Maps of indigenous nations of the Murray-Darling Basin
The Living Murray Indigenous consultation process

Indigenous Action Plan

The Indigenous Action Plan (IAP) project team finalised a series of Nation-based forums. The team also established a relationship with Indigenous groups in the northern Basin, with a facilitator to support this process and to assist in establishing a consistent approach on both sides of the Queensland–NSW border.

The IAP team held a series of meetings with Indigenous policy staff from the various partner governments of the Basin to develop a collaborative working relationship. This will both facilitate future IAP implementation processes and the sharing of knowledge to create a synergy between state and Australian Government policy and the IAP.

Throughout the year the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN), the Community Advisory Committee (CAC), the IAP project board, and the integrated catchment management policy committee (ICM PC) each contributed to the preparation of the IAP.

Basin Communities Program

The aims of the MDBC's Basin Communities Program (as established by the MDBC 2001 Human Dimension Strategy) are to:

• build the capacity of the natural resource management sector in the Basin
• support good working partnerships between Basin communities and the partner governments.

Capacity-building activities this year include:

• commencement of course 3 of the MDB Leadership Program. This brings the total number of leadership course participants to 47
• completion of a major study on quantifying and valuing land use change in the Murray-Darling Basin that trialled a new, more cost-effective way of using remote sensing to estimate land and water use in the Basin. The report also provides information on land use and agricultural revenue on a catchment basis, as shown in Figure 3.5.

Figure 3.5: Amount and proportions of gross revenue from broad agricultural land uses by catchment management region in the Murray-Darling Basin, 2000–01

(Source: MDBC)

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The MDBC continues to support the Cooperative Venture for Capacity Building in Rural Industries (managed through the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation). The Cooperative Venture provided a submission to a House of Representatives inquiry into rural skills training and research in May 2005, based on studies undertaken over the last two years which outlined the changing nature of agricultural extension in Australia.

Activities supporting good working partnerships between Basin communities and Commission partner governments include the following:

• A collaboration between the MDBC, NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources and the Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority, to support the National Museum of Australia and Museum of the Riverina to develop an online community exhibition Pass the Salt. This demonstrates the impact of large-scale environmental change, namely salinity, on the community in and around Wagga Wagga, New South Wales.
• A collaboration between the MDBC, the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, the Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage and the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee, for an Indigenous oral history project in the Maranoa–Balonne, Queensland.
• Under the Commission's Native Fish Strategy and in conjunction with relevant agency and catchment authorities, a study of community perceptions, risks and opportunities of demonstration reaches for native fish in six reaches in the Basin.
• Work with New South Wales and Queensland natural resources agency staff to support a community-led initiative focusing on improved natural resource management in the Darling Basin.