Aboriginal Heritage Impact Statements

Eikos partners with representatives of the local Aboriginal community to provide due diligence Aboriginal Heritage Impact Assessment (AHIA) for a range of projects in the Lake Macquarie and Newcastle Local Government Areas.

 

 

Image source: NSW government Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH). 

Projects we can assist with include:

  • alterations and additions requiring Aboriginal due diligence reports as part of the DA process;
  • sub-divisions and larger projects such as aged care facilities; and
  • park and amenity upgrades for councils.

If you are proposing to undertake development within 50m of the lake foreshore in Lake Macquarie or in an area mapped as Sensitive Aboriginal Landscape you may be required to lodge a due diligence AHIA report with your DA. Eikos can assist you with obtaining a due diligence AHIA report and navigate the council process and legislative requirements on your behalf.

Sites Officer David Ahoy from Lower Hunter Aboriginal Inc inspecting a stormwater trench for excavated shell material at a development site in Lake Macquarie.

What is Aboriginal cultural heritage?

Aboriginal cultural heritage may be either physical elements such as objects, sites or places or non-physical elements such as Aboriginal places, spiritual connection to country, song lines and stories. 

There are many Aboriginal cultural heritage sites listed in the Aboriginal Heritage Information System (AHIMS) database around Lake Macquarie and in the Newcastle region. There are also sites not listed on the AHIMS Database and still other sites not yet discovered. Our role is to ensure that thorough and proper due diligence procedures and consultation has occurred to minimise the risk that your proposed development will not harm or desecrate Aboriginal objects or places.

Eikos partnerships

Eikos always consults with Aboriginal people when undertaking due diligence Aboriginal Heritage Impact Assessments. We partner with the relevant groups depending on site location and local Aboriginal Land Council boundaries. The following Aboriginal groups make up the Register of Local Aboriginal Groups for Consultation in the Lake Macquarie and Newcastle area:

  • Awabakal Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation
  • Lower Hunter Aboriginal Incorporated
  • Biraban Local Aboriginal Land Council
  • Awabakal Descendants Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation

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