Under the AHA, Aboriginal sites of outstanding importance can be declared Protected Areas.
[1][4] After the mining company Rio Tinto blew up the 46,000-year old caves in Juukan Gorge on 24 May 2020, which was legal under a Section 18 exemption of the Act,[5] WA Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt started a review of the Act.
[6] The interim report of a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry into the incident published on 9 December 2020, entitled Never Again, makes several recommendations, including a halt to all actions presently occurring under Section 18 of the AHA, and a moratorium on Section 18 applications.
It also recommends that the Western Australian Government review and reform the current state heritage laws, and that the federal government review the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984.
[8] There was a transitional period of around 18 months before the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2021 came into force,[3] while the various regulations and processes were developed.