Cultural land management research and governance in south-east Australia

This project extends the 2021 Cultural land management in south-east Australia project, which scoped a new Indigenous-led approach to the development of research priorities and projects relating to cultural land management. This research will provide new insights into the views of Indigenous land and fire managers and others regarding the present and desired future state of engagements between Indigenous land and fire managers and state, territory and local government agencies.

This project will provide new insights into strengthening collaborative governance and research involving Indigenous land and fire managers and state, territory and local government agencies, supporting further opportunities for leverage in public land management activities with advice about appropriate principles, protocols, processes and governance structures. 

The central research questions are:

• What are the existing and potential points within the governance structures of relevant institutions and land management agencies for Indigenous voice and representation to be included equitably and effectively?
• What are appropriate research principles, protocols and processes capable of guiding more ethical and collaborative cultural land management research in the future?

The project created a resource, Principles and protocols for cultural land management governance and research, that summarises a review of important collaborative principles, processes, and protocols. A companion guide was also developed to support individuals and organisations in implementing them. These resources serve only as a starting point for initiating local and in-depth conversations.

Project Steering Group:

• Matthew Shanks (Taungurung Land and Waters Council)
• Vikki Parsley (Bush Heritage)
• Jack Pascoe (Conservation Ecology Centre)
• Daniel Miller (Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation)
• Teagan Goolmeer (University of Melbourne).