State Parties to the World Heritage Convention are invited to inform the World Heritage Committee of developments that may affect the outstanding universal value of a World Heritage property (Paragraph 172, Operational Guidelines).
Australia set in place a notification procedure in November 2011 to inform the World Heritage Centre on a quarterly basis of the following decisions:
- Controlled Actions with s. 12 (World Heritage) trigger requiring assessment
- Previously notified proposals under assessment
- Withdrawal of a previously notified Controlled Action by a proponent
- Changes or developments to existing proposals
A 'Controlled Action' is an action that is subject to the assessment and approval process under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The EPBC Act provides a rigorous assessment of proposed actions which may have a significant impact on World Heritage values before being approved.
Reports will be sent to the World Heritage Centre providing details of all such decisions made during the relevant quarter. The quarters will be 1 March, 1 June, 1 September and 1 December each year.
Notification reports
2021
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new proposals under assessment - September 2021 (PDF - 249.44 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new proposals under assessment - September 2021 (DOCX - 86.57 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: approved with conditions/withdrawn proposals under assessment - September 2021 (PDF - 159.99 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: approved with conditions/withdrawn proposals under assessment - September 2021 (DOCX - 47.78 KB)
Map of EPBC controlled actions triggered on World Heritage Properties (PDF - 655.21 KB)
Cover letter - September 2021 (PDF - 122.87 KB)
Cover letter - September 2021 (DOCX - 81.54 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new and previously notified proposals under assessment - June 2021 (PDF - 242.19 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new and previously notified proposals under assessment - June 2021 (DOCX - 72.51 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new proposals under assessment - March 2021 (PDF - 213.7 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new proposals under assessment - March 2021 (DOCX - 146.98 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: previously notified proposals under assessment - March 2021 (PDF - 230.23 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: previously notified proposals under assessment - March 2021 (DOCX - 141.84 KB)
2020
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new proposals under assessment - December 2020 (PDF - 151.8 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new proposals under assessment - December 2020 (DOCX - 91.81 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: previously notified proposals under assessment - December 2020 (PDF - 143.62 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: previously notified proposals under assessment - December 2020 (DOCX - 85.23 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new proposals under assessment - September 2020 (PDF - 209.24 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new proposals under assessment - September 2020 (DOCX - 94.83 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: previously notified proposals under assessment - September 2020 (PDF - 153.22 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: previously notified proposals under assessment - September 2020 (DOCX - 63.24 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new and previously notified proposals under assessment - June 2020 (PDF - 163.98 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new and previously notified proposals under assessment - June 2020 (DOCX - 93.53 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new and previously notified proposals under assessment - March 2020 (PDF - 106.89 KB)
Notification report to the World Heritage Centre: new and previously notified proposals under assessment - March 2020 (DOCX - 77.72 KB)
2011 to 2019
Great Barrier Reef interim report
On 31 October 2011, the department notified the World Heritage Centre of all proposed developments being assessed as controlled actions for potential impacts on the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area under the EPBC Act:
Interim report on current Great Barrier Reef development proposals (PDF - 72.89 KB)
Interim report on current Great Barrier Reef development proposals (DOCX - 354.27 KB)
Detailed documentation on each of the Controlled Actions is available on the EPBC public notices page.