There are many types of heritage listing applicable in Victoria. A place might be listed by one or all of the following :

National Trust

The National Trust has the most comprehensive single listing covering all types of cultrual and natural heritage in Victoria. This is known as the Trust Register. As a community body, listing by the Trust is not legally binding in any way. It does however have the authority of consideration by experts, and is often consulted by statutory bodies. Click here for frequently asked questions about National Trust listing. Click here to access the Trust Register on-line, or by clicking on the link on the left.

Local Shire or Council

All municipalities in Victoria are required to identify heritage places, including buildings, objects and precincts, and protect them through their Planning Schemes with a 'Heritage Overlay' control. A permit needs to be sought for changes to a place with an HO control, but this usually only applies to the exterior of buildings. Contact your local Council for more information.

Heritage Victoria

This is the State Government body, which is charged with protecting places of 'State level significance' - that is places that are important to the whole of Victoria. Listing usually includes the whole of the place, including the interior of buildings. Changes to a place that is on the Victorian Heritage Register usually require a permit, which over-ride local Council heritage permits. Click here for Heritage Victoria's website.

Australian Government - National and Commonwealth Heritage Lists

This National Listing regime was begun on 1st Jan 2004. The National List aims to list and protect those cultural and natural places that are considered to be of 'outstanding' importance to Australia. The Commonwealth List includes places of 'signficant' heritage value that are owned by the Australian Government, which means they are exempt from local or state control. Places on these lists are afforded protection under the Australian Government's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). As of 2008, Victoria had 26 places on the National List. More information and the full lists can be found at the Australian Heritage website. That page also explains the World Heritage List. The only place in Victoria on the World Heritage List is curently the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens.

The Register of the National Estate (RNE)

This is an Australia-wide list established by the Federal Government in the 1970s, covering all types of places and levels of importance. It had little statutory importance, operating as an advisory list to be consulted by the Federal Government. It was frozen in 2007, and from 2012 will become simply an archive. More information can be found on the Australian Heritage website section about the RNE here.