Official emblem of the World Heritage Convention

The full title of the World Heritage Convention is the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

The Convention is an international agreement adopted in 1972 by the Member States of the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The aim of the Convention is to ensure the proper identification, protection, conservation and presentation of cultural and natural heritage with 'outstanding universal value to all mankind'.

The Convention established a World Heritage List, which includes properties exhibiting cultural and/or natural heritage of ‘outstanding universal value’ and meeting at least one of a set of World Heritage criteria.

More information about the World Heritage Convention can be found on the UNESCO website and World Heritage pages of the Department of Environment and Heritage.

Other World Heritage Properties

There are 15 other Australian sites on the World Heritage List, ranging from Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, to the Tasmanian Wilderness and Macquarie Island - Australia's other subantarctic island. Information about these other World Heritage sites can be found on World Heritage pages of the Department of the Environment and Heritage website.

There are over 780 sites on the World Heritage List. These include Dinosaur Provincial Park in Canada, the Banks of the Seine in France, the Acropolis in Athens, the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands, and many other sites of outstanding cultural and or natural significance to all the people of the world. More information on other World Heritage sites can be found on the word heritage pages of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) website,