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NEW SOUTH WALES
Rock Art
Wednesday, 22 October, 2008
They pre-date Colonial Australia; records of traditional Aboriginal life etched into landscapes across Australia.
But is ancient rock art being adequately protected? Graffiti, vandalism, mining and commercial development are all contributing to the desecration of these sites.
David Kelley, a ranger at Bouddi National Park on the New South Wales Central Coast, says "it's relatively young people that you see in most areas either tagging or graffiting other things and they just don't have that appreciation of the culture."
Heavy penalties and fines apply for anyone vandalising Aboriginal art sites and even stricter penalities apply for commercial developers who don't undertake appropriate cultural surveys.
But Brad Walsh, an officer with the Aboriginal Heritage Conservation says that the law is rarely enforced. "There's just not enough people on the ground to enforce enforce those regulations" says Brad.
Some Aboriginal communities are taking matters into their own hands, as video journalist Allan Clarke discovered.
Source: SBS
But is ancient rock art being adequately protected? Graffiti, vandalism, mining and commercial development are all contributing to the desecration of these sites.
David Kelley, a ranger at Bouddi National Park on the New South Wales Central Coast, says "it's relatively young people that you see in most areas either tagging or graffiting other things and they just don't have that appreciation of the culture."
Heavy penalties and fines apply for anyone vandalising Aboriginal art sites and even stricter penalities apply for commercial developers who don't undertake appropriate cultural surveys.
But Brad Walsh, an officer with the Aboriginal Heritage Conservation says that the law is rarely enforced. "There's just not enough people on the ground to enforce enforce those regulations" says Brad.
Some Aboriginal communities are taking matters into their own hands, as video journalist Allan Clarke discovered.
Source: SBS
