Of ships and sealing wax: Planning the preservation of movable cultural heritage within Australia

Traditionally, the preservation and protection of cultural heritage at the international and domestic level has been firmly inter-linked with conceptions of property and property rights, imposing barriers to the level of protection that can be accorded to specific forms of cultural heritage, namely movable cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage. This article focuses on the preservation and protection of movable cultural heritage, using the position of historic sailing ships in Victoria as a case study. It contends that while heritage protection will inevitably continue to be influenced by the concepts of property and property rights at least in the near future, the protection of movable cultural heritage in Victoria and Australia can be markedly improved through a combination of legal and non-legal measures aimed at increasing recognition and acceptance by the government and the people that cultural heritage is more important than individual proprietary rights.