About the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act
The Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986 (PMCH Act) commenced operation on 1 July 1987 to give effect to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The PMCH Act protects Australia’s heritage of movable cultural objects and supports the protection by foreign countries of their heritage of movable cultural objects. The Act is administered by the Australian Government Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts.
The PMCH Act defines Australia’s movable cultural heritage objects as ‘objects of importance to Australia, or to a particular part of Australia, for ethnological, archaeological, historical, literary, artistic, scientific or technological reasons’, and falling within listed categories. An Australian protected object is a Class A or Class B object on the National Cultural Heritage Control List, which is set out in Schedule 1 to the PMCH Regulations. Objects specified in the Control List include:
- Indigenous art and artifacts
- Works of fine or decorative art
- Scientific and archaeological artifacts
- Fossils, meteorites and minerals
- Agricultural and industrial heritage
- Books, stamps and medals
- Historic materials.
Under the PMCH Act an object that meets the criterion of being an Australian protected object under the National Cultural Heritage Control List requires a permit if the object is to be exported.
The protection of foreign countries’ movable cultural heritage is dealt with by sections 14 and 41 of the PMCH Act which enable Australia to respond to an official request by a foreign government to return objects of their cultural heritage that have been illegally exported from their country of origin.
