McGowan Government’s Aboriginal Ranger Innovation Fund Program in Australia

Deadline: 9-Jun-23

The McGowan Government is inviting applications for the Aboriginal Ranger Program to fund one-off projects or pilot programs that explore innovative ways to maximise outcomes and benefits of Aboriginal ranger programs and to generate learnings that could contribute to the growth and sustainability of ranger programs across the State.

The program is led by Aboriginal people and administered by the Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

The Aboriginal Ranger Program sought to build on the existing work of Aboriginal ranger groups throughout the State, in recognition of the social, cultural and environmental benefits these programs were already producing.

Objectives

• The ARP Innovation Fund has been established to fund one-off projects or pilot programs that explore innovative ways to maximise outcomes and benefits of Aboriginal ranger programs and to generate learnings that could contribute to the growth and sustainability of ranger programs across the State.
• The key objectives of the ARP Innovation Fund are to:
  • Enable opportunities to explore innovative ways to maximise outcomes and benefits of Aboriginal ranger programs;
  • Share learnings and factors contributing to success;
  • Build partnerships; and
  • Facilitate the leveraging of funds from other State Government agencies, industry, philanthropic groups and other partners
• The Innovation Fund is also intended to build on feedback received from Phase 1 of the ARP, specifically:
  • The need to attract more young people to ranger programs;
  • A lack of coordination with industry eg. mining, tourism;
  • The need for capacity building support with business development and establishing other revenue streams; and/or
  • A desire for career pathways and job progression.

Themes

• Protecting Country
  • The focus of this theme is to protect country. Examples of projects might include but are not limited to:
    • Novel approaches in environmental restoration involving salinity, sandalwood regeneration, protecting species or seed collection;
    • Using technology to better monitor landscape changes;
    • Fee-for-service activities for government and industry that deliver environmental and cultural outcomes; and/or
    • Carbon abatement in partnership with industry to provide economic returns to Aboriginal  communities and mitigate climate change.
• Empowerment
  • This theme seeks to promote economic development and long-term sustainability of ranger groups and building capacity and leadership. Examples of projects might include but are not limited to:
    • innovative projects which would provide sustainable income for ranger groups, e.g. exploring the commercial potential in bushfood, seafood, medicine, or related natural land and sea resources, Aboriginal tourism, facilitating tour guide training to enable ranger teams to broaden their future employment prospects to include tourism;
    • Novel ways to use ranger programs to support vulnerable members of the community, and build capacity to empower communities;
    • pre-employment opportunities for young people that provide training or skills development that establish work readiness and may encourage them into ranger roles; and/or  opportunities for existing rangers that support career progression.
• Collaboration
  • This theme is focussed on working together to develop skills and knowledge transfer between Aboriginal ranger groups; from Elders to rangers; and from other organisations to rangers. Examples of projects might include but are not limited to:
    • Novel projects or activities for rangers to provide opportunities to network and facilitate knowledge transfer from Elders or between ranger groups;
    • Opportunities to partner with tertiary institutions or Registered Training Organisations to develop and deliver culturally appropriate courses in any field;
    • Collaboration with other funding partners to achieve broader outcomes; and/or
    • Opportunities that bring new partnerships together to leverage and expand Aboriginal ranger programs.

Funding Information

• Up to $11 million is available for eligible Aboriginal organisations to submit applications that explore innovative ways of doing ranger business to maximise outcomes and benefits to Aboriginal ranger programs. Projects must align with at least one of the three themes: Empowerment; Protecting Country or Collaboration.

Eligibility Criteria

• Ineligible applicants are:
  • Non-Aboriginal organisations;
  • Government agencies and statutory bodies; or
  • Individuals seeking employment as a ranger, who are encouraged to participate through eligible Aboriginal organisations.
  • Ineligible applicants are encouraged to partner with eligible organisations to submit a funding application.
• Aboriginal organisations (those comprising and controlled by an Aboriginal community), including PBCs, NTRBs, Aboriginal bodies corporate may apply for funding under the ARP.
• The legal entity of the Aboriginal organisation (for example, whether it is a proprietary limited company, limited company, corporation or incorporated body) does not affect the eligibility of the organisation. The Aboriginal organisation must have the legal capacity to, among other things, enter into agreements or contracts, assume obligations, incur and pay depts, and to be held responsible for its actions.
• DBCA may request successful applicants verify their legal entity status before entering into a funding agreement.
• DBCA may request additional information to ensure organisations have the governance and financial structures in place to appropriately manage the amount of funding that they are offered.
• NTRBs may only apply where:
  • There is no determination of native title over the area and, if applicable, the NTRB has the support of any registered native title claim group over the area;
  • There is a determination that native title exists over the area and the NTRB has the support of the PBC; or
  • Native title has been determined to not exist.
• Eligible organisations are encouraged to submit joint applications with ineligible applicants to achieve regional outcomes or partner with other organisations to leverage ARP outcomes and expand the program.

Key Points to Consider

• Up to $11 million is available to fund special, one-off projects/pilot programs.
  • Projects need to be completed by June 2026.
  • Applications need to be from eligible Aboriginal organisations.
  • Applications will be assessed through a competitive process.
  • The project/pilot program should be innovative, ie. something that introduces new methods to yours or other Aboriginal ranger groups and/or projects.
  • This funding stream is not to fund wages for ‘business as usual.’
  • This funding should not be relied upon to continue or develop ranger programs. Employment can only be included within the budget if it is related to the project/pilot program specifically.
  • The scale of the project/pilot program does not matter.
  • The knowledge generated from projects funded under the Innovation Fund will need to be made publicly available for the benefit of the wider Aboriginal ranger sector and to support continual improvement and success of ranger programs

Ineligible

• Funding is not available for:
  • International travel;
  • Purchase or transfer costs of land or buildings, including housing and land rates;
  • Combined major construction work or infrastructure worth over $250,000;
  • Combined major assets worth over $250,000;
  • Expenses that are the responsibility of other organisations such as local, state and territory government agencies; and
  • Ranger positions to undertake environmental activities on private or leasehold land which are the primary responsibility of the private landholder, or where the activities are more appropriately funded by others.

For more information, visit McGowan Government.