The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for the Environment and Water
Senator Lisa Darmanin MP, Senator for Victoria
The Albanese Labor Government has added the historic 19th century Beechworth Administrative Precinct to Australia’s National Heritage List.
Located in the heart of Victoria, the 170-year-old precinct has been listed for its historic significance, offering a rare insight into governance of the goldfields and Chinese migration throughout Australia’s gold rush.
From the 1850s, migration to Australia increased drastically in response to the gold rush with miners arriving from Europe, America and China.
During this period, up to 42,000 Chinese migrants arrived at the Victorian goldfields, many of them travelling by foot from South Australia.
In response to the influx of gold miners into Victoria, the government constructed administrative centres to manage the goldfields. The Beechworth Administrative Precinct was established and included a gaol, courthouse, gold warden’s office, Chinese protectorate office, sub treasury gold office, telegraph office and stables.
Beechworth remains one of the most intact examples of how gold rush government buildings were designed at the time, often using local materials such as granite.
The National Heritage List recognises places of outstanding heritage significance to Australia. It includes natural, historic and Indigenous places under Australia’s national environment law.
Other Victorian sites on the National Heritage List include Abbotsford Convent, Eureka Stockade Gardens, the Great Ocean Road, Melbourne Cricket Ground, and Rippon Lea House and Garden.
Other sites around Australia include the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park, Sydney Opera House, and the Parramatta Female Factory.
