Looking After Country Together
Looking After Country Together is a whole-of-government strategic policy framework aimed at improving Indigenous participation in caring for country. The framework’s vision is: ‘by 2011 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders will have more opportunities to access and manage their traditional land and sea country, in partnership with governments and other stakeholders’.
The Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) is the lead agency and is responsible for implementing the strategy with other government agencies and stakeholders.
Looking After Country Together is an initiative under Partnerships Queensland: Future directions framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy in Queensland 2005–10.
The strategy is linked to the goals of achieving strong families, strong cultures, and skilled and prosperous people, which contributes to the Queensland Government’s Toward Q2: Tomorrow's Queensland plan to create a ‘green’ and ‘fair’ Queensland.
Objectives
Looking After Country Together has three objectives:
- increased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander access to traditional land and sea country
- stronger Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement in the management of traditional land and sea country
- stronger Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement in and influence on broader natural resource planning and policy development.
The strategy recognises that past dislocation from land and sea country has contributed to Indigenous social, economic and cultural disadvantage. It is expected that greater access to, and management of, traditional land and sea country will improve the overall wellbeing of Indigenous Queenslanders, and achieve better natural resource management outcomes.
Implementation and review
Looking After Country Together will deliver positive outcomes by:
- developing coordination across government agencies
- stimulating policy development
- improving service delivery to Indigenous Queenslanders
- building the capacity of government agencies and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations
- developing effective performance measurement tools.
Key deliverables include developing policy to:
- improve government engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on natural resource management
- build Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander landholders’ capacity for effective natural resource management
- increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in natural resource management
- align Queensland and Australian Government policies to increase efficiency in the delivery of services to Indigenous Queenslanders.
An independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the strategy will be conducted at the completion of the strategy.
Participating agencies
The following Queensland Government agencies are committed to the Looking After Country Together strategy:
- Department of Environment and Resource Management—lead agency
- Department of the Premier and Cabinet
- Department of Employment Economic Development and Innovation
- Department of Education and Training
- Queensland Health
- Department of Transport and Main Roads
- Department of Infrastructure and Planning
- Department of Communities.
Positive initiatives
Looking After Country Together reports on a range of existing initiatives from participating agencies, which contribute to the goals of the strategy, including:
- Wild Rivers Rangers Program
- Supporting Animal Management in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Local Governments Initiative
- Alliance Model
- Land Trust Capacity Building Program
- Vegetation management pilot projects
- Pilot training and employment programs.
More information
- Fact sheet: Looking After Country Together (PDF, 105K)*
For further information on Looking After Country Together, contact the Indigenous Natural Resource Management Policy Unit on 1800 500 037 or by post:
Indigenous Natural Resource Management Policy Unit
Department of Environment and Resource Management
Locked Bag 40, Coorparoo DC
QLD 4151
Useful links:
* Requires Acrobat Reader
Last updated: 15 September 2009