Checklist · Native Title & First Nations Legal Work
Cultural heritage duty of care assessment for a project: checklist and record (Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld) s 23 and the gazetted guidelines)
Project checklist for a land user in Queensland: which activity category applies under the duty of care guidelines, the s 23(2) factors a court may consider, register and database searches, when to consult the Aboriginal Party, and when an agreement or a cultural heritage management plan is needed.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Queensland
- AI use
- Red Keep AI out of the decisive steps. A lawyer does the work.
- Law stated as at
- 18 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 18 October 2026 against the 3 authorities it cites, for Queensland.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use at project planning, before any ground disturbance, for proponents, councils and landholders in Queensland, and for lawyers advising Aboriginal Parties on whether a proponent has met the duty. For Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage, no guidelines have been gazetted; use the s 23 factors without the categories. For other states, use the local due diligence regime.
How AI may be used
The lawyer, the cultural heritage adviser and the Aboriginal Party make the assessment; AI may only organise project documents, extract search results into the record and track steps, and writes nothing about the presence, nature or significance of cultural heritage.
AI may
- Extract the project description, disturbance footprint and past land use from engineering and environmental documents into Part A
- Copy the results of register and database searches into Part D exactly as returned, with the search date and reference
- Track consultation steps and dates in the log from correspondence provided by the lawyer
AI must not
- Must not assess or state whether cultural heritage is present, its nature or its significance; that comes from the Aboriginal Party and qualified advisers
- Must not assign the activity category; that is the lawyer’s and adviser’s judgement applying the guidelines to the facts
- Must not receive or store information about sites, stories or restricted knowledge without the Aboriginal Party’s informed consent and an approved environment
The lawyer checks
- The category chosen is supported by the facts in Part A, and any doubt between categories is resolved towards the higher-risk category
- Register and database searches cover the whole footprint, were made recently and are filed with the record
- The correct Aboriginal Party for the area has been identified and consulted where the activity is category 5 or will disturb a known place
- Where agreement cannot be reached, the need for a cultural heritage management plan under Part 7 has been advised
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
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The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
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