Abstract: Heritage management systems confront increasing challenges in facilitating financial aid for conservation of public and private urban heritage resources. Forty years ago, in 1973, on a UNESCO Mission to Australia from the UK, conservation architect Ian Grant wrote that heritage conservation requires four key things: public support, legal backing, educated professionals and a range of financial measures and incentives. Forty years on, the incentives for owners of listed sites through local, state and federal government frameworks remain limited. The ideological shift from the projected largesse of the Hope Report (1974) to the neoliberalism of the Productivity Commission Report (2006) could not be starker. This paper explores the effectiveness of current policy settings for economic assistance with special reference to the local government level in NSW. It draws from interviews with key policy makers, heritage practitioners, town planners and architects on their attitudes to and experiences with current policy initiatives in addressing the needs originally identified by Grant. Focusing on privately owned heritage, it delves into the economic challenges facing the conservation of Australian cities and the wider search for sustainable funding mechanisms and policy incentives