The Chinese Australian Cultural Heritage (CACH) project aims to locate and assess heritage sites, places and objects throughout Australia that are associated with, or of significance to Chinese Australians and to create a National Database of Chinese Australian Cultural Heritage.

The National Database was initially part of the National Thematic Survey of Sites of Chinese Australian History, an initiative in 1994 of the Museum of Chinese Australian History, Melbourne, and partly funded by National Estates Grants Program for one year. In 2000, the Australian Heritage Commission resumed responsibility for the project which became known as the Chinese Australian Cultural Heritage (CACH) Project.

On 13 February 2002, the first results of the Chinese Australian Cultural Heritage Project, Tracking the Dragon. A guide for finding and assessing Chinese Australian heritage places. Canberra: Australian Heritage Commission (2002) was launched in Canberra by Federal Minister for the Environment and Heritage, The Hon Dr David Kemp, MP.

On 14 January 2003, the responsibility for maintaining the National Database on Chinese Australian Heritage was transferred to the National Institute for Asia and the Pacific (NIAP) at the Australian National University by the Australian Heritage Commission.

The project is now in its state/territory phase. CACH Project Committees have been established in each state and territory, and these committees are responsible for sending verified and validated information to be included in the National Database. As such verified and validated data is received by NIAP it will be added to the National Database.

The CACH project in New South Wales (CACH-NSW) is supported by a NSW Heritage Project Grant for 2002-2004, and the data available in the National database has been verified and validated by CACH-NSW.