ACHM is a leading national cultural heritage management consultancy, delivering Aboriginal heritage assessments, archaeological services, cultural heritage management plans, and statutory approvals to manage heritage risk for infrastructure, resources, renewables, and development projects.
For over 25 years, ACHM has been a trusted partner in navigating the complexities of cultural heritage projects nationwide. We provide our clients with confidence, clarity and care, ensuring projects are completed on time and on budget while always respecting relationships and cultural values.
From major infrastructure and mining programs to local community‑driven cultural mapping initiatives, ACHM delivers tailored advice and innovative solutions that respond to the unique needs of each project. Our commitment to collaboration, quality and practical results ensures our clients achieve outcomes that are not only compliant, but meaningful, enduring and culturally responsible.
ACHM is a team of expert consultants who have delivered more than 5,000 projects across Australia.
Our services include:
Dr Shaun Canning – Managing Director and Principal Heritage Advisor
Shaun has over 25 years’ experience in cultural heritage management and has overseen the successful delivery of several thousand heritage projects across Australia. His career spans senior advisory, governance and delivery roles, with a strong focus on modernising heritage agreements, negotiating outcomes between proponents and Traditional Owners, and operating within complex contractual, statutory and regulatory frameworks. He holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Cultural Heritage Studies and Anthropology, a Bachelor of Applied Science (Hons) in Parks, Recreation and Heritage, and a PhD in Australian Indigenous Archaeology from La Trobe University. His doctoral research specialised in archaeological sensitivity modelling and cultural heritage management in Victoria.
Shaun has extensive experience in Indigenous and historic cultural heritage management across the resources, urban development, infrastructure and public land management sectors. This includes advising on agreement-making and agreement modernisation processes, advising on compliance and governance arrangements, and supporting informed decision‑making. He also has considerable experience in community consultation and tertiary education, regularly contributing as a guest lecturer, and continues to undertake ethnographic and archaeological fieldwork throughout Australia.
Shaun is an Expert Member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) International Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management (ICAHM) and an Adjunct Research Fellow with the Archaeology Program at La Trobe University. He is a Fellow of the Australian Anthropological Society (F.AAS), a full member of ICOMOS (M.ICOMOS), a full member of the Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists (M.AACAI), and a Certified Environmental Practitioner (CEnvP) through the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ).
Matt Chamberlain – General Manager and Principal Heritage Advisor
Matt has over 25 years of experience specialising in Victorian Indigenous archaeology and Aboriginal and historic cultural heritage management. He holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in History and Archaeology, with honours in Archaeology from La Trobe University, and is a full member of the Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc. (AACAI), the Australasian Society of Historical Archaeology (ASHA), and the Nepean Historical Society. He also has academic experience in planning and design, focusing on Australian architecture and Australian building materials analysis.
Matt’s experience includes roles at Aboriginal Victoria (now First Peoples – State Relations), Parks Victoria, and as heritage unit manager of Victoria’s busiest Registered Aboriginal Party, as well as running his own consultancy for over 15 years. He has worked on major historic heritage projects in Melbourne and regional centres across Victoria, including test excavations in the Little Lon precinct, substantial historical excavations in Lonsdale Street and King Street, and analysis of historic artefacts from Cohen Place in Melbourne CBD and Camp Street in Ballarat. He has completed nearly 100 joint historic and Aboriginal cultural heritage assessments with Terra Culture and CHM Archaeologists and Heritage Advisors, and more than 400 reports relating to Aboriginal cultural heritage assessment.
Kathleen Hislop – Operations Manager and Senior Heritage Advisor
Kathleen has over 15 years of experience specialising in Victorian cultural heritage management. She holds a Master of Archaeological Science (Advanced) specialising in zooarchaeology from the Australian National University, in addition to a Bachelor of Archaeology (Honours) from La Trobe University. She is a member of the Australasian Society of Historical Archaeology (ASHA), the International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) and the Archaeological & Anthropological Society of Victoria (AASV).
Kathleen has extensive experience in the supervision and management of a wide variety of heritage assessments in the private sector for both Indigenous and historic heritage involving all stages of report preparation, field surveys, testing and salvage programs, as well as Traditional Owner and stakeholder consultation, and presentation of company-specific heritage legislation training sessions. She has worked on many historic heritage excavations and surveys, in addition to specific artefact cataloguing projects, including: 28-32 Wellington Street, Port Albert (H8220-0018), Casselden Place/Little Lon Precinct (H7822-1209), Herrnhut Utopian Commune (H7322-0004), Viewbank Homestead (H1396), Zimmer Farm Complex (H7922-0288), Stamford Park Homestead Precinct (H7922-0461), Truganina Munitions Reserve Site (H7822-2276) and Robertson Farm Complex (H7822-0136).
Dr Frances Thiele – Senior Heritage Advisor
Frances has over 20 years of experience working as a professional historian and 4 years as a heritage advisor in Victoria. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with first class honours majoring in History from La Trobe University and a PhD in British History from the University of Adelaide. While completing her doctorate, she spent time in the UK as a visiting research scholar at the University of Cambridge and received the E W Benham prize from the University of Adelaide for her completed thesis. She is a full professional member of the Professional Historians Association (Vic & Tas) and a member of the Australasian Society of Historical Archaeology (ASHA).
She worked for 7 years as the Field Historian at the State Library of Victoria, assessing and acquiring collection material, and was the inaugural recipient of the Latrobe Society Fellowship for research on the Port Phillip Aboriginal Protectorate. She has high-level historical research and writing skills, and has published articles in peer-reviewed journals such as The La Trobe Journal, Provenance: The Journal of the Public Record Office and the Victorian Historical Journal. She has experience undertaking historic site surveys and preparing cultural heritage assessments, as well as site card preparation and historic impact statements in relation to permits and consents for state and local government heritage approval processes.
Ciana Scarff – Senior Heritage Advisor
Ciana Scarff has over 5 years of experience working as an archaeologist and heritage advisor in Victoria. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Ancient World Studies from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Professional Archaeology from La Trobe University. Her master’s thesis focused on the built heritage of Sydney Street, Kilmore, providing a consolidated database of information about every building originally constructed along Sydney Street. This information was used alongside an analysis of historical social perceptions of Kilmore to identify trends behind the decay and demolition of these buildings. Her thesis ultimately explored the wider implications of these trends for the future protection of Victoria’s built heritage. Ciana is also the winner or runner-up of several essay awards relating to historical research and curation, including the Tasmanian Premier’s 2015 Magna Carta Essay Award and the University of Melbourne’s 2019 International Museums and Collections Award.
She has successfully managed a wide variety of archaeological projects, including several complex, large-scale projects and excavations involving both Aboriginal and historic heritage. Projects she has managed include cultural heritage management plans, cultural heritage permits, historic consents and permits, archaeological site registrations and listings, local council heritage permits, and due diligence assessments.
Our staff includes archaeologists, historians and GIS specialists with memberships and affiliations with the following organisations:
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