In Australia the contracting of archaeological projects is linked to the
development of heritage and related planning legislation in the States
and Territories.  Environmental impact assessment legislation, and
separate European and indigenous cultural and natural heritage
protection legislation was developed in the most populous states in the
mid 1970s, and then progressivly in all states.  Unlike the USA, these
laws cover all land, private and public, and place obligations on
owners, developers and the government itself to identify heritage places
and undertake mitigation action where necessary.  The vaste bulk of this
work is by contract.
 
A bibliography incorporating many of the unpublished reports from such
work is called HERA, developed by the Australian Heritage Commission,
and avilable on the web at www.ahc.gov.au.
 
Michael Pearson