VIC Compliance Context — VAHR, VBA & Heritage Act

This article explains the key Victorian government registers and legislative obligations relevant to ecological and heritage consultants, and how TerraSitu is configured to support compliance.

VAHR — Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Register

What it is: VAHR is the official register of Aboriginal cultural heritage places and objects in Victoria, maintained by Aboriginal Victoria within the Department of Premier and Cabinet. It is a restricted register — access to sensitive site locations is managed through Registered Aboriginal Parties (RAPs).

Legislative basis: The Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 (Vic) governs the protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage in Victoria. Cultural Heritage Management Plans (CHMPs) are required for certain high-impact activities in areas of cultural heritage sensitivity.

When you need to submit data: New Aboriginal heritage places identified during surveys must be reported to Aboriginal Victoria. If you are undertaking activities that require a CHMP, survey findings feed directly into that document.

How TerraSitu helps: Cultural heritage observation forms include VAHR-compatible fields: place type, condition, sensitivity, traditional owner group, and GPS coordinates. The VAHR Sites reference layer (available under Settings → Reference Layers) displays known heritage areas and cultural heritage sensitivity mapping (CHSM) for the project area. Proximity alerts fire when observations are recorded near registered places.

VHR — Victorian Heritage Register

What it is: The VHR is maintained by Heritage Victoria and lists places and objects of historical significance to Victoria under the Heritage Act 2017. It covers built heritage, archaeological sites, and historic cultural landscapes.

When it's relevant: Development or ground disturbance near VHR-listed places typically requires a permit from Heritage Victoria. Archaeological surveys adjacent to VHR places may be scoped to assess potential impacts on registered or unregistered heritage.

How TerraSitu helps: The VHR reference layer shows registered places and their curtilages. Enable it on your project to see proximity warnings during observation capture and to automatically populate the heritage register table in your reports.

VBA — Victorian Biodiversity Atlas

What it is: The VBA is DELWP's (now DEECA's) primary repository of biodiversity survey data for Victoria. It accepts validated flora and fauna survey records that inform environmental planning, ecological assessments, and conservation management.

What VBA requires for valid submissions: Records must include species name (as per Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 or ALA taxonomy), survey method, survey effort (person-hours or trap nights), surveyor qualifications, date, and spatial coordinates accurate to the appropriate precision for the method.

How TerraSitu helps: VBA survey fields are included in the ecology form templates for Victoria. Effort hours are derived from survey start/end time and assigned researchers. The species autocomplete includes FFG Act listing status, and conservation status alerts fire for species listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable. Export via Reports → Export → VBA CSV generates a submission-ready file mapped to the VBA upload template.

EPBC Act (Commonwealth)

What it is: The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the primary Commonwealth environmental legislation. It protects matters of national environmental significance (MNES), including listed threatened species and ecological communities.

When it's relevant to Victorian surveys: Any survey that identifies a species or ecological community listed under EPBC — or that involves activities likely to have a significant impact on MNES — may trigger a referral to the federal DCCEEW. This applies even if the activity is otherwise approved at the state level.

How TerraSitu helps: EPBC-listed species are flagged in the TerraSitu species database. When a species record is saved with an EPBC-listed species, an alert is displayed on the observation card. Reports include an EPBC species table that lists all threatened species detected, their listing status, and their conservation significance.

Enabling Victorian Reference Layers

1. Open the project and go to the Map tab
2. Click Layers → Reference Layers
3. Enable: VAHR Sensitivity Mapping, VHR Curtilages, VBA Threatened Species Ranges, and relevant ecological vegetation classes (EVCs)
4. Set VIC layers as project defaults under Settings → Reference Layers → VIC Defaults