Appendix C - Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment - Peabody Energy

Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment
North Wambo Underground Mine Modification
2.0 Aboriginal Consultation
The purpose of Aboriginal community consultation is to provide an opportunity for the relevant Aboriginal
stakeholders to have input into the heritage management process. The OEH encourages consultation with
Aboriginal people for matters relating to Aboriginal heritage. If an Aboriginal Heritage Impact Permit (AHIP)
is required, then the Department of Environment Climate Change and Water (DECCW) guidelines (managed
by the OEH) are triggered in respect to Aboriginal consultation. In some circumstances the consultation
guidelines are also used as a framework for Aboriginal consultation, even if not specifically triggered by the
preparation of an AHIP application.
Wambo Mine is applying for modification to an existing approval under Section 75W of the EP&A Act for the
NWUMM. As such, Aboriginal consultation is required to be undertaken in accordance with the Aboriginal
Cultural Heritage Consultation Requirements for Proponents (DECCW 2010) (ACHCRs).
The ACHCRs include a four stage Aboriginal consultation process which stipulates specific timeframes for
components of each stage. Stage 1 requires that Aboriginal people who hold cultural information are
identified, notified and invited to register an expression of interest (EoI) in the assessment. This identification
process should draw on reasonable sources of information including: the Registrar (Aboriginal Land Rights
Act, 1983), the relevant OEH Environment Protection Regulation Group (EPRG) Regional Office, the Local
Aboriginal Land Council(s), the National Native Title Tribunal, the Native Title Services Corporation Limited,
the relevant Catchment Management Authority and the relevant local council(s). The identification process
should also include an advertisement placed in a local newspaper circulating in the general location of the
project area. Aboriginal organisations and/or individuals identified should be notified of the project and
invited to register an EoI for Aboriginal consultation (Table 1). Once a list of Aboriginal stakeholders has
been compiled from the EoI process, they need to be consulted in accordance with stages 2, 3 and 4 of the
ACHCRs. Stages 2 and 3 require the preparation of information about the proposed project and the
gathering of information about cultural significance. These stages include the provision of a proposed
assessment methodology to the registered Aboriginal stakeholders for their review. Stage 4 requires that the
assessment report (CHIA) be provided to registered Aboriginal parties for review and comment.
As regards gathering information about cultural significance, this report presents relevant comments from the
Aboriginal community from previous studies, monitoring and field surveys undertaken at the Wambo Mine, as
well as comments received during the review of the proposed methodology, July/August 2011 fieldwork, April
2012 fieldwork for the NWUMM area and during the review of draft CHIA. It is noted that the views
documented below and in Section 7.1 are based on feedback received from representatives of the registered
Aboriginal parties and may not reflect the views of the Aboriginal community as a whole.
Letters were sent on 13 May 2011 to the OEH EPRG Regional Office, Coffs Harbour, the Wanaruah Local
Aboriginal Land Council (WLALC), the Registrar of Aboriginal Owners, the Native Title Tribunal, Native Title
Services Corporation Limited, the Singleton Shire Council and the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment
Management Authority requesting the identification of interested Aboriginal groups (Refer Appendix 3). As a
result of contacting these organisations, the following registered Aboriginal parties groups were identified as
potentially having an interest in the project and an expression of interest invitation letter was sent out to each
group on 31 May 2011 (Table 1):
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