Returns of foreign cultural property

Australia has returned a number of cultural objects that were unlawfully exported from a foreign country and imported into Australia. The returns were executed under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986.

Under the Act, provision is made for illicitly imported foreign cultural property to be returned to a country it was illegally exported from if that country's government makes a request and it can be demonstrated the export was illegal. The object proposed for return must form part of the cultural heritage of the other country and be protected by its laws.

The objects returned to date include:

Hyphalosaurus fossil and Tang Dynasty figurines

A Hyphalosaurus fossil, a Tang Dynasty gilt bronze Avalokitesvara figurine, and a Tang Dynasty terracotta horse and rider figurine were returned to the Embassy of China in October 2023.
Pre-Hispanic stone beads and wooden measuring rod

Two Wari and Inca Empire stone beads and a Chimu wooden measuring rod with a jaguar finial were returned to the Government of Peru in April 2023.
Mixtec copper bowl and ex-voto painting

A miniature Mixtec copper bowl and an ex-voto painting of a mining accident were returned to the Embassy of Mexico in February 2023.
333 ceramics

333 pieces of porcelain from the Tek Sing shipwreck were returned to the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in August 2022.
Bronze bracelet, two finials, and pottery bowl

A bronze bracelet and two decorative finials from Luristan, and an Islamic pottery bowl were returned to the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in November 2021 and January 2022.
Bronze Age stone aniconic weight

A bronze Age stone aniconic weight was returned to the High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in December 2021.
Igorot axe

An Igorot wood and steel axe was returned to the Embassy of the Philippines in November 2021.
Incan wood canopa

An Incan wood vessel depicting camelids was returned to the Embassy of Peru in November 2021.
4 pre-Columbian figures

4 pre-Columbian figures were returned to the Embassy of Mexico in November 2020.

An ammonite fossil to Algeria (August 2018)
4 decorated ancestral skulls (2 Dayak, 2 Asmat) to Indonesia (May 2018)
38 ammunition components from WW1 to Turkey (April 2017)
14 antiquities to Egypt (April 2015)
A stone statue of the Goddess Guanyin to China (March 2015)
A bronze Shiva Nataraja (from Tamil Nadu) and 1 antique stone idol of Ardhanariswara to India (September 2014)
2 miniature pots to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (September 2011)
Textile remnants, woven and pottery dolls, and gold foil artefacts to Peru (September 2011)
122 artefacts to Egypt (September 2011)
Artefacts with human remains to Cambodia (March 2011)
154 stoneware artefacts to the Philippines (May 2010)
Ptolemy's Cosmographica map sheet to Spain (February 2008)
130 kg of fossils to Argentina (August 2007)
16 incised Dayak skulls to Malaysia (May 2007)
A decorated Asmat skull to Indonesia (December 2006)
7 antiquities to Egypt (July 2005)
10,000 fossils to China (May 2004 and June 2005)
71,939 pieces of Chinese porcelain from the Tek Sing shipwreck to Indonesia (August 2001)
33 antiquities to Greece (July 2000)