Indigenous Land Corporation gpo box 652 Adelaide sa 5001

Priority Outcome 1: Access to and protection of cultural and environmental values

The ILC is committed to assisting Indigenous people to acquire and manage land of cultural and environmental significance, for the protection of cultural and environmental values. Efforts made by the ILC in achieving this priority outcome are measured by KPIs 6 and 7.

The target for KPI 6 was revised for 2013–14, increasing to 33% from 25% the previous year. The new target was exceeded, with 35% of ILC funded projects contributing to the protection of cultural and environmental heritage values and maintaining culture.

ILC Land Acquisition and Land Management Programmes assisted in the protection of more than 1.4m ha of Indigenous-held land with identified cultural and/or environmental heritage values. Land management activities accounted for more than 80% of these protection outcomes.

Land management projects focused on enabling Indigenous landholders to maximise the productivity of the existing landholdings while providing for access to and the protection of environmental and cultural heritage values of land. Projects such as infrastructure development at Lamboo Station in WA undertook land management activities including fencing and road maintenance resulting in enhanced productivity, while simultaneously protecting important cultural sites and enabling Indigenous people to participate in cultural activities such as hunting and visits to cultural sites.

5,561 Indigenous people participated in specific cultural maintenance and revitalisation activities including children’s culture camps, back to country trips, traditional skills and language workshops, healing camps and art exhibitions. These activities were facilitated through 14 land management projects and 10 acquisitions of land across Australia including urban, regional and remote settings.

Two hundred and ninety culturally significant sites and 838 sites with environmental heritage values were protected across Australia through fencing, weed eradication, waterhole restoration and fire management. Projects such as land management funding to the Kimberly Ranger Programme assisted with establishing cultural advisory committees and provided forums for sharing and strengthening traditional land management knowledge and practice across generations.

On its business properties, the ILC has worked with Indigenous land owners and NRM agencies to develop integrated grazing and environmental management plans incorporating cultural site management, threatened species management, wetland rehydration, restoration of high productivity grazing areas, and rangeland condition monitoring. Highlights include negotiation of an Indigenous Protected Area over substantial areas of a commercial cattle station, and an NRM contract awarded to Indigenous landholders to protect an EPBC threatened species.

ILC assistance enabled 2,034 Indigenous people to access country with cultural and environmental heritage values across Australia.

KPI 6

Proportion of ILC assisted projects that protected cultural and environmental heritage values and maintained culture

• 
  Achieved 35% (Last year achieved 39%)
  
• 
  Target 33%
  
• 
  Next year’s Target 33%
  

KPI 5

Total number of Indigenous-held properties assisted to improve land management

• 
  Achieved 148 (Last year achieved 118)
  
• 
  Target100
  
• 
  Next year’s Target100
  

The Indigenous estate comprises more than 20% of Australia’s landmass and the ILC plays a critical role in assisting its management to achieve social, cultural, environmental and economic benefits for Indigenous people.

Our performance for the number of Indigenous-held properties with improved land management in 2013–14 exceeded the PBS target of 100 by 25%. Regional land management projects assisting Indigenous properties included the Kimberley Ranger Initiative (predominately working on seven determined native title areas), Indigenous Pastoral Programme (14 properties) and Indigenous Land Services (30 properties).

This year saw over 1.55m hectares of Indigenous-held land subject to improved land management, including 178,000 ha at Fish River. This figure represents a decrease in hectares of land under management from last year resulting from the completion of significant landscape scale land management projects at the close of the financial year.

Fifty-four land management projects on Indigenous held land reported 1,994 activities, such as the development of property management plans, weed control, mustering, feral animal control, fencing and infrastructure development including the construction of silos, yard facilities and water supply maintenance.