Former Bruce Hall residents have called on Minister Frydenberg to make an emergency listing for heritage protection for Bruce Hall under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

In a letter to the minister, Rebecca Duncan said Bruce Hall met the criteria for listing on the Commonwealth Heritage List as a "rare example of mid-century architecture".

She said the ANU acknowledged in its own heritage assessment in 2012 that the hall should be nominated to the list and a heritage management plan prepared to guide the best practice conservation and management of the site.

"Neither was done, and both should be done immediately. Bruce Hall has many national heritage values, all of which are under threat of a significant adverse impact with the impending complete demolition by the ANU," Ms Duncan wrote.

In September the university announced the historic hall would be knocked down early next year amid fierce criticism from former residents, architects and heritage experts.

While the furniture, the finishings, the mascot and the Flugelman Sculpture would all be moved to the new residential towers that will replace Bruce Hall, heritage spokesman for the National Trust, Eric Martin, said the building itself had unassessed heritage value.

"The finishings and the Flugelman Sculpture are some of the heritage values but the building has other heritage values and how they may either be integrated with or affected by the development have not been adequately addressed," Mr Martin told Fairfax Media in September.

The ANU is considered a federal agency and thus governed by the EPBC Act, which states: "A Commonwealth agency must not take an action that has, will have or is likely to have an adverse impact on the Commonwealth heritage values of a Commonwealth Heritage place, unless (a) there is no feasible and prudent alternative to taking the action; and (b) all measures that can reasonably be taken to mitigate the impact of the action on those values are taken".

A spokeswoman from the minister's office confirmed they had received the request for emergency heritage listing and said: "The Department of the Environment and Energy is undertaking an assessment of the material provided and will prepare advice on the matter."

Member for Canberra, Gai Brodtmann, said she had a number of concerns about the impact of the redevelopment, particularly on the historic dining hall, and echoed calls for the minister to clarify the issue.

A spokesman for the ANU was unable to provide comment by deadline.