The Victorian Goldfields have now been included in Australia’s World Heritage Tentative List, marking a historic milestone after 35 years of advocacy to the Federal Government.
The journey to World Heritage Listing for the Victorian Goldfields is a collaborative effort. Fifteen councils across Victoria, Traditional Owners, the Victorian and Federal Governments, and local and international experts are working together on the bid.
Tentative Listing recognises the Victorian Goldfields’ potential outstanding global heritage significance and seeks to celebrate and protect the region’s multi-layered history – from the First Peoples living on Country to the goldrush and subsequent waves of immigration.
Cheif Advisor to the Victorian Goldfields World Heritage Bid, Barry Gamble, said, “Victorian Goldfields represents the most extensive, coherent and best-surviving nineteenth century global gold rush landscape anywhere in the world.”
A Tentative Listing is one step on the journey to being considered for World Heritage Listing. It acts as a placeholder for World Heritage listing and has no other consequences.
Further research and consultation will be undertaken to determine sites for a World Heritage bid, which may include additional sites not part of the current Tentative List submission.
Achieving UNESCO World Heritage status will bring extensive benefits to the region’s local communities including economic and social revitalisation, strengthening regional identity, building community pride and providing educational opportunities. A 2024 economic assessment found that the listing could see 2.5 million new visitors to the Victorian Goldfields Region over ten years, with an estimated visitor spending increase into local economies of over $500 million.
Macedon Ranges Shire Council Mayor, Dom Bonanno, said that Macedon Ranges Shire Council is excited by what achieving World Heritage status would mean for the area and the recognition of the role its towns played in such an important phase of Australian history.
“The goldrush was important in the story of the Macedon Ranges with local areas effectively becoming the gateway for travellers enroute to the goldfields to the north in Bendigo and Castlemaine promoting both economic activity and population growth.”