The environment provided an abundance of marine life, plants and wildlife as food and a diversity of flora and fauna material which could be used for making tools and implements, such as shields, spears, boomerangs, containers and canoes.

Attracted by the rich hinterland forest and its proximity to the shipping trade, the Europeans initially maintained a peaceful relationship with the traditional owners but conflict soon arose when pastoralists entered the region, bringing land clearing and stock running with them.

With a loss of land, resources and sacred sites, coupled with disruption of the tribal organization of the Bundjalung people and an increasing reliance on European supplies, conflict ensued and the Aboriginal community was decimated by massacres and introduced diseases.

[2] In 1920, after the earlier completion of Hixson and Barnet's plan, Joshua Ramsbotham, then the Director of The Commonwealth Lighthouse Service, was said to have stated "the work done in NSW would compare favourably with anywhere in the world".

[8] Harding was a specialist lighthouse architect for the Harbour and River Navigation Branch of the Public Works Department and would bear some of the hallmarks of Barnett's earlier designs.

Following the traditional hierarchy of lightstations, the tower had a commanding view across the precinct which consisted of a Headkeeper's and Assistant Keeper's Quarters' of the Victorian Georgian style, as well as a signal station, store buildings and flagstaff.

With inherent strength and an aesthetic appearance, Harding considered the use of precast concrete blocks to be so successful that the design of the Cape Byron Lightstation is almost an identical copy of that constructed at Point Perpendicular.

[9] Construction ended in 1901 and was to be celebrated on 30 November 1901 in a great banquet, with special trains carrying visitors from Lismore and Murwillumbah, at the presence of the Premier of the day, the Hon.

[9][5] With a budget of A£18,000 allocated for the project in 1897, the narrow ridge of Cape Byron was cleared and levelled for the construction of the lighthouse, keepers cottages and associated structures in October 1899.

Having been fitted with a Henry-Lepaute feu eclair lightning flasher lens system on a mercury float mechanism with the light visible for 22 nautical miles (41 km; 25 mi), it was reported in newspapers of the time that there was not a finer station, nor one more picturesquely sited in NSW than the Cape Byron Lightstation.

Standing on the most eastern point of Australia, the sweep of the light is clearly visible from the Byron Bay township which serves to reinforce its presence in the environment and evokes a sense of identity and "ownership" by the local community.

The headland is also a significant tourist attraction in Australia due to the unique interaction of the natural and cultural factors and the evocative image of the tower standing against a dramatic coastal environment.

[2] The lighthouse contains a museum and the significant moveable heritage items including the 38-centimetre (15 in) Chance Bros & Co red sector light (1889) on a cast iron pedestal; the original curved timber desk (1899-1901) and the clockwork lantern winch (1901).

[2] The Head Keeper's Quarters, to the south of the lighthouse tower and orientated to the east, is a stand-alone single storey building constructed of rendered precast concrete blocks with a red tile roof in the Victorian Georgian style.

Continuing the architectural style of the precinct, the Assistant Keeper's Quarters is a single storey Victorian Georgian building constructed of rendered precast concrete blocks with a red tile roof.

[2] The design and layout of the Cape Byron Lightstation is architecturally consistent with the earlier stations but implemented technical advancements, such as precast concrete block construction and the Henry-Lepaute feu eclair lens system on a rotating mercury float mechanism, which were available at the turn of the 20th century.

[2] The spectacular scenery and beauty of the Cape Byron Lightstation, its siting on the most eastern point of the Australian mainland and the convergence of the natural and cultural environment on the headland is of great aesthetic significance.

The evocative image of the tower standing against the expanse of the Pacific Ocean resonates with the NSW community, making the lightstation an important landmark and tourist destination in the state.

As custodians of their country, the Arakwal people hold an important and active role in the joint care and management of the reserve (which incorporates the lightstation) and undertake educational initiatives at the site to promote and raise awareness of the Aboriginal cultural heritage of the cape.

Named Walgun (meaning 'The Shoulder'), today the Cape Byron headland is a place where both the traditional and contemporary cultural of the Arakwal people is practiced and celebrated.

Today, this association continues with the Arakwal people who have an important role in the joint management, care and control of the Cape Byron Headland Reserve.

As Colonial Architect James Barnet had retired and the Marine Board of NSW had been disbanded, Harding and Darley were responsible for the design and construction of the last lightstations that would complete the "highway of lights".

[2] In the design and construction of the Cape Byron Lightstation, Harding and Darley made an important contribution to the completion of Hixson and Barnet's plan to illuminate the NSW coastline with lights and navigational aids.

The convergence of the natural and cultural environment and the evocative image of the tower standing against the expanse of the Pacific Ocean resonates with the NSW community, making it a landmark in the state.

[2] Technically, the Cape Byron Lightstation is also of state heritage significance as it contains Australia's only Henry-Lepaute lantern and optic on a rotating mercury float mechanism.

With a formal and active role in the joint care and management of the Cape Byron Headland Reserve (which incorporates the lightstation), the Arakwal people continue their custodianship of country and cultural practice on the site.

[2] The Cape Byron Lightstation includes the only example of a Henry-Lepaute feu eclair (lightning flasher) lens system on a rotating mercury float mechanism in Australia.

Still in operation and use today, the Henry-Lepaute 2 sided (Bi-valve) lens system on a rotating mercury float mechanism was considered to be leading optical technology of the period and its retention is of great value to the significance of the Cape Byron Lightstation.

The Cape Byron Lightstation (including moveable items) is of state heritage significance as a representative station along NSW's "highway of lights", a system of navigational aids installed along the coastline in the mid-to-late 19th century.

Important to the safe passage of shipping in NSW, the system of lightstations has a collective significance that reflects the logistical management for installing coastal infrastructure and the technical evolution of the stations.