A West Australian traditional custodian has filed a complaint with the world’s peak cultural and heritage body over the federal government’s conduct during the process of obtaining World Heritage listing for a region home to sacred Pilbara rock art.
Lawyers for Raelene Cooper wrote to UNESCO this week, ahead of the first World Heritage Committee summit since Murujuga – the land encompassing the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago and home to rock art that is tens of thousands of years old – was granted World Heritage status last year.
The complaint raised concerns about the Australian government’s “representations made before and during, and actions prior to and following, the July 2025 World Heritage Committee Meeting”, as well as an alleged ongoing failure to protect the site from nearby industrial threats despite its listing.
“The issues raised demonstrate breaches of international obligations under the World Heritage Convention and international customary norms,” the complaint claims, while Cooper said she had instructed her legal team to prepare another complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee.
“This submission puts UNESCO and the Albanese government on notice that there are serious problems with management of the Murujuga cultural landscape and that if the government continues to fail its World Heritage and human rights obligations there will be more to come,” Cooper said.
Cooper has long been critical of the government’s handling of Murujuga’s World Heritage listing, and how it sought to protect the region while also allowing for increased industrial activity on the Burrup Peninsula.
The peninsula and Dampier Archipelago, west of Karratha in WA’s Pilbara, is home to several major resources operations, most notably Woodside’s North West Shelf Venture and Burrup Hub operations.
Concerns about the impact of industrial emissions on the ancient petroglyphs etched into the rocks on the peninsula have repeatedly been raised as part of pushback on further industrialisation of the area.
After Murujuga was granted World Heritage Listing in July 2025, Cooper claimed her Save Our Songlines delegation was silenced and intimidated by UNESCO, and that staff from the body had blocked her group from entering the chamber floor on the day of the vote in Paris.
One of the central claims to her complaint filed this week is the allegation that the government breached its international obligations under the World Heritage Convention when Cooper’s application for protection of the area under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act was delayed for three years.
The complaint claimed that, during that time, “parts of the Murujuga landscape were irreversibly destroyed”.
The complaint also takes aim at federal Environment Minister Murray Watt’s approval of the extension of Woodside’s North West Shelf project to 2070, claiming Watt knew a World Heritage listing would not provide protections for Murujuga with respect to the project.
It also claims the legislative framework cited by the minister at the July 2025 meeting where he pushed for a World Heritage listing for Murujuga – the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act – “undermines the objectives of the World Heritage Convention”.
“It is absolutely sickening that despite Murujuga now being a UNESCO World Heritage site, the minister allows companies like Woodside to continue desecrating the Murujuga rock art so that these multinational companies can make a quick buck selling more gas overseas,” Cooper said.
“Australia’s first annual update to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is due in December, and we will be seeking support of other state parties to the World Heritage Committee to progress our complaint at that time.”
A federal government spokesperson said the government was proud to have supported the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation in their pursuit of a World Heritage Listing.
“That listing provides global recognition of Murujuga’s Outstanding Universal Value and the enduring cultural connection of Traditional Owners to the landscape,” they said.
“Murujuga is only the second property in Australia recognised on the World Heritage List solely for its First Nations cultural heritage.
“We will continue to work with the WA Government and MAC to ensure the site is protected into the future.”
