Burra Charter

The Burra Charter defines the basic principles and procedures to be followed in the conservation of Australian heritage places.

In 1979, the Australia ICOMOS charter for the conservation of places of cultural significance was adopted at a meeting at the historic mining town of Burra, South Australia. It was given the short title of The Burra Charter.

The Burra Charter accepted the philosophy and concepts of the Venice Charter, but wrote them in a form which would be practical and useful in Australia. The Charter was revised in 1999.

Definitions
The Burra Charter identifies three levels of repair for heritage structures. These are:
 * Preservation - Maintaining a structure in its existing state and preventing further deterioration.
 * Restoration - Returning a structure to a known earlier state by the repair of existing fabric without the introduction of new materials.
 * Reconstruction - Returning a structure to a known earlier state by the introduction of new material into any remaining fabric.