Women hold close to half of available casual Indigenous ranger positions

We’ve done a lot, but we could do so much more with dedicated IPA and Ranger funding, we could create more jobs, manage more country and create more tourism employment opportunities.

It’s really important to remember we have active and dynamic people out bush and people are looking for opportunities... It’s that simple and we need more of it.

We have big plans for our country and we know that many more of us can do this Ranger work if we are given the opportunity.

Just 0.2% of spending on Indigenous services by Australian governments is on Indigenous rangers and Indigenous Protected Area programs

IPAs and Indigenous ranger programs are the manifestation of a vision of our Elders to get young people back on country. They knew that this was the way to give our youth strength and pride.

Being able to work here has made my life. Coming back to my grass roots, I am proud of what I have done.

In the Warddeken IPA we have created a space for younger generations to engage in meaningful work, to feel valued and to connect with their cultural heritage. The effects of this will be felt through generations.

Land Management projects are perhaps the only projects than can holistically deliver social, economic and educational advancement in remote communities as they are intrinsically aligned with the cultural obligations and aspirations of Traditional Owners.

Twenty years ago the Arnhem Land Plateau was burning late; burning everything to a crisp every year. The work of the rangers has reintroduced good fire management.

More than 67 million hectares are managed by traditional owners through Indigenous Protected Areas - that's an area more than twice the size of the state of Victoria.

Our rangers are trusted by the community. After the recent cyclone, the rangers were among the first on the ground helping with the cleanup before the emergency people arrived.  

Non-Indigenous people are learning from us, and our rangers are learning new land management techniques from them. 

It is a big privilege to be working here. I was born and bred here; it means a lot to put back into the community.
That’s what makes us who we are… 

You can come here unskilled and they’ve cut and polished you by the time you’ve finished—it opens so many doors.

We have six part time rangers managing land nearly the size of Tasmania

We are using the IPA to create tourism opportunities, to protect our country, to work with mining companies to get contracts.  

Rangers and ranger groups undertake comprehensive training - last year 79 ranger groups undertook accredited training

When people go out on-country they say, “I’m here, I know who I am and I know where I come from, and I’m going to take charge of my life,” and in doing so, they’re dealing with the dysfunctional aspects of their lives and their families’ lives. So you’re dealing with the social issues that are going on in town – but you’re dealing with them out on-country – through a social, cultural and spiritual healing process.

Every single kid in my class wants to be a ranger.

Getting out on-country means people know who they are, they know where they come from.

When you look at what’s going on out on-country now – the ranger program and the back to country trips – you couldn’t get it any better than that. Because the mob are not only back on-country, which is very important to us, but they’ve been given a sense of leadership & ownership.

I want to be a Ranger and I've got four other blokes in town who would sign up today if we had the money. At the moment, those guys are just on Centrelink.

I run mini-ranger classes with the young kids. They make their own ranger t-shirts and mimic what the rangers do, picking up samples.