City of Onkaparinga is carrying out urgent works at the Sellicks Beach cliff-top bike jumps site near Seascape View.
Council says it has a legal responsibility to protect the area under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988.
It also acknowledges the tracks and jumps there have been used for more than 30 years, while Councillor Lauren Jew has publicly said the site has been registered since 1988.
That is not a defence.
That is the scandal.
Council has known since 1988 that this was a significant and protected site, yet only now is acting as though its obligations required decisive protection.
For more than 30 years, kids have grown up riding there. Families have come to see it as a normal part of local life and local connection to that stretch of land. Those habits, expectations and attachments were allowed to form and harden over decades.
So now, when Council moves in with boulders and urgent works, Aboriginal heritage is cast as the disruption.
But it is not the disruption.
The disruption is a council finally acting on obligations it failed to meet for decades.
This is not just a site issue. It is a failure of obligations.
Council’s own page says it has a legislative responsibility to protect cultural heritage pursuant to the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988.
Under section 23, intentionally or recklessly damaging, disturbing or interfering with an Aboriginal site, object or remains without authorisation can attract penalties of up to $2 million for a body corporate, and up to $250,000 or 2 years’ imprisonment, or both, for an individual.
Leaving the site exposed for decades is not just an administrative failure. It is a reckless failure to carry out obligations Council had since 1988 — nearly 40 years ago — and to protect Kaurna heritage as the law required.
It tells Traditional Owners and elders that protection can wait. Respect can wait. Even a place of known cultural significance can be left vulnerable while use continues and damage becomes normal.
Councillors should not be let off the hook by talking only about remediation and a replacement riding space.
That is the easy part.
The harder question is what they are doing about the deeper failure that allowed this to happen at all.
Council had obligations to protect this site. Councillors should now be asking what failed, why this was allowed to continue for so long, and what must change immediately to ensure it never happens again.
Council leads by example.
And the example it set here was damning.
A known and legally protected cultural heritage site was left vulnerable for decades.
Council’s inaction helped normalise ongoing use and degradation, instead of showing the community that the site’s significance required protection.
That is not leadership.
It is a disgraceful and reckless failure of duty — nearly 40 years of institutional failure, disrespect, and profound disregard for Traditional Owners.
There will be a public meeting at the site on Monday at 4pm. We will update the community on the outcome.
