Collaborating for stronger peoples and healthier country

The Cairns Institute's Development in The Tropics (DiTT) program is continuing to support diverse First Nations governance networks at varying scales. DiTT Regional Planner Ellie Bock and her colleagues have been supporting multiple Traditional Owner groups in their strategic planning for country and self-determined governance processes. Undertaken in diverse Queensland regions, Ellie's support work is resourced through the Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (TNQ Drought Hub) initiative; 'Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprises' (SATSIE).

SATSIE's overarching objectives are to promote involvement in initiatives that provide positive social, cultural, and economic opportunities for Indigenous community members and to build regional resilience to future shocks and to support Indigenous individuals and organisations to ensure that the management of land and sea resources in TNQ aligns with the rights, values, and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Her work has included collaborations with the Koinmerburra Aboriginal Corporation (KAC) of Central Queensland and the Dulabed and Malanbarra Yidinji Aboriginal Corporation Registered Native Title Bodies Corporate (RNTBC), situated in the central Wet Tropics. Each collaboration is built on the self-determined priorities of the organisation concerned. Her support work aims to enhance each collaboration's potential for positive impact at local scale and beyond, and their overarching aim to deliver direct benefits for people, country, and community.

In 2024, SATSIE support for the KAC assisted the corporation's members, the Koinjmal People, to successfully develop their inaugural strategic plan for Koinmerburra Land and Sea Country. Centred on St Lawrence and featuring diverse estuaries, wetlands, and islands. Koinmerburra Land and Sea Country is the site of nationally significant Flatback Turtle rookeries. The strategic plan for country will inform Koinmerburra Ranger work plans, and help to better position the corporation in strengthening their existing Land and Sea partnerships, and to also build new partnerships across Koinmerburra Land and Sea Country.

Ellie's work with the Dulabed and Malanbarra Yidinji Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC centres on strategic planning for country, people, and enterprise development for, and on behalf of the Dulabed and Malanbarra Yidinji peoples. The Mulgrave river flows through Dulabed and Malanbarra Yidinji county, and includes the Goldsborough valley and the Gordonvale district. The RNTBC is also a registered Cultural Heritage Body and the health of the river is a primary concern for the people and their communities. This work continues into 2025, and also benefits from earlier water planning support provided by the DiTT team.

"Having the opportunity to plan for country in a strategic way helps Traditional Owners to obtain empowering levels of insight, and an enhanced understanding of, the complexities of mainstream jurisdictional structures that impact their country, themselves as custodians, and their communities every day. Meaningful strategic planning for country requires time, resources, and flexibility for the agreed planning process to take place, and every process will always be a process of shared learning. SATSIE's resourcing support over several successive years helps with time, resources, and flexibility."

April 2025