Understanding barriers to caring for Country

Caring for Country is core to Aboriginal culture, identity, Law and knowledge systems. Across New South Wales (NSW), Aboriginal people continue to care for land, water and sky through ceremony, language, fire, food, kinship and governance. However, the current systems shaping land and environmental management in NSW often create barriers to this vital work. This report was created by Aboriginal researchers and NSW communities in partnership with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Its purpose is to understand what stops or hinders Aboriginal people from practicing culture and Caring for Country, and what needs to change to support cultural revitalisation, healing and self-determination.

The report draws on three main sources of knowledge:

• The literature, what research, policies and Aboriginal-led reports say about systemic barriers
• The Yarns, lived experiences shared by Aboriginal people across NSW in culturally safe spaces
• The case study provides a deeper look into the barriers to cultural burning in NSW.

The research uses Aboriginal-led approaches, including yarning and relational intersectionality, grounded in Aboriginal Law, kinship and Country. It also shifts language away from technical terms like ‘Aboriginal Land and Sea Management’ to the more culturally accurate ‘Caring for Country’. This report is for Aboriginal communities, government agencies, land and sea managers, and policy makers. It’s designed to support Aboriginal-led decision-making and help embed Aboriginal governance, culture and rights at the centre of land and water management.

The key barriers identified include:

• clashing worldviews between Aboriginal and Western systems
• racism, unconscious bias and institutional silencing
• legal and policy complexity
• commodification and tokenism
• lack of recognition of Aboriginal governance, Law and women’s authority.

But Aboriginal people continue to practice culture every day, often with little support. They hold the solutions in their knowledge systems, cultural governance and deep responsibilities to Country.

The report recommends culturally grounded, rights-based actions that include:

• embedding Aboriginal governance at all levels
• long-term flexible funding for Aboriginal organisations
• policy reform to recognise obligations, not just rights
• cultural safety training and accountability in institutions
• true partnerships and co-design.

These actions align with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN General Assembly, 2007), the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (Australian Government, 2020a) and the NSW Plan for Nature (NSW Government, 2024), but more importantly, they reflect what Aboriginal people have already said is needed.