Through the Heritage Collections Council, governments at all levels work collaboratively with the museums sector and non-government organisations to conserve, promote, manage and provide access to Australia's collections of movable cultural heritage. Natural heritage includes places of scientific, archaeological, aesthetic and ecological importance. It can also include geological features and landscapes. Extensive areas of coastline, forests, wetlands and deserts are included in national parks, nature reserves and wilderness areas. Many smaller sites are important habitats for native flora and fauna, enabling the conservation of threatened species.
Many natural places are significant to Indigenous communities for cultural reasons.
Conservation of heritage places involves identifying them, surveying their values, and classifying and managing them. These functions are shared between all levels of government and their statutory authorities, with assistance from academic and professional bodies, individuals and community conservation organisations such as the National Trusts, and conservation councils in each State and Territory. The Commonwealth Government works in partnership with the community and with State and Territory Governments. It undertakes heritage activities on its own account where the implications of these actions go beyond State or local boundaries. Examples of this include the nomination of sites for World Heritage listing, the protection of Aboriginal heritage, and advice about proposals which might affect places entered in the Register of the National Estate - Australia's national heritage list.