Susan Marsden was State Historian, Community History Unit, History Trust of South Australia, when this essay was published in Community History (June 1992, pp. 6-9). An earlier version of this paper was given in 1990 at a seminar on ‘The Planning Review and Heritage Act Review - implications for the built heritage’, presented by the SA Environmental Law Association and the National Trust of SA. Some of the references to heritage agencies have been updated.The author thanks History SA for permission to reproduce this essay.