The Hon. Kyam Maher, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (SA), Media Release, 17 May 2023

The Malinauskas Labor Government is delivering on its election commitment with the introduction of new laws for stronger penalties for people who disturb or destroy Aboriginal heritage.

At present, the maximum penalty for destroying Aboriginal heritage in South Australia is $50,000 for body corporates and $10,000 or six months prison for individuals. The new laws will make the maximum penalty for the damaging, disturbing or interfering heritage offences $2 million for body corporates and $250,000 for individuals and/or 2 years prison.

In addition, the courts will be empowered to order offenders to pay for and take actions to make good their damage.

There has yet to be a successful prosecution under the existing Act, due to a requirement to prove that the offender intended to damage Aboriginal heritage.

Under the proposed changes, an additional lower-level offence will be created where a defendant would need to prove that they didn’t know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that they had impacted Aboriginal heritage.

There will also be changes to better manage Aboriginal heritage discoveries, which include obligations to consult with Traditional Owners, and/or for the Minister, if new discoveries of Aboriginal heritage are found throughout the duration of the project, to approve how the discoveries are managed.

Quotes attributable to Kyam Maher

There was quite rightly national concern over Aboriginal heritage protection laws across the country when parts of Juukan Gorge in WA were destroyed by Rio Tinto in 2020.

SA’s current Aboriginal heritage protection laws are failing to deliver the protections that our ancient cultural heritage deserves. These proposed reforms will change that.

By legislating a ten-fold increase in penalties for some offences, we are sending a clear message that Aboriginal heritage is to be both protected and respected.

We have also taken steps to make it clear exactly when and how Aboriginal heritage discoveries must be reported, including where there is an authorisation to impact heritage under the Aboriginal Heritage Act.