In the past 30 years, urban archaeology in Australia has moved from an occasional ad hoc addition to major development projects to playing a significant role in urban planning. Archaeological excavation is routine in Melbourne and Sydney, frequent in most other capital cities, and increasing in regional centers. The discipline is also maturing, with methods for the excavation of large-scale sites and processing of large-scale artefact assemblages now well established. Results are communicated to scholarly and community audiences through a variety of media including traditional academic conferences and journals, social media, and on-site interpretation. With success comes increased responsibility, however. Nineteenth-century sites are a finite resource, and with the construction boom, in many cities, they are rapidly disappearing. In that context, it is timely to consider whether excavation remains the most appropriate response to urban development pressures.