Australian Cornish Mining Sites Consortium Advances World Heritage Bid

The Australian Cornish Mining Sites: Burra and Moonta Consortium (ACMS) is proud to announce a significant step forward in its bid to secure UNESCO World Heritage status for South Australia’s historic Cornish mining towns of Burra and Moonta.

On Friday, July 11th, 2025, the consortium visited the Deputy Premier in Adelaide to officially deliver the Submission of Request for Preliminary Assessment. The State have committed to forwarding the request to the Commonwealth for submission to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. This pivotal visit followed a high-profile meeting in May this year at Government House, where the ACMS Consortium met with Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia.

Preliminary Assessment is a mandatory desk-based process for sites being considered for nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage List. It’s a way for the State to get early feedback on the potential of a site to demonstrate Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and to assess the feasibility of a nomination. This assessment is conducted by the Advisory Bodies; International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – and helps to avoid investing resources in nominations that may still require some work to proceed.

Mayor Bill Gebhardt from the Regional Council of Goyder emphasised the importance of this stage. “The handover of the bid for Preliminary Assessment is a critical step on the road to receiving UNESCO World Heritage status. This is a new process that will become mandatory in 2027, but something the bid team felt important to engage in now.” Mayor Gebhardt stated.

After being added to Australia’s UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in September 2024. This meeting again marks a huge step towards gaining global recognition for the Burra and Moonta sites. Mayor Roslyn Talbot, Chair of the ACMS Consortium and Mayor of Copper Coast Council, welcomed the occasion, highlighting the power of collaboration. “Today’s handover simply would not happen without the team we have assembled, it has taken a power of work to get to this position.” Mayor Talbot said.

Millie Nicholls, President of National Trust SA reiterated that “it is through this collaboration; that we have forged a genuine opportunity to showcase our shared heritage on the world stage through a UNESCO World Heritage listing.” This collaboration was also noted by the Deputy Premier in accepting the nomination.

The ACMS Consortium is a collaborative body dedicated to securing UNESCO World Heritage status for the historic Cornish mining towns of Burra and Moonta in South Australia, recognising their profound historical and cultural significance.