Page 50 - Australian Defence Magazine April 2023

50 NEWS REVIEW INDIGENOUS UPDATE
APRIL 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
FIRST INDIGENOUS WOMEN’S RANGER TRAINEESHIP BREAKS NEW GROUND
ON-COUNTRY care for culturally signifi- cant sites unique to Darumbal women is a newly introduced area of learning for the first ever all-female cohort of Darumbal Trainee Rangers at Shoalwater Bay Train- ing Area (SWBTA).
As the inaugural cohort of Darumbal Trainee Rangers graduated from their year-long traineeship at SWBTA last No- vember, the new cohort, an all-female group, were welcomed to the program – a collaboration between the Department of Defence, Downer Defence, the Darumbal People Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC, TAFE Queensland, and Downer’s Service Delivery Partner Ecosure, a specialist en- vironmental consultancy.
The year-long program combines an aca- demic qualification in Conservation and Ecosystem Management with practical and theoretical in-field training on matters such as botanical plant identification, bios- ecurity, work health and safety processes, drone use, machinery maintenance and plant establishment programs. The pro- gram is interwoven with traditional teach- ings from the Darumbal elders that draws from over 2000 generations of Indigenous
knowledge, and unique to this cohort, also includes Indigenous women’s knowledge. “To be facilitating an all-female Indigenous cohort as our second group of trainees is testament to the strength of this partner- ship and the commitment of all parties to enable authentic opportunities for Indig- enous communities on Country,” Jacob Bonisch, Head of Downer Defence said.
“Downer Defence have spent years de- veloping this program with Defence and the Darumbal peoples, creating meaning- ful connection in our role managing De- fence bases and estates with the Tradition- al Custodians of the Country on which we operate.”
The eight Indigenous trainee rangers applied for the opportunity to participate for a variety of reasons that included a desire to connect with their Indigenous heritage; a love for the land; and a wish to improve their career prospects.
“This program will be an eye opener for these women, because not only are they going to learn Western ways, but they’re also going to learn their culture and how their ancestors cared for Country,” Dar- umbal Traditional Custodian and Pro-
ABOVE: The second cohort of the Darumbal Ranger Traineeship program is an all-female group
gram Liaison Officer Kristina Hatfield said. “Darumbal women have been caring for land and sea Country for thousands of years, they are hunters and gathers. Peo- ple forget this. To have Aboriginal cultural knowledge and an education in the West- ern ways is powerful!”
The program coordinators reported that the women are ahead of schedule on their academic modules, whilst Downer De- fence and Darumbal liaise closely to en- sure the practical framework of Defence land management, revegetation and con- servation is culturally connected to the Darumbal’s training focus.
“These are the sorts of commitments that give us an opportunity to advance our capability in land and sea Country man- agement,” Darumbal Traditional Custo- dian and Program Coordinator Malcolm Mann said. “We have a custodial respon- sibility to our Country and commit to look after our land and sea Country.”
SALTY DINGO