Documents concerning when the Heritage.gov.au website and domain were decommissioned and the approval process for their decommissioning

Written by Claude Haiku 5.5 from the extracted text on 16 Oct 2026. It can miss or misread redacted and scanned pages. Check the source before relying on it.

The release concerns the legacy heritage.gov.au domain, which was decommissioned without a redirect to the department's current heritage webpage. It comprises emails between Heritage Policy and Strategy and web admin staff, a January 2026 ministerial correspondence draft (MC26-000243) about outdated signage at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and a business case recommending the department secure the legacy URL and implement a permanent redirect. The business case notes that over 20 Australian Government-branded plinths were erected at National Heritage List places, so replacing signage would be costly. Emails from February 2026 record approval to proceed with the redirect, with IT covering initial costs and future renewals subject to cost recovery. The release also includes a 2016 email on a heritage domain expiry. No environmental assessment, EPBC decision or scientific advice is included.