Mining companies and other land users will face tougher penalties of up to $10 million for unauthorised damage of sacred sites under the draft Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Bill which has been released for consultation.

It comes amid continuing fallout from Rio Tinto's destruction of the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters in WA's Pilbara region earlier this year.

In a key feature of the draft laws, the Aboriginal affairs minister will have the power to issue stop work orders when new information emerges that identifies heritage significance or establishes greater significance than first thought.

Under the previous Section 18 approvals system, which will be scrapped, there was no capacity to stop a site from being disturbed once the government had granted approvals, even if new heritage information came to light.

A new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Council will also be established to facilitate agreements between traditional owners and land users.

It will be chaired by an Aboriginal person and will advise government on heritage issues while also appointing local representatives to broker agreements across the state.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt says the legislation will reset the relationship between traditional owners and land users and better align with native title laws.

He noted the existing regime was "grossly inadequate" to protect Aboriginal heritage in situations like Juukan, where Rio overlooked information about the sites' cultural significance and did not keep traditional owners fully informed.

"What that highlighted is the fact that the current regime doesn't allow for new information to come forward," he said on Wednesday.

"And even if it had, (there are) very limited options, almost no options for the minister of the day.

"Both of those will be corrected."

A new tiered approvals system will also be introduced, requiring land users to enter into a management plan with traditional owners if a medium to high level of disturbance is anticipated.

Such plans must prove that proponents have secured informed consent from traditional owners, including clearly explaining the risk of foreseeable harm to cultural heritage and the steps available to avoid or minimise that risk.

A decision on whether to grant approval will be at the minister's discretion only if the parties are unable to reach agreement.

"The process we've created with this bill ensures that this will be rare," Mr Wyatt said.

He said there would be a 12-month transition period but a rush of section 18 applications was not expected.

The government will hold briefings with industry groups and Aboriginal stakeholders in coming weeks, with public submissions open until October 9.

It's hoped the legislation will be introduced to parliament before the end of the year.

Australian Associated Press