they are still well represented by the place.
The condition description will assist in providing the basis for measuring change (see
also clause (h) (i) below). The description should refer to the condition of the values
against the Commonwealth Heritage criteria and include reference to the physical
condition of the place that reflect the value(s), where appropriate. (DEH 2005)
It should be noted in the wording of these DEH guidelines that the concept of ‘integrity’ of values is
used, rather than that of ‘condition’. Condition relates to the state of something, its state being good or
bad, for example, while integrity relates to the wholeness of the thing, whether it is intact or depleted.
Something could have good condition while at the same time having poor integrity, or poor condition and
high integrity. Both condition and integrity have been used traditionally to describe/assess fabric.
With regard to the practical application of these guidelines, many management plans being
prepared for Commonwealth Heritage places although only a few have formally been through
all of the EPBC Act process. However, it is believed that the approach adopted in these
plans in probably all cases is to continue to address condition in its former sense.
A meeting was held with a DEH officer to ascertain whether there were any important relevant methodological
developments to note. This included developments regarding World Heritage. None were identified.
As part of another recent project, one of the consultants, Mike Pearson, undertook a review of
a number of management plans for National Heritage and Commonwealth Heritage places for
DEH. While not a specific task of the review, no relevant methodological developments were
identified during that project. Almost all of the management plans had been written before the
EPBC requirements came in to force, so the concept of condition of values is not addressed.