State Register of Heritage Places
The State Register of Heritage Places is a statutory list of places that represent the story of Western Australia’s history and development. Places included in the State Register include buildings, structures, gardens, cemeteries, memorials, landscapes and archaeological sites.
Entry in the Register is reserved for places of State cultural heritage significance and is the highest recognition afforded at the State level. Heritage places are entered in the State Register after an assessment and registration process which includes extensive consultation with owners, local governments and other stakeholders. For more information on the register, visit the Heritage nomination, assessment, registration and current consultations page. To search the Register, visit inHerit.
Other heritage listing types
Cultural heritage places in Western Australia can be recorded under many different heritage listings. Some of these listings give statutory protection to heritage places, and others are simply lists with unofficial or semi-official designations, often arising from local, community-based or thematic surveys.
Statutory listings are issued by government organisations such as the Heritage Council, the Australian Heritage Council or local governments. The listing types are:
| Listing Type | Organisation | Legislation |
|---|---|---|
| State Register of Heritage Places | Heritage Council of WA | Heritage Act 2018 |
| Protection Order | Heritage Council of WA | Heritage Act 2018 |
| Heritage Agreement | Heritage Council of WA | Heritage Act 2018 |
| Heritage List | Local governments | Planning and Development Act 2005; Local Planning Schemes |
| National heritage list | Australian Heritage Council | Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999) |
Other lists that are common include local heritage surveys (sometimes called Municipal Inventories), which are different to local heritage lists, and lists of places classified by the National Trust.
Places that are entered in the State Register, or which are protected by another Heritage Council listing, have a pink coloured shading over the listing in the inHerit database search results.
inHerit
inHerit is a one-stop portal for information about heritage places and listings in Western Australia. inHerit contains detailed information about cultural heritage places entered in the State Register of Heritage Places, local government inventories and other lists, the Australian Government's heritage list, and other non-government lists and surveys.
Many local governments also use inHerit to record their local heritage listings, making this information easily searchable by the general public. If you represent a local government and would like further information on how to access inHerit to record your heritage data, please contact us.
Other Australian databases
The Australian Heritage Database shows detailed information about Western Australia's World Heritage Places, National Heritage Places, Commonwealth Heritage Places and overseas places of historic significance to Australia.
Australian National Shipwreck Database
This database includes all known shipwrecks in Australian waters. Features of the database include the capacity to attach images to shipwrecks, the ability to link shipwrecks to relics recovered from shipwreck sites, site environment information for divers and site managers and a history field with the ability to attach documents that include names of passengers and crew.
The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety maintains the Geoheritage database. Geoheritage is about managing, preserving and protecting exceptional geological features. A geoheritage site has geological features considered to be unique and of outstanding scientific and educational value within Western Australia.
