Funding Opportunity Aboriginal Ranger Program Funding Round 9 - Western Australia

The Western Australian Government has opened Round 9 of the Aboriginal Ranger Program (ARP), marking a major new phase in long-term investment in Aboriginal-led land and sea management across regional Western Australia.

In this round, up to $62 million is available through three complementary funding streams:

• Sustain Fund – at least $50 million to support the continuation and strengthening of existing ranger programs

• Activate Fund – up to $10 million to help establish or expand ranger teams and activities

• Prepare Fund – up to $2 million to support organisations to get “grant-ready” for future investment

Together, these funds are designed to recognise the growing maturity of Aboriginal ranger programs while still supporting emerging organisations and new aspirations on Country.

Importantly, Round 9 is funded entirely through Royalties for Regions, which means funding is limited to activities occurring outside the Perth metropolitan region. Aboriginal organisations based in Perth are encouraged to register their interest separately to inform future program design.

If you are considering applying and want support with program logic, outcomes frameworks, MERI design or grant readiness, now is the time to start those conversations.If you are considering applying and want support with program logic, outcomes frameworks, MERI design or grant readiness, now is the time to start those conversations.

Exciting new funding opportunity for Indigenous Protected Areas

A new funding round has just opened to support Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) consultation projects across Australia.

Released through the Australian Bushland Program, this grant opportunity is designed to support Traditional Owners to explore whether declaring an IPA on their Country is the right pathway for them. The funding strategically targets currently under-represented areas of the National Reserve System, with a strong focus on biodiversity and ecosystem conservation priorities.

Up to $13 million is available nationally to support a minimum of eight new IPA consultation projects over a two-year period (2026–2028). Successful projects will be supported to undertake community-led consultation, planning, governance development and the preparation of IPA management and MERI frameworks, enabling informed decision-making by Traditional Owners.

Importantly, this funding supports Indigenous groups to determine, by 2028, whether they wish to formally dedicate an IPA on their Country — recognising that this is a voluntary, culturally led decision-making process.

If you are working with, or are part of, an Indigenous organisation interested in exploring an IPA, this is a significant opportunity worth close consideration.

If you’d like to discuss what this opportunity could look like in practice — or how to prepare for an IPA consultation process — feel free to get in touch.

Looking back on an exciting and challenging 2024

2024 was another big year collaborating with numerous Indigenous organisations to support a range of different projects. Highlights include:

• Completing one Healthy Country Planning project from start to finish and initiating another planning project with an Indigenous community.

• Facilitating the full-term review of an Indigenous Protected Area Plan of Management.

• Supporting the development of a regional MERI project involving multiple Indigenous Ranger Groups and creating several stand-alone MERI frameworks.

• Assisting an Indigenous organisation with strategic planning.

• Helping numerous Indigenous communities prepare grant submissions to secure funding for land management initiatives.

• Leading workshops to inform cultural and environmental impact assessment frameworks for Indigenous communities.

I feel privileged to work with so many incredible communities, strong Indigenous leaders, and innovative thinkers. Thank you for the opportunities in 2024! I’m looking forward to another year of collaboration, where together, we push boundaries for Indigenous People and Local Communities around the world.

New publication: Incorporating uncertainty in indigenous sea country monitoring with bayesian statistics: Towards more informed decision making

The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) have been engaged with the Bardi Jawi Rangers for many years and in this project explored how Bayesian statistics can help to incorporate uncertainty into viability rankings and indicators ratings of their Healthy Country Plan.

You can download the open source article in the Ambio magazine HERE. Many thanks to Katherine Cure, Jim Underwood and the Bardi Jawi Rangers to be part of this exciting publication.

New publication: Integrating Social Value in Landscape Planning: Experiences from Working with Indigenous Communities in Australia

Together with David Hinchley, Damien Parriman, Mike Heiner and James Fitzsimons we wrote a book-chapter titled “Integrating Social Value in Landscape Planning: Experiences from Working with Indigenous Communities in Australia” for the publication Social Value, Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship: Insights from Theory and Practice.

In this article we explore how Healthy Country Planning and Development by Design can assist Indigenous Groups in Australia increasing the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in the land-use decision making process.