Supporting Aboriginal Employment and Wellbeing

Victoria’s parks and reserves play a significant role in the lives and wellbeing of all Victorians. For Aboriginal people, caring for Country is the fabric of Aboriginal social, spiritual, economic and overall health and wellbeing. Sustainably managing the land and its resources is both a right and a cultural responsibility that Traditional Owners continue to carry.

Parks Victoria manages more than four million hectares of Victoria’s rich cultural landscapes. We recognise that the knowledge, skills and perspectives of Traditional Owners and other Aboriginal people are critical for ensuring our parks and reserves are managed in a culturally and ecologically sensitive way, and we are proud to work in partnership with Traditional Owners across Victoria to care for these places.

We also have an opportunity to support Victoria’s shared vision for all Aboriginal Victorians to be healthy, safe, resilient, thriving and living culturally rich lives by providing employment in park management.

We are committed to providing a culturally safe and fulfilling workplace for our Aboriginal staff, and for opening up more opportunities for Aboriginal people to work on Country. We also have a role in working with our Traditional Owner partners to build the overall capacity of the park management sector and prepare for a new land management future, as traditional ownership of more land is recognised under Aboriginal Title and joint management expands.

Parks Victoria’s Aboriginal Employment and Wellbeing Plan outlines the agency’s commitment to creating a culturally safe and competent organisation which supports Aboriginal staff to strengthen networks and share stories about their work and the inherited obligation they have for caring for Country. 

We are committed to providing a culturally safe and fulfilling workplace for our Aboriginal staff, and for opening up more opportunities for Aboriginal people to work on Country. We also have a role in working with our Traditional Owner partners to build the overall capacity of the park management sector and prepare for a new land management future, as traditional ownership of more land is recognised under Aboriginal Title and joint management expands.

Working at Parks Victoria

The health, safety and wellbeing of our employees is Parks Victoria’s highest priority. We recognise that Aboriginal employees can face unique challenges and carry cultural loads that present particular needs. That’s why we have targeted support systems in place for Aboriginal staff, including a dedicated Aboriginal People and Culture Advisor and Aboriginal Wellbeing Officer, access to culturally competent counsellors through the Employee Assistance Program, specific cultural leave provisions and opportunities for Aboriginal staff to spend time together and to work on cultural projects outside of their normal roles.

We are also developing additional training and career development opportunities that will be available to support Aboriginal employees on their career journeys through park management.

We have set an ambitious employment target of 7% of Parks Victoria staff identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island, and we are exploring a range of different ways that we can provide more employment opportunities and pathways for Aboriginal people to work at Parks Victoria.

See what working on Country means to Parks Victoria Aboriginal staff.