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About Local Land ServicesOperating since 2013, Local Land Services is a NSW Government agency that brings together agricultural production advice, biosecurity, natural resource and emergency management into a single organisation. Greater Sydney LLS (GS LLS) is one of eleven regions across the state. Each region is accountable for delivering services that add value to local industries, enhance natural resources, protect industries from pests and disease, and help communities respond to emergencies like flood, fire and drought. |
General Manager's Welcome It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the final edition of our Yarnin’ Up newsletter for 2023.
This year has seen the continual growth of on Country outcomes supported by GS LLS, especially in the western areas of our region with the Aboriginal Communities Team supporting 17 cultural burn workshops across different areas of Country and with different communities, workshops to share cultural and contemporary knowledge and new initiatives that will continue to grow opportunities. In October the team were successful in receiving a two-year grant to Care for Country and care for Koalas in Southwest Sydney. The Aboriginal Communities Team are also looking to the future to continue the use of cultural fire in Caring for Country including supporting dedicated approaches to deepen local knowledge and practice for 2024 and beyond.
We have much to look forward to in the New Year as we expand our Aboriginal Communities Team to support our expanding program, along with the inclusion of our second Aboriginal trainee to work across all aspects of our business. This coincides with the updated planning and project directions that we have been working towards over the past couple of years, continuing to deepen the great work GS LLS had been undertaking locally with Aboriginal Communities.
2024 is shaping up to be an even busier year, with many great initiatives for First Nations communities to get involved, being on Country and supporting lasting change, alongside land managers.
As we wind down for this year and look ahead to 2024 which is shaping up as another busy year, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our AAG members, the First Nations Communities and other project partners for their ongoing support for GS LLS and our work to Care for Country, involve community and continue culture in our region. Without your ongoing support and meaningful, valuable engagement the on-ground outcomes we have achieved just wouldn’t be possible.
I would like to wish you all a safe and happy holiday season ahead. |
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Thank you
Sharon Elliott
General Manager |
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Update from the Greater Sydney LLS Aboriginal Advisory Group
G’day again to all the First Nations mob and all of you in the Greater Sydney Region.
The last six months has been a time of renewal for the AAG following on the call out for new members, with a few additional community members joining the committee and the return of some of our Elders. The renewed AAG have jumped straight into work, continuing the momentum that has grown over the last few years and guiding GS LLS approaches in Caring for Country and connecting with First Nations community, culture and opportunities.
Since spring this year, the AAG have been focused on working with GS LLS and supporting the Aboriginal Communities Team around strategic activities that will provide outcomes on Country while engaging First Nations mob in a range of opportunities. This includes reflecting on the work achieved so far through the GS LLS ‘Country, Culture, Connections’ Aboriginal Strategic plan, along with frameworks that support the potential for future engagement opportunities in GS LLS programs over the next number of years. Adding to this, the new members reviewed the approach that GS LLS takes to procuring cultural services from First Nations businesses, organisations and individuals in the region, having an approach to engage local mob across the region, wherever this is possible. This approach is a key outcome from the GS LLS Aboriginal Strategic Plan, which we hope has far reaching opportunities that will grow in the work on Country that GS LLS supports.
The AAG also supported the continuation of the GS LLS Aboriginal Land Management Traineeship program with the updated advertisement for the next trainee as an identified Conservation Field Officer now being advertised (see article below). This program is another approach GS LLS has taken to train up mob and get them working on Country, with congratulations from the AAG to the last trainee Mitchell Booty, who has now completed his studies and was successful in obtaining roles within GS LLS. We greatly encourage First Nations mob, especially young ones, to seriously consider applying for this traineeship, which provides a pathway to real employment, working on Country and practicing culture.
Looking forward, the AAG are reviewing further plans, processes and projects with GS LLS to ensure that First Nations community outcomes are included with meaningful benefits to mob and Country. We wish everyone out there a happy and safe holiday period to close out a busy 2023 and as always, continue to look forward to providing further updates to the community on the work we are involved with GS LLS through Yarnin' Up.
For more information on the AAG and our role and objectives, view our Terms of Reference. |
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‘Through an Indigenous Lens’ Caring for Country Healthy Water |
Since the time of creation by ancestral spiritual beings, water, be it sweet, fresh water, salty or sea water, supported the abundance of plants and animals, which nurtured First Nations of this region in their seasonal and ceremonial cycle movement through Country. The critical importance of water was deeply understood and carefully managed by First Nations peoples according to the lore and laws from the creation time, ensuring that Country, through its water was healthy and balanced, both physically and spiritually.
For First Nations peoples, water is the lifeblood of Country binding together all living things, through the tangible and the intangible in the natural landscape, below and above the ground, interwoven with the spiritual domain. The living waters of Country have sustained countless generations of First Nations peoples, providing a source of spiritual inspiration, sustenance and health. In return, First Nations peoples following the lore’s handed down from creation, have cared for, protected and nurtured water in Country and the myriad beings, stories and ceremonies that are deeply dependent on this eternal life force.
The arrival of Europeans in this region and the subsequent building of roads, expanding settlements, farms and industry have reshaped Country. The dispossession of First Nations peoples from Country and the impacts on culture, knowledge and practice have led to a neglect and steady decline of the health of our water.
Today, water still holds a central role in First Nations peoples’ unbroken connection to Country, helping to sustain social, cultural, physical and spiritual relationships, maintained through a connected web of kinship and obligation. Though Country and water within have been forever changed, First Nations peoples acknowledge and seek the ongoing need to care for and restore health to water, redressing the adverse impacts brought about in a relatively short time by colonisation.
With the increasing dry time ahead, it’s important to reflect on water, especially drinking water, critical to conserve and protect, not just for people, but for all species dependant on it to maintain health and resilience.
As the heat of summer increases, think about water, its usage, while remembering its significance in Country to First Nations, a precious life-giving gift for all of us.
‘Care for water, care for Country’
‘Healthy Country, healthy people’
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Water places in Country - Greater Sydney |
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Glenbrook Lagoon, Blue Mountains
Photo Ian Brown
Courtesy of Blue Mountains City Council
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Grassy Meadow, Cumberland Plain
Photo Peter Ridgeway
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Fishponds, Hornsby
Photo Mick Budden
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Lane Cove River
Photo Angela Maier
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Firesticks Alliance and GS LLS Cultural Fire Mentoring Program EOIs is now open! |
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Over the last number of years there have been growing opportunities to participate in cultural fire workshops. Over the last year GS LLS and Firesticks Alliance have developed a localised approach to share knowledge and build confidence and capacity around Caring for Country with cultural fire.
With assistance from the Caring for Country Aboriginal Strategy Outcomes as part of the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan (CPCP), Firesticks and GS LLS have sought to grow these opportunities across the region, working with Elders and community members to support knowledge sharing around cultural fire. We are excited to announce a Cultural Fire Mentoring Program, which will commence beginning in 2024 and continuing into 2025. As the funding is from the CPCP, the Cultural Fire Mentoring Program will focus in / near localities in the CPCP area (Dharug, Gundungurra and Dharawal Nations).
Expressions of Interest for the Cultural Fire Mentoring Program open from Wednesday 22 Nov 2023 and closes on Sunday 17 Dec 2023. A link to the EOI process is below:
To support the EOI process, Firesticks and GS LLS are holding an information session about the Cultural Fire Mentoring Program. Interested Dharawal, Dharug and Gundungurra people and First Nations community with connections to Country in the CPCP area are greatly encouraged to attend this session.
This will take place at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Performance Space, 1 Powerhouse Rd, Casula on Sunday 3 Dec from 2.30 – 4.30pm. Please attend on the day if you are interested in this important learning opportunity around cultural fire in Country.
Please also share the information with First Nations community that are interested in the journey around deepening learning, knowledge and practice around cultural fire to heal Country and communities.
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Last call outs for GS LLS job opportunity - Aboriginal Identified Conservation Field Officer Traineeship
GS LLS is committed to collaborating with and empowering First Nations communities to continue to Care for Country, enriching culture and strengthening connections with current and future generations.
We are looking for a passionate Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) person keen to kick start their career in Conservation and Ecological Management and learn skills across all areas of the business. You will be part of a dedicated Aboriginal Communities Team comprising yourself and other Aboriginal staff. The role will gain experience in environmental management, agriculture and pest animal management as well as Aboriginal community support.
The basics:
- Full time 2-year traineeship available
- Work across the Greater Sydney region, based in Penrith
- Salary starting from $55,350 p.a + super
- Role combines formal study plus hands on land management & environmental work
activities
- Please note these positions are open to First Nations (Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander) applicants only.
So, if you’re keen to learn about the importance of Country, traditional and contemporary land management skills, supported through both formal education and on the job training, we want to hear from you!
To apply please visit the ‘I Work for NSW’ website:
https://iworkfor.nsw.gov.au/job/conservation-field-officer-traineeship-identified-435701
Hurry as the closing date is coming soon: Sunday 26 November 2023 at 11:55pm
For further information about this opportunity please contact Brad Moore on 0439 048 428 or brad.moore@lls.nsw.gov.au You can also download the role description. |
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‘Through an Indigenous Lens’
‘Nhama guba-gu maalaa-bidi-dja, ngarribaa’
‘The koala (is) in the tree, up there’ – Yuwaalaraay |
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Koalas hold important cultural and spiritual values to First Nations peoples.
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As part of Country Koalas their part in the ecosystem, and from a cultural understanding a role in the creation of Country.
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Koalas are an icon in Australia and across the world, they are not only cute and cuddly, but what is often overlooked, is that koalas are also highly significant to First Nations Peoples.
Koalas hold an important place in Country, in our stories, in our spiritual and cultural beliefs. Koalas being a totemic species to First Nations Peoples in many communities in this region and beyond, are considered our kin and ancestors, with their survival dependant on our LORE and responsibilities to Country and through our kinship totems. For First Nations Peoples, we must care for Koalas, and Country that they depend on, like they are one of our family. Sadly, their plummeting population numbers, impact koala clusters, but also First Nations communities, with external factors affecting our duty and obligations to Koalas and Country.
This is why to address this, the Greater Sydney LLS ‘Caring for Country, Caring for Koalas’ project, along with Traditional Owners, First Nations community and project partners aims to continue delivering our cultural obligations, to Country, to Koalas, our kin and ancestors. The Koala population of Southwest Sydney are under threat, through urbanisation and habitat loss, and the dangers stemming from this, like increased car strikes. With the home Country of Koalas continually getting smaller and smaller, and with the built environment by humans ever encroaching, it is important that, as First Nations peoples, we maintain and care for the habitat that is left, that Koalas so critically depend on.
Using ecological cultural knowledge such as cultural fire/burning, this project intends to enhance First Nations involvement in caring for Koala habitat and corridors, to give the populations of Southwest Sydney a better chance to survive the encroaching impact of development. The project will also look to engage First Nations community in contemporary approaches to bush regeneration, collecting seed, and threats to Country like weeds through identification workshops, weed life cycles and methods of removal.
The core principals of the project are to have Traditional Owners and First Nations people at the forefront, in the development and guidance of the planning and on ground outcomes. Importantly this project seeks to connect First Nations communities in sharing and reclaiming cultural knowledge together, continuing our cultural practice and caring for Koalas by Caring Country, like our ancestors did before us.
This project will be occurring over the next couple of years in the Campbelltown and Wollondilly areas, to find out more or get involved contact the project officer: mitchell.booty@lls.nsw.gov.au or brad.moore@lls.msw.gov.au |
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Have you seen this weed out on Country?
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Like other tussock grasses, with pale brown seeds when mature, flat leaves with a small tuft of hair at junction of leaf blade and long 6-9cm long awns, if it has these features . . . . . that could be Chilean Needle Grass (Nassella neesiana)!!!
It is hard to control and can quickly take over Country, especially woodlands and grasslands. Chilean needle grass looks like native spear grasses (Austrostipa spp.). It's related to Serrated Tussock (Nassella trichotoma) and Mexican Feather Grass (Nassella tenuissima). It can also look like other winter green grasses such as Fescue (a traditionally coarse and long growing grass from Europe or America).
If you see a grass that might be Chilean Needle Grass, call the NSW DPI Biosecurity Helpline on 1800 680 244.
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Chilean Needle Grass is a threat to Country
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Look for these features to confirm this weed.
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"Healthy Country needs the right trees"
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The need to restore the health and balance of Country in the region, greatly altered over the last 200 years, presents the need to return much needed canopies to heal and rejuvenate these landscapes. Coupled with the need to counter climate change, with trees storing carbon while cooling local environments, many woodland and forest canopies are still experiencing or recovering from clearing, leaving less trees and reduced levels of tree maturity. There is still the need to plant and care for more trees, shrubs and grasses to replace the immeasurable lost over the centuries.
Increasing the canopy cover across Country wherever possible to pre-colonisation levels is one way we all can hold back the climate clock and protect not only our trees and plants , but all of the living beings, such as animals, and people that desperately need these trees for now and the future. Greater Sydney Landcare continues to look for opportunities to plant trees to support diversity, habitat and shade on private and public land. They are especially looking for sites in Country where trees are in most need.
For more information email trees@greatersydneylandcare.org or call 4724 2147.
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'The key to healthy Country is the trees.'
Photo Peter Ridgeway
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Top tips for writing grants
The Grants Hub has developed some great tips around grant writing to help you with your next grant application. Click on the Grants Hub website for full details.
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End of year arrangements
GS LLS will be closed during the Christmas period for 2 weeks from Monday 25 December 2023 to Friday 5 January 2024, with the office reopening the following Monday.
Any projects, activities or enquires that need urgent attention should occur prior to the Christmas period or be held over until the new year. |
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Thanks for reading the sixth e-edition of the Greater Sydney Local Land Services Yarnin' Up newsletter.
Please feel free to forwarded to other First Nations / Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander community members and organisations that may be interested in the newsletter.
We always welcome your feedback and input and would love to hear from you if there is specific information and resources you would like to see showcased in our upcoming editions. Please feel free to get in touch if you have suggestions, compliments (or complaints) on the content. You can also keep up to date with the latest news about our projects, programs and other initiatives via social media.Contact Us:Phone: 1300 795 299www.lls.nsw.gov.au/regions/greater-sydney
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Greater Sydney Local Land Services acknowledges we operate in and deliver services throughout Country of First Nations people in the Greater Sydney Region.
We recognise and respects Elders and cultural knowledge holders, past and present, while acknowledging the unique and diverse enduring cultures and histories of all First Nations people.
Always was, always will be Aboriginal land. |
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The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing. However, because of advances in knowledge, users are reminded of the need to ensure that the information upon which they rely is up to date and to check the currency of the information with the appropriate officer of Local Land Services or the user’s independent adviser. For updates go to www.lls.nsw.gov.au
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Greater Sydney Local Land Services
Lvl 4, 2-6 Station Street, Penrith, NSW, 2750, Australia
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