In the 1970s, the Australian Commonwealth Government and three states, Victoria (1974), New South Wales (1977) and South Australia (1978), passed legislation to protect the built heritage within their jurisdictions. The legislation was primarily a response to two factors: a large number of public protests in the 1970s against the demolition of historic buildings in all Australian states, and the influence of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, which the Whitlam Government (1972–75) embraced enthusiastically. The other states, with governments that development interests influenced more, were slow to follow the federal lead.

Modernist structures were replacing nineteenth century buildings in the post-World War Two economic boom, and residents began to resist the rapid change to the character of their capital cities. Public protests proliferated through the 1970s, when Australia governments began to focus on major building projects to combat the worst recession since the Great Depression. In the 1980s, freely available credit encouraged speculation in new buildings. Historic buildings were lost on an unprecedented scale as economic imperatives overrode the public demand for heritage protection, and the spirit of state heritage legislation was perhaps more violated than any other legislation.

The 1972 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the World Heritage Convention) prompted legal protection for Australia's built heritage at the national level. Australia and New Zealand were relative latecomers among western countries to safeguard their heritage.