UNESCO World Heritage listing bid

The World Heritage Story

While the story of Colonel William Light and the laying out the City of Adelaide in the 1830s is well known, the events that led up to the founding of South Australia are less well known.

The settlement of South Australia, centred on Adelaide was a world-leading social-engineering experiment with the goal being to create a utopian, prosperous and free society to escape the poverty, corruption and misery of the ‘Old World’.

The World Heritage Project seeks to understand this story for the benefit of all South Australians.

World Heritage Story Map

The Adelaide Park Lands and City Layout

The big issue for 18th and 19th Century England was that they were enduring a period of rampant population growth driven by the industrial revolution, and because there were so many labourers’, competition had driven down wages reducing these people to poverty with many more relying on government welfare. At the other end of the spectrum the wealthy were running out of markets to supply their goods to which was decreasing the value of their goods. To compound the issue, wealthy landowners had vast underutilised estates that reduced the land available to create new industries or produce the food required to feed the population.

This situation had no good solution, and people were rioting and threatening the ruling class which at was mostly made up of the rich landowners who were increasingly worried about a pauper revolution in England (to match the French Revolution just before the turn of the Century).

The only way out was to develop colonies to reduce England’s impoverished labouring class through emigration, increase available land for food production, and create new markets for English industries to sell their goods.

By and large, England’s early attempts at colonisation had not gone the way they had expected. There was the issue of Governors who acted more like dictators stifling industry, squandering and embezzling land and impoverishing their populations. In the North American colonies, several times entire groups of settlers had been sent only to perish in the unforeknown inhospitable conditions, or retreat into the wilderness forming ‘barbaric’ closed-off societies.

Oftentimes, due to lack of planning the poor quality of the areas decreed for settlement were not known until the colonists reached the area. At this point they were stuck with unworkable soils, swamps, disease and left to fend for themselves against all odds.

In the colonies, skilled labourers were rare and high competition between landowners meant that even modestly skilled labourers could charge exorbitant prices. Many aristocrats having received vast tracts of land from colonial Governors, found themselves unable to make their land productive for want of labourers. Further exacerbating the issue, within a short time of arriving, most skilled labourers could afford to become landowners themselves.

Many colonies had resorted to importing slaves to fill their need for cheap labour and boost their economies. In Australia forced transportation of convicts served the same purpose, often being referred to as ‘white slavery’. At the time, this was seen as a necessary evil but often led to rebellion by the oppressed peoples.

Because of the need for labourers, colonies had inadvertently prioritised male colonists. This caused a gender imbalance which limited the growth of any colony, impacted upon the safety of women and was considered to promote immoral behaviours. This reduced the incentive for women to emigrate to the colonies, further compounding the issue.

In all of the situations, the existing landowners had little say in what was happening to them and their lands. In the case of Australia, the Aboriginal people had been declared non-human to legitimise English occupation. The extent of violence and dispossession of this period is just starting to be understood today.

In the late 18th Century, England’s American colonies fought the motherland for their independence, and there were several other rebellions against colonial rule across the World as well.

Obviously, a new systematic approach to colonisation was needed.

South Australia began as the brainchild of the group of 19th Century English ‘Radical’ philosophers. Their ideas were based on the enlightened ‘Utilitarian’ theories of philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who theorised that:

The only measure of good and evil we can understand from the natural world is pain or pleasure. Therefore, the measure of the rightness of any action is whether it creates the greatest happiness for the greatest many.

Bentham was a supporter of economic freedoms, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women, and the abolition of slavery, capital punishment, and physical punishment

Author and colonial theorist, Edward Gibbon Wakefield was one of these Radical Philosophers and joining forces with likeminded social reformists like Robert Gouger lobbied for a new approach to colonisation.

Edward Gibbon Wakefield analysed the poor results of over 300 years of global colonisation to guide the principles of a new utopian province where all would be happy. His principles balanced philosophical and moral issues with the practical which were reflected in his writings and the eventual instructions to the chosen Surveyor, Colonel William Light. These principles include:

  • Sending an accomplished surveyor supported by experts in soil, water, natural resources and climate to choose the best location for the colony, instead of having it chosen arbitrarily by officials in a far-off land.
  • Surveying the land into equal allotments and creating a land-sales company whose job was to ensure land was sold at a market rate; thereby making sure the land would not be gifted by corrupt officials and their associates. Nor could any individual take more land than they could profitably use.
  • Using land sales to sponsor immigration of labourers. This would make sure there was sufficient labour available to build the colony, while keeping wages at a good rate for both the labourer’s and the capitalists who would employ them.
  • Making the colony a self-governing province with representative government and full (male) suffrage once the colony had reached a certain size to ensure that everyone had a say in the running of the new society, not just the wealthy and aristocracy.
  • Sponsoring immigration of young married couples to ensure a gender-balance in the colony that protected women’s safety, promoted family life and supported the growth of the population.
  • Fundamental freedom of religion to provide for the moral life of the new society with further benefit being that communities would naturally develop around places of worship.
  • Using urban planning and surveying to keep the population centralised around a town to ensure the population has a safe urban centre, has access to markets where their labour and goods could be sold and exported, while also promoting collaboration and the transfer of knowledge. It was considered that from ancient times, the greatest developments in philosophy, science, arts and industry were the result of living in dense cities where information could be freely shared.
  • Setting out a city with wide boulevards and promenades, beset with squares and surrounded by Park Lands for the health and wellbeing of the population.
  • Recognition of the ownership of the land and providing rights for the Aboriginal people, including payment for game taken from their lands.
  • The abolition of all forms of slavery, including convict labour.

Why World Heritage?

World Heritage sites are places of special importance, representing unique and valuable examples of humanity’s cultural and natural heritage.

The World Heritage Project understands that the settlement of South Australia is a significant event in the history of the World and seeks to recognise this extraordinary accomplishment by including Adelaide and its Rural Settlement Landscapes on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

There are many additional benefits to UNESCO World Heritage Listing. World Heritage listing brings international recognition and attention to South Australia, being a source of local, state and national pride, and boosts optimism and investment.

The project also provides an opportunity to tell the South Australia story in a holistic way and incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and narratives, supporting Reconciliation and Truth-telling outcomes.

Statement of Outstanding Universal Value

The nineteenth Century property comprising Adelaide and its Rural Settlement Landscapes, including the early Adelaide plan, is of Outstanding Universal Value as exceptional evidence of the Wakefield systematic colonisation model, an important and influential model in the history of European free migration and colonial settlement. It is the most complete realisation of British colonial settlement planning in the world, and/or a major achievement of such colonial planning.

Experts have that found that Adelaide and its Rural Settlement Landscapes are of high heritage value and worthy of addition to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The following reports detail the basis for consideration for World Heritage listing as well as the practical steps to achieve this outcome.

Developing a proposed boundary of the World Heritage place will need rigorous research and stakeholder engagement to confirm the areas and attributes within these areas that best reflect the early settlement patterns.

Due to the extensive heritage surveying that has occurred in South Australia, it is expected that elements of potential World Heritage significance already have a form of heritage or historic character protection.

Other early settlement sites may be considered based on their merits and relevance to the themes of the World Heritage Bid.

Proposed boundary of the World Heritage place

The areas being investigated for World Heritage attributes reflect the three main types of colonial survey:

  • The City of Adelaide ‘Town Acre’ allotments surrounded by the Park Lands and connected to its port (Port Adelaide)
  • The ‘Country Surveys’ (green lines) - 80 & 134 Acre blocks pre-surveyed for purchase
  • The ‘Special Surveys’ (blue lines) – individuals could pay the costs of a land survey for areas outside of the Country Surveys, these were chosen around watercourses, natural resources or good cropping land

These surveys were undertaken on an existing Aboriginal cultural landscape.

Following a Decision of Council on 12 March 2024, the City of Adelaide have elected to lead the preparation of the Tentative List Submission.

The City of Adelaide will seek a partnership with the State and Commonwealth Governments to realise Adelaide and its Rural Settlement Landscapes on Australia’s World Heritage Tentative List.

Adelaide and its Rural Settlement Landscapes World Heritage Bid brings together two previously separate World Heritage Bids:

  • Adelaide Park Lands and City Layout World Heritage Bid
    • City of Adelaide
    • Adelaide Park Lands Authority / Kadaltilla
  • Mount Lofty Ranges Agrarian Landscapes World Heritage Bid
    • City of Onkaparinga
    • The Barossa Council
    • Adelaide Hills Council
    • District Council of Mt Barker
    • Department for Environment & Water

While the proposed World Heritage values relate to the settler history, the land on which settlement occurred was an ancient and enduring Aboriginal cultural landscape, adapted by the settler-colonisers with impacts still felt deeply today by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The World Heritage Bid project provides an opportunity to tell the South Australia story in a holistic way and incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and narratives, supporting Reconciliation and Truth-telling outcomes.

Through the World Heritage process, City of Adelaide will develop long term relationships with Traditional Owners and support them to participate in the development of the World Heritage Bid.

For a World Heritage Bid to be successful, it must be supported by Traditional Landowners.

Developing a World Heritage bid is a long process reliant upon full participation of Local, State and Commonwealth agencies as well as community and stakeholders to ensure its success. Even with full support, the required investigations and rigorous review process can take many years to complete and there is no guarantee of success.

World heritage bid timeline

The World Heritage process is summarised as follows.

Tentative Submission: Australia’s Tentative List is a list Australia puts forward to UNESCO detailing all the places Australia will one day seek World Heritage Listing for. Once on the list, a Tentative place is put into the long-term schedule by the Australian Government for consideration by the World Heritage Committee (each nation can only submit one nomination each year, so it is a competitive process with other Bids).

Preliminary Submission: To assist Nations in the development of World Heritage listings, Nations are invited to put forward interim submissions (known as Preliminary Submissions) with further research for review by the World Heritage Centre’s cultural heritage advisory group, ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites). At this stage ICOMOS and other experts review and advise where there are strengths or weaknesses that need to be addressed before it can proceed to nomination.

Nomination Dossier: Before a place can be considered by the World Heritage Committee, a comprehensive Nomination Dossier (stretching into the many hundreds of pages) must be prepared. The Nomination Dossier is based on the Tentative and Preliminary Submissions and is exhaustively reviewed by ICOMOS and other experts before being approved. It details all of the justification for seeking World Heritage status, the public engagement and consultation undertaken, as well as the strategies and policies to protect the place in perpetuity.

World Heritage Mission: representatives of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre visit the proposed World Heritage sites and assess the integrity and authenticity of the proposed attributes, as well as the claims made in the nomination report regarding protection measures and public support for the listing.

Listing by World Heritage Committee: A final decision is made by the World Heritage Committe. If inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, World Heritage places are subject to five-yearly reporting and inspections by UNESCO/ICOMOS to ensure that the management arrangements are sufficient to protect the World Heritage property.

Further detail is available here: World Heritage Centre - Preparing World Heritage Nominations

The project is at the first stage, preparing a Tentative List Submission where a modestly detailed submission is made to the Commonwealth Government (by means of the State Government) for a potential inclusion in Australia’s Tentative World Heritage List. This submission includes an overview of the grounds for potential World Heritage listing as well as indicative details of the area/attributes proposed for inclusion.

The first draft of the Tentative List Submission is available here:

Once the submission is accepted by all parties, the Commonwealth Government will submit this to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre for inclusion on Australia’s Tentative List.

The proposed World Heritage boundary will likely be limited to a series of smaller areas that already have a form of heritage or character protection and will be managed using existing heritage legislation.

A World Heritage Bid seeks to minimise any increased impact on development, with impacts expected to be outweighed by the benefits to the community through increased tourism and visitation.

The Bid will work with the State Government to balance the protection of a World Heritage listing with State Government strategies, priorities and plans as they are developed and reviewed.

If there are potential additional adverse impacts identified, consultation will be undertaken, and the community will be invited to communicate their concerns.

For a World Heritage listing to be successful, there must be clear evidence of public support from the businesses, organisations and communities affected.

  • January 2013, The Character Preservation (Barossa Valley) Act 2012 and the Character Preservation (McLaren Vale) Act 2012 were created to protect and manage the special character of these districts.
  • In October 2019 Minister for Environment, David Spiers advised of the synergies between the Mount Lofty Ranges Consortium and Adelaide Park Lands Authority’s World Heritage Bid, suggesting investigation of combining the bids.
  • To progress the World Heritage nomination, World Heritage expert consultant Duncan Marshall was engaged to lead a small expert 2-day workshop on the 25 and 26 August 2022 regarding the feasibility of a combined World Heritage Bid. The workshop was attended by invited experts with suitable and varying expertise in regard to World Heritage matters. The outcome of the workshop was to combine the two World Heritage Bids as they both related to the Wakefield patterns of Systematic Colonisation.
  • In January 2023, Deputy Premier, the Hon Susan Close MP provided a letter supporting the local government partners developing a Tentative Listing submission for the proposed nomination.
  • In August 2023, the Mount Lofty Consortium Council’s, and representatives from the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water were hosted by City of Adelaide for a briefing by Duncan Marshall AM, Assoc. Professor Neale Draper and the SA Dept for Environment and Water with the goal of reinvigorating the partnership and progressing project governance arrangements.
  • In September 2023 and for the first time ever, the international heritage conservation peak body, ICOMOS’ General Assembly conference was held in Australia. Duncan Marshall AM and Uncle Jeffrey Newchurch (Kaurna Elder) officially launched the Adelaide and its Rural Settlement Landscapes World Heritage bid to 1500 delegates from around the World with a presentation entitled ‘Evolving perceptions of settlement landscapes as Shared or Exclusive Realms’. The presentation was a key step for the World Heritage project to gain exposure in ICOMOS.
  • In early 2025, City of Adelaide administration had meetings with the State and Federal Governments to advise of our intention to seek approval of the Tentative List Submission in early 2026.
  • In March 2025, City of Adelaide together with Yamagigu Consulting / Deloitte have embarked on a journey to understand and pursue Free, Prior and Informed Consent from Traditional Owners in line with National and International standards and requirements.
  • In March 2025, City of Adelaide, working with SA Native Title Services have commenced engagement with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community; with the heart of the World Heritage project being truth-telling for a shared understanding of South Australia’s history and supporting reconciliation processes.
  • Throughout 2024 & 2025, City of Adelaide has progressed identification and mapping of potential areas for further investigation for a potential World Heritage property.

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