Wunggurrwil Ngitj – strong together – Wadawurrung and Melbourne Water Partnership

The year was a busy one with many steps and activities in koling wada ngal – in walking together between Melbourne Water and Wadawurrung, in seeing goals in the Wadawurrung Country plan achieved in looking after Wadawurrung Dja (country) yaluks (water) and skies, in sharing Wadawurrung culture. That aligned with key themes and priorities of the partnership agreement. 

Monthly partnership steering committee meetings with representatives from both Traditional Owner Aboriginal Corporation (WTOAC) and Melbourne Water across their program areas has played an important coordination role for the partnership. Building relationships and understanding of each other’s work and sharing information. 

Through WTOAC cultural education sessions and ceremonies, such as on country cultural awareness sessions with Wadawurrung’s cultural educator Ash Skinner to Melbourne Water staff. Plus, online lunch and learn sessions on cultural heritage assessments, cultural values assessments and cultural heritage permits and how they are used in protecting Wadawurrung cultural landscapes. 

A highlight project has seen the Digital education centre at WTP transformed with the integration of Wadawurrung artist Chloe Chatterton’s spirited partnership agreement artwork Walking on Wadawurrung Dja into the education hall. 

Sharing Wadawurrung continuing connections and culture with students. Learning about Yaluks (waterways), who Wadawurrung are and fostering connections with the cultural landscape around them through art, animation and digital story telling. 

Caring for Country 

Co-designed natural resource management planning and implementation across landscapes/Dja.

Development of a monitoring program that incorporates cultural knowledge

Two of a series of three collaborative workshops between Wadawurrung and Melbourne Water staff were held to build knowledge, relationships and ways of working together. Helping with understanding each other's program areas, to create staff connections and strengthen relationships. The October 2023 workshop focus on what is the partnership and what current and future projects are going on. 

The June 2024 workshop was focused on wiyn murrup (fire spirit), the work in cultural burning, sharing knowledge on what it has meant to the health of Wadawurrung people and the grasslands the previous year’s cultural burning in healing the grasslands and strengthening Wadawurrung people.  As well as working with private landholders on caring for country and looking after cultural heritage projects, plus forming a partnership communications plan. From these workshops a 5-year partnership implementation plan is being developed.  

In December 2023, Melbourne Water executive and staff visited WTOAC’s Gobata Dja (Caring for Country) nursery and base at Bostock, near Ballan. Providing an opportunity for Wadawurrung Traditional Owners to proudly share the journey of how the Gobata Dja program, team and base has grown. The future needs, growth and direction with nursery expansions underway, to see more culturally important plants and threatened species back on Dja. The need is for additional equipment, fire equipped vehicles and a base or depot closer to the grasslands and coast to better enable Wadawurrung to care for Dja. 

WTOAC welcomed Melbourne Water support and response to this in getting a fire vehicle this year and having 5 of our younger Traditional Owners go through General Fire Fighter training to further support the Wiyn Murrup – cultural burning team to build WTOAC’s fire capacity and better meet the increasing needs and opportunities for cultural burns both within the WTP and across Wadawurrung Dja. 

Wadawurrung Gobata Dja (Caring for Country) team, project officers' field and nursery crew are continuing to build their services and capacity. By holding a series of on country knowledge building days, on Yaluks (waterways) and wetlands including one at WTP in September 2024. Here the team undertook an induction at WTP, so they now have safe access to the site, gates to keys and buildings to do caring for country works across WTP.  Including the opportunity to monitor cultural burn sites. Seeing burnt and unburnt country showing how beneficial cultural burns are to country and their healthy biodiversity. Spending time with grassland ecologist strengthening and building their knowledge around grasslands species and sharing their cultural knowledge. 

Policy and Strategy 

Sharing and building whole of system water knowledge through research and forums  
Wadawurrung input and interest reflected in policy, strategy and planning

Wadawurrung developing their own land acquisition strategy and due diligence process and tools to assist with self- determining where to take on Dja and the care of it for their communities’ benefit.