World Heritage Listing
A World Heritage site is defined as a place that is important to all peoples of the world. The Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens is the first non-Aboriginal cultural site in Australia to win World Heritage listing. It joins our nation’s other World Heritage listings, which include Aboriginal cultural sites such as Uluru-Kata Tjuta, and the continent’s many natural heritage areas—from Kakadu in the north to the Tasmanian Wilderness, from Shark Bay (Western Australia) to the Great Barrier Reef off the eastern coast.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee announced the listing on 1 July 2004, after a rigorous international assessment process. The Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens qualified under cultural criterion (ii) of the Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention which lists sites that exhibit "an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design".
It is one of the few 'world fair' buildings from the 19th century and the only surviving Great Hall of the Palace of Industry, the centrepiece of the International Exhibitions.
Download Royal Exhibition Buildings and Carlton Gardens World and National Heritage Lists brochure (pdf 605kb)
National Heritage List
The Royal Exhibition Building was added to the Australian Government’s National Heritage List on the 20th of July 2004. The list recognises and protects our most valued natural, Indigenous and historic heritage sites. It is a snapshot of the nation’s most important places. It reflects the story of our development, from our original inhabitants to the present day, Australia’s spirit and ingenuity, and our unique, living landscapes.
Each place in the List is assessed by the Australian Heritage Council as having national heritage values that can be protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. In this way, we can sustain our heritage for future generations.
For further information visit www.heritage.gov.au
