The Aboriginal Sites Decision Support Tool (ASDST) has launched new data, version 7.5, which is now available via the SEED portal.
The ASDST is a context setting dataset, supporting planners, heritage professionals and impact assessors expand on Aboriginal Heritage information. The tool extends data from the Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System (AHIMS) by providing contextual mapping data about the likelihood of Aboriginal site features across the landscape.
The ASDST was developed in 2012 by the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), the tool is an integrated suite of spatial GIS layers that house pre1750 (original) models, current models, combined accumulated impacts, combined model reliability and combined survey priority. Within these models are specific layers that showcase the predicted likelihood of Aboriginal Heritage Sites, such as stone artefacts, rock art, burials, western mounds and shell, grinding grooves, hearths, coastal middens, stone quarries and scarred tress.
Current ASDST models are modifications of pre1750 data that reflect the likelihood of site features occurring in the present-day landscape. Further, the ASDST has been designed as a landscape continuous tool, unlike the point-based data in AHIMS, which is site-specific. Broadening the lens and capturing a wider view of Aboriginal Heritage Sites is instrumental in providing a regional context to the impact bushfires, climate change and urban expansion have on Aboriginal heritage.
The tool’s capability to illustrate change on a spatial and temporal scale serves as an important guide for decision makers and connects to Aboriginal Cultural Heritage reforms. Additional information about the ASDST and its historical context can be found on EES webpage.