The validity of the Act was considered by the High Court of Australia in Commonwealth v Tasmania, also known as the Tasmanian Dams case.

The World Heritage Properties Conservation Bill was introduced on 21 April 1983, by the then Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment, Barry Cohen.

[5] Once a proclamation was made under section 6, certain acts were prohibited by section 9, including carrying out excavation works, exploratory drilling, constructing "a building or other substantial structure" and felling any trees on the site.

[9] Section 10(4) went further, and specifically made those same acts unlawful if done by such a corporation "for the purposes of its trading activities".

[11] Once proclamations were made, they had to be tabled before both houses of the Parliament of Australia in accordance with the procedures set out in section 15.

[13] Section 12 provided certain statutory exceptions to the prohibitions in sections 9, 10 and 11, to do with acts permitted under management plans in other federal environment legislation, and acts permitted under state or territory law.