Indigenous rangers

Last updated

Indigenous ranger programs enable First Nations people across Australia to protect and manage their land, sea and culture through a combination of traditional knowledge with Western science and conservation practices.

Contents

Introduced by the Australian Government in 2007 as part of its Working on Country program, 127 ranger groups are employed in Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) and other parts of Australia. [1]

Background and history

Many of Australia's threatened species and ecosystems are located on IPAs and/or in remote parts of Australia. [2] The federal Working on Country program was established by the Howard government in 2007, [3] with the aim of creating meaningful employment, training and career pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in managing land and sea areas, as well as maintaining their cultures, and sharing their skills and knowledge with others. In turn, this would generate jobs in the environmental, biosecurity, heritage and other sectors. [4]

As of 2023 the scheme had created more than 1900 full-time, part-time and casual jobs for Indigenous people across the country, across 127 ranger groups. [5]

These groups are supported by Country Needs People, an alliance of more than 40 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and as of 2018 more than 95,000 individuals, campaigning for the growth and security of Indigenous ranger jobs and Indigenous Protected Areas. [6]

Funding

The Australian Government, has been funding Indigenous ranger groups since 2007. By 2018 the government was committing A$250 million until 2021, supporting 118 ranger groups. [3] There had been significant advocacy for the increased annual funding for both Indigenous ranger and Indigenous Protected Area programs, the establishment of a long-term target of 5,000 ranger positions nationally, and extension of contract lengths to at least ten years for greater stability. [7] This led to a funding increase of A$359 million, a total of $1.3 billion from 2021 to 2028 to double the number of Indigenous rangers by 2030 from 1,900 to 3,800 by 2030. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

Reconciliation Australia is a non-government, not-for-profit foundation established in January 2001 to promote a continuing national focus for reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. It was established by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, which was established to create a framework for furthering a government policy of reconciliation in Australia.

The Adnyamathanha are a contemporarily formed grouping of several distinct Aboriginal Australian peoples of the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. The ethnonym Adnyamathanha was an alternative name for the Wailpi but the contemporary grouping also includes the Guyani, Jadliaura, Pilatapa and sometimes the Barngarla peoples. The origin of the name is in the words "adnya" ("rock") and "matha".

Deen Maar Indigenous Protected Area is an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) located in south-west Victoria, Australia, on land bounded by the Eumeralla River and Bass Strait. The nearest town is Yambuk.

An outstation, homeland or homeland community is a very small, often remote, permanent community of Aboriginal Australian people connected by kinship, on land that often, but not always, has social, cultural or economic significance to them, as traditional land. The outstation movement or homeland movement refers to the voluntary relocation of Aboriginal people from towns to these locations.

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) is an Australian Government public service central department of state with broad ranging responsibilities, primary of which is for intergovernmental and whole of government policy coordination and assisting the prime minister of Australia in managing the Cabinet of Australia. The PM&C was established in 1971 and traces its origins back to the Prime Minister's Department established in 1911.

Nepabunna, also spelt Nipapanha, is a small community in the northern Flinders Ranges in north-eastern South Australia, about 600 kilometres (370 mi) north of Adelaide. It is located just west of the Gammon Ranges, and the traditional owners are the Adnyamathanha people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Indigenous Television</span> Australian television channel

National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week NITV News Update, with programming including other news and current affairs programmes, sports coverage, entertainment for children and adults, films and documentaries covering a range of topics. Its primary audience is Indigenous Australians, but many non-Indigenous people tune in to learn more about the history of and issues affecting the country's First Nations peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous Protected Area</span> Area of land or sea in Australia managed by traditional owners

An Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) is a class of protected area used in Australia; each is formed by voluntary agreement with Indigenous Australians, and declared by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander representative organisations. Each is formally recognised by the Australian Government as being part of its National Reserve System. The areas may comprise land and sea, and are managed by Indigenous groups for the conservation of biodiversity. Managing IPAs also helps to protect the cultural values of their country for future generations, and has benefits for Indigenous health, education, economic and social cohesion.

Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians who occupied their particular region before the arrival of European settlers. They have historically advocated for recognition of traditional land rights, and also for the rights of Indigenous people in other areas such as equal wages and adequate housing. Land councils are self-supporting, and not funded by state or federal taxes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama</span> Local government area in Queensland, Australia

The Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama is a special local government area which is located on western Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It is managed under a Deed of Grant in Trust under the Local Government Act 2004.

Indigenous land rights in Australia, also known as Aboriginal land rights in Australia, are the rights and interests in land of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia; the term may also include the struggle for those rights. Connection to the land and waters is vital in Australian Aboriginal culture and to that of Torres Strait Islander people, and there has been a long battle to gain legal and moral recognition of ownership of the lands and waters occupied by the many peoples prior to colonisation of Australia starting in 1788, and the annexation of the Torres Strait Islands by the colony of Queensland in the 1870s.

The Closing the Gap framework is a strategy by the Commonwealth and state and territory governments of Australia that aims to reduce disparity between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians on key health, education and economic opportunity targets. The strategy was launched in 2008 in response to the Close the Gap social justice movement, and revised in 2020 with additional targets and a refreshed strategy.

Pat Turner is an Aboriginal Australian of Gudanji-Arrernte heritage who has worked as a civil administrator for policies which guarantee the right to self-determination for Indigenous people. She was awarded the Order of Australia in 1990 for her service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Indigenous Australians Agency</span> Federal Indigenous affairs agency in Australia

The National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) is an Australian Public Service agency of the Australian Government. It is responsible for whole-of-government coordination of policy development, program design, and service delivery for Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people, who are grouped under the term Indigenous Australians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous Voice to Parliament</span> Proposed advisory body in Australia

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, also known as the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, the First Nations Voice or simply the Voice, was a proposed Australian federal advisory body to comprise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, to represent the views of Indigenous communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Budj Bim heritage areas</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Victoria, Australia

Budj Bim heritage areas includes several protected areas in Victoria, Australia, the largest two being Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape and the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape. Within the latter, there are three Indigenous Protected Areas: the Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Area, Kurtonitj Indigenous Protected Area, and the Lake Condah Indigenous Protected Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reconciliation in Australia</span> Movement to improve relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians

Reconciliation in Australia is a process which officially began in 1991, focused on the improvement of relations between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia and the rest of the population. The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR), created by the government for a term of ten years, laid the foundations for the process, and created the peak body for implementation of reconciliation as a government policy, Reconciliation Australia, in 2001.

Constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians refers to various proposals for changes to the Australian Constitution to recognise Indigenous Australians in the document. Various proposals have been suggested to symbolically recognise the special place Indigenous Australians have as the first peoples of Australia, along with substantial changes, such as prohibitions on racial discrimination, the protection of languages and the addition of new institutions. In 2017, the Uluru Statement from the Heart was released by Indigenous leaders, which called for the establishment of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament as their preferred form of recognition. When submitted to a national referendum in 2023 by the Albanese government, the proposal was heavily defeated.

References

  1. ↑ Cabinet, Prime Minister and (18 March 2016). "Indigenous Rangers Program". National Indigenous Australians Agency. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  2. ↑ Preece, Noel D. (8 May 2019). "Indigenous rangers don't receive the funding they deserve – here's why". The Conversation. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  3. 1 2 Davidson, Helen (27 April 2018). "Indigenous rangers to receive $250m in funding for jobs until 2021". the Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  4. ↑ Cabinet, Prime Minister and (18 March 2016). "Indigenous Rangers Program". National Indigenous Australians Agency. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  5. ↑ "Working on Country - National Indigenous Australians Agency". Indigenous Rangers. 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  6. ↑ "Who's involved". Country Needs People. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "Indigenous Protected Areas and Indigenous Rangers: Protecting nature,creating jobs,transforming lives" (PDF). 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2020. The Pew Charitable Trusts 2019 Budget Submission: Securing Australia's Outback Environment - Supporting Indigenous Jobs
  8. ↑ "Doubling indigenous rangers to help close gap on jobs". Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.