Round 9 of Western Australia's Aboriginal Ranger Program is now open, with $62.5 million in funding available to support new and established Aboriginal ranger groups across regional WA.
The WA government said on Friday it's Aboriginal Ranger Program "delivers on key priorities" by protecting and restoring WA's natural environments, "building safer and more inclusive communities", and creating on-Country jobs for Aboriginal people across regional and remote WA.
The latest round brings the state government's total investment in the Aboriginal Ranger Program to $172.5 million since 2017, supporting more than 1,400 paid ranger jobs caring for land and sea Country.
Round 9 funding is available through three streams: Sustain Fund - to support and sustain existing and established Aboriginal ranger groups; Activate Fund - for new ranger groups that have already carried out detailed planning, including through previous investment; and Prepare Fund - supporting new groups to undergo ranger-specific planning activities and prepare for new ranger programs.
The funding streams were developed following a review of previous rounds and "extensive engagement" with Traditional Owners and stakeholders to deliver greater impacts and meet aspirations for Country.
WA Minister for the Environment Matthew Swinbourn recently visited Winjan Aboriginal Corporation to see first-hand the positive impact of Indigenous rangers.
Winjan Aboriginal Corporation director Kallan Nannup said "I want Winjan to be in a place where all community come for employment or just any kind of help".
"This is what Winjan is. It's a community centre - it's for communities."
Member for Mandurah Rhys Williams said "here in Bindjareb Country, we've got 80,000 years of learning and history and stories to tell".
"One of the crucial things in reconciliation is that all of us have the opportunity to learn from and be immersed in those stories and those learnings. And so, this Aboriginal Ranger Program is just the perfect opportunity to continue that knowledge going forward, bring people together and, and to create opportunities for people," he said.
"We should be really proud here locally of this Aboriginal Ranger Program. And I'm really proud to be part of a team that supports it."
Mayor of Mandurah Amber Kearns said she is "super excited to see that there's going to be future funding for this because it really is important for our young people to understand the benefits of Country and caring for land".
Minister Swinbourn said "this is a $62.5 million investment into our Aboriginal Ranger Program on top of the investment that we've made since 2017".
"The Aboriginal Ranger Program's a really important program supporting on-Country work by Aboriginal people and delivers a great outcome for West Australia. Every dollar we invest, we get about $3 back again. So, it's a fantastic program. It helps to improve country, it connects Aboriginal people to their land, allows them to perform culture and to look after country as well," he said.
"Through this new round of funding, we're supporting three streams; for existing programs, for emerging programs and also for new programs as well. And this will allow further stability for Aboriginal ranger programs, but also create opportunities for new groups to come in to establish their programs and for us to be able to support them."
Eligible Aboriginal organisations have until Monday, 9 March to apply. More information is available online at dbca.wa.gov.au/ARP.
