PAPER PETITION - Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Protection
Principal Petitioner: Callen Sorensen-Karklis
Date of Receipt: 27 March 2026
Number of Signatures: 21
Petition Request:
This petition calls on Council to investigate if RCC have consulted with Quandamooka First Nations Elders and the Quandamooka community regarding this issue and relevant areas of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 and local residents relating to the disruption caused to the Oyster Point midden in Cleveland. It also calls on RCC to respect all cultural heritage middens in Redlands.
Petition Response (21 April 2026):
I refer to the petition presented to Council at its General Meeting on 15 April 2026 regarding Aboriginal cultural heritage and recent work undertaken at Oyster Point, Cleveland (the Petition).
The Petition 'calls on Council to investigate if RCC have consulted with Quandamooka First Nations elders and the Quandamooka community regarding this issue and relevant areas of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 and local residents relating to the disruption caused to the Oyster Point Midden in Cleveland. It also calls on RCC to respect all cultural heritage middens in Redlands.'
In response:
1. Council takes its obligation to take all reasonable and practicable measures to ensure that its activities do not harm Aboriginal cultural heritage (its cultural heritage duty of care) pursuant to s 23 of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld) (ACHA) seriously.
2. Council takes steps to ensure it has complied with its cultural duty of care, by acting in a manner set out at s 23(3)(a) of the ACHA, in relation to all projects and activities it undertakes, to ensure that Aboriginal cultural heritage, including 'cultural heritage middens' as specified in the Petition are respected and protected.
3. The 'Living Shoreline Protection Works' undertaken at Oyster Point were designed to avoid surface disturbance, mitigate existing and ongoing foreshore erosion, protect the shell middens and enhance the environmental values of the site.
4. Council notes:
a. the works did not involve any surface disturbance;
b. pedestrian access to the site was by way of a concrete erosion mattress which is held in place by its own weight;
c. on the eastern side of the pedestrian access ramp, a temporary low-lying pocket of rock bags was laid (which are held in place by their own weight with pipes in between the bags to allow fish passage) to create a sheltered area for dune vegetation saltmarsh colonisation (and which will be removed post vegetation establishment);
d. on the western side of the pedestrian access ramp, a temporary low-lying pocket breakwater of permeable massblocs was placed in order to establish a sheltered area for dune vegetation saltmarsh colonisation (which will be removed post vegetation establishment);
e. fill was placed over and in front of the eroded escarpment area where the exposed shell middens on site are located. This fill will protect the middens from further erosion at the site. Revegetation of the fill will assist in preventing the fill laid from further erosion and will enhance the environmental values at the site.
f. Fill was placed over machinery movement locations.
5. Council initially approached Quandamooka Yoollooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation (QYAC) regarding the works, at which time the scope of works was unknown.
6. During the design process, Council engaged an expert cultural heritage archaeologist to undertake a detailed to review the proposed works. The expert made recommendations that directly shaped the design and considered that the project would have no or minimal risk of causing harm to Aboriginal cultural heritage.
7. Council considers that it complied with its cultural heritage duty of care in relation to the works.
In summary, Council considers that it has complied with its cultural heritage duty of care in relation to the Living Shoreline Protection Works at Oyster Point and that it has adequate measures in place to ensure protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage, including 'cultural heritage middens' as specified in the Petition.
Further information regarding the works was published on Council's news website on 15 September 2025 and can be found here:
Get the Facts: Oyster Point foreshore protection - Redlands Coast Today