Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00408:front:0:p430
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00408
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 1364721–1367608

clarify that a community can exist at 'various levels' and that there is no statutory requirement for a community to be substantial in size.  On the other hand, a community can also refer to the Australian community as a whole.

In some instances a 'shared interest group' may be a community, however generally professional groups and special interest groups are not considered to be a 'community or cultural group' – under the guidelines 'common expertise' is not sufficient in itself to define a community or cultural group.

Thresholds

Threshold tests are applied to each criterion.  For aesthetic significance, the threshold tests include:
      * that the community or cultural group is clearly identifiable;
      * that there is clear evidence of a community or cultural group valuing the aesthetic characteristics of the place;
      * that the place is valued strongly by the identifiable community or cultural group, with the strength of attachment being a factor that is specifically assessed on a case-by-case basis;  and
      * that to be nationally important the community recognition will usually be beyond the region or state (note that this is not a requirement, as there may instances where this is not the case).

Indicators of aesthetic significance

An indicator of significance defines the grounds on which a place may satisfy the criterion.  For criterion (e) the indicator is,

    Features of beauty or features that inspire, emotionally move or have other characteristics that evoke a strong human response.

The guidelines (AHC 2009) provide some notes to help interpret this indicator:
      * aesthetic quality means the particular characteristics of an area that inspire or move people;  and
      * aesthetic quality is determined by the response from experiencing the environment or particular attributes of that place (primarily visual elements but may also include emotional responses, sense of place, sounds, smell or any other factor having a strong impact on human thoughts, feelings and attitudes).

A useful definition is,

    'Aesthetic value is the response derived from the experience of the environment or of particular cultural and natural attributes within it.  This response can be either to the visual or to non-visual elements and can embrace emotional response, sense of place, sound, smell and any other factor having a strong impact on human thought, feelings and attitudes.'  (Ramsay & Paraskevopoulos 1993, p. 79)

Usually multiple sources of data are required as evidence that the experience of a place has evoked a response across a community or cultural group, and to demonstrate that the response and values are strongly held by that community or cultural group.  Comparisons with other similar places are usually required to determine that the place meets 'a high aesthetic ideal' (AHC 2009, p. 36).

To define whether a place