General News
5 June, 2026
Heritage bid continues push
The World Heritage Bid's roadmap was shared with the community at a recent information session.
Benefits, progress, and a possible 2030 decision were among the insights community members received on the World Heritage Bid last week.
A community information session on the Victorian Goldfields World Heritage Bid was held in Maryborough on May 28.
The session was hosted by the bid’s project team who provided the community with an update, debunked common misconceptions, and explained what the bid means for the region.
The bid is an initiative to get the Victorian Goldfields on UNESCO’s World Heritage List recognising it as having outstanding universal value to humanity.
City of Ballarat’s world heritage engagement officer Lana Epshteyn said Victoria’s goldrush history remained throughout the landscape.
“We’ve got something that is the most extensive, coherent, and best surviving gold rush landscape anywhere,” she said.
“We’re saying to the world Victorian Goldfields are something that are worth recognising because of these attributes.”
A successful listing is expected to bring long term economic, social and cultural benefits to the region.
An independent report from 2022 found the listing would attract progressive growth in tourist numbers increasing spending, jobs, and regional income.
They estimated, by 2029, the listing would attract 2.2 million new visitors spending $440 million above 2019 levels.
While the idea dates back to 1989 the collaborative bid, involving fifteen local governments and other stakeholders, began in 2019.
Together they made their most significant progress to date after being added to Australia’s Tentative List last year.
The list includes sites the Australian Government intend to nominate for the World Heritage List sometime in the future.
“That is probably the closest the project has ever been to an official commitment by the Australian Government to consider Victorian Goldfields for nomination to the World Heritage Register,” Ms Epshteyn said.
While it has no other implications it is the first formal step toward their goal.
The next is a new mandatory step from UNESCO known as Preliminary Assessment. It focuses on ensuring the nomination can make its strongest case.
City of Ballarat’s world heritage and regional development lead Susan Fayad said preparing for this involved considering thousands of sites and picking the best examples.
“There’s so much and that doesn’t even touch the surface of what’s out there,” she said.
“We need to focus on only the places that best demonstrate the story.”
This is due in September this year, with feedback from UNESCO in late 2027, adding around 18-months to the bid’s timeline.
However, Ms Fayad found a silver lining.
“The more we’re learning about preliminary assessment, the more it’s actually speeding up our being able to be confident that we could get a World Heritage site,” she said.
Why this matters is if a nomination is made, and it fails, it can’t be submitted again.
Ms Epshteyn said they have “one shot” to get it right.
“That’s why ... everyone says if you want to do something worthwhile do it properly,” she said.
The earliest a nomination can be submitted is February 1, 2029.
That means, if all future steps are successful, the earliest the Victorian Goldfields could be included in the World Heritage List is 2030.
“It’s just important to get people to understand what it’s about and what it’s not,” Ms Epshteyn said.
In the meantime, the bid’s team are working with councils, Traditional Owners, communities, special interest and industry groups, and governments to plan investment across the region.
Ms Fayad said the World Heritage Bid was an opportunity to improve community infrastructure.
“Ultimately, I think what’s driving a lot of the stakeholders, is how can we use this to make a difference on the ground,” she said.
She said communities can struggle to be “feasible” for grant funding but collectively they have a better chance.
“It might be the thing that shifts the dial on being able to get some investment locally where we need it,” she said.