AMSA recognises the importance of promoting community awareness of its heritage places and their Commonwealth heritage values. AMSA strives to achieve successful promotion by:

• providing Tourist Access Licences
• promoting heritage events via AMSA’s social media channels
• providing on-site interpretation signage
• providing historic artefacts for display at various museums across Australia
• updating AMSA’s website with relevant information on its heritage places

Any installations of permanent/semi-permanent displays (such as interpretative materials) are subject to consultation with all relevant stakeholders, and assessment for any possible impact to heritage values.

14.1 Tourism ventures

AMSA recognises the importance of tourism to local communities, and the potential for tourism to create employment and economic activity in regional areas.

AMSA currently has 16 of its heritage sites open to the public and they receive a high intake of visitors in a typical year. See Table 5 for details of the sites that are open to visitors.

Upon request, Tourist Access Licences can be provided to a site owner, and there is then opportunity for the creation of a sub-licence for a third-party organisation. All existing Tourist Access Licence agreements detail the licensees’ obligations for the site.

AMSA also supports local events held at its heritage sites and permits external site access for events such as projection/light shows, and anniversary celebrations.

All sites considered for tourism ventures must be assessed for their suitability and safety before the provision of a Tourist Access Licence, or approval for local events on-site.

AMSA seeks to facilitate tourism ventures upon request by:

• engaging with interested site owners to establish a Tourist Access Licence
• investigating the tourism potential and safety of a site
• assessing proposals for the facilitation of local events onsite
• providing access to site for tourism-related inspections and events (where appropriate)
• engaging with site owners to establish on-site interpretationcollection

14.2 Artefact collection

AMSA supports regional museums and lighthouse sites by lending around 800 individual artefacts from the AMSA collection – many of these are permanent loans. AMSA also provides advice about conservation and display of these artefacts. AMSA staff may audit borrowing institutions to ensure these artefacts

are well cared for. In cases where, for operational reasons, significant lighthouse equipment becomes redundant and cannot be kept in place, artefacts may be offered to local museums. Here they can be displayed in a local context.

Table 6 shows the locations where significant AMSA artefacts on loan are currently located.