Country rules · Australia · artifacts
Australia: artifacts
Export of Australian archaeological and Aboriginal objects is controlled by permit; state acts protect Aboriginal objects in situ.
Australia allows private ownership but controls export. Export of Australian archaeological and Aboriginal objects is controlled by permit; state acts protect Aboriginal objects in situ. Governing law: Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986; state Aboriginal heritage acts (1987). Stratum asks for the export paperwork reference before the piece is listed.
US courts have applied foreign patrimony laws through the National Stolen Property Act (United States v. McClain, 1977; United States v. Schultz, 2003): an object exported after a clear vesting law can be stolen property in the United States even when no US import restriction existed at the time. The date of the earliest document that places an object outside Australia is therefore the single most valuable fact on its record.
Sources
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Australia: artifacts" (Law & ethics). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-20. https://stratum.black/study/law/archaeology-australia. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-archaeology-australia,
title = {Australia: artifacts},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/law/archaeology-australia}},
year = {2026},
note = {Law & ethics article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-20; sources: stratum. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.