TV mounting in heritage homes

Who decides what

• Tasmanian Heritage Council. If your property is on the Tasmanian Heritage Register, the planning authority refers applications to the Council.
• Your local council. Hobart, Clarence, Glenorchy and Kingborough each administer their own planning scheme, including heritage precincts that are separate from the state register. A Council approval does not remove the council check, and vice versa.
• Heritage Tasmania. Provides free advice through a heritage advisor and publishes works guidelines listing what may be exempt.

Minor works and exemptions

The Heritage Council can issue a minor works approval, and the works guidelines list categories of work that may be exempt from full assessment. Internal work that does not affect significant fabric is the kind of thing that tends to fall into this space.

The important caveat: a minor works approval does not automatically satisfy your local planning scheme. Both need checking, which is why the free advisor call is worth making before you lodge anything.

What this means in practice

Three broad cases, in ascending order of caution.

1. Modern internal wall inside a listed house

Common in properties extended or reconfigured since the 1970s. Plasterboard on a modern frame, no original fabric involved. This is normally a standard installation and we treat it as one.

2. Original lath and plaster on original framing

The most common case in Battery Point and West Hobart. The lining is original but not usually the significant element. Fixings must reach the hardwood stud behind, and the real risk is cosmetic damage to plaster that is expensive to match rather than a heritage breach. Locating framing in these walls is the whole job.

3. Colonial sandstone or significant original fabric

Battery Point, Salamanca, the Liverpool Street heights and older Sandy Bay. This is where we stop and talk before we drill. Hobart sandstone varies in hardness within a single wall, weathered faces behave differently from sound ones, and a misplaced hole is permanent.

Alternatives worth considering first

In a heritage room the best answer is often not to drill the significant wall at all.

• Mount on an adjacent modern wall. Frequently gives a better viewing angle anyway.
• A floor-standing stand. No fixings, fully reversible, and the better designs suit a period room.
• Fix into mortar joints rather than stone faces. Where masonry fixing is unavoidable, a joint can be repointed later; a hole in a stone face cannot be undone.
• A cabinet-top position with cable management, avoiding the wall entirely.

How we work on listed properties

1. We look first. Heritage properties are never a phone quote.
2. We identify what the wall actually is and whether the fabric is likely to be significant.
3. We tell you if you should call the advisor before we do anything. That call is free and it protects both of us.
4. We choose the least invasive fixing that will safely hold, and prefer reversible where reversible is realistic.
5. We decline the job if it should not be done. That happens occasionally and we would rather it did.

Where these properties are

Battery Point and Salamanca carry the densest concentration of colonial stock. West Hobart and North Hobart have extensive Victorian and Federation housing, much of it inside heritage precincts, and North Hobart has its own detailed heritage area assessment. Older Sandy Bay and South Hobart hold significant stock as well.

If you are unsure whether your place is listed, your council can tell you, and the state register is publicly searchable.

Related reading

• Every Hobart wall type, including sandstone and lath and plaster
• Mounting above a fireplace or wood heater
• Why heritage and sandstone jobs are quoted on site

Reviewed: August 2026