| The Department of Natural Resources and Environment Indigenous Partnership Strategy (2001) states that:
NRE recognises that Victorian Indigenous communities, as the traditional custodians of the State's land and waters, have a fundamental role in the management of Victoria's natural resources.
In developing and implementing its policies, programs and services NRE will:
Recognise Victoria's unique Indigenous culture, society and history;
Empower Indigenous communities to collaborate as partners in resource management;
-Recognise the impact of past policies on the role of Indigenous people as custodians of the land and waters;
-Require priorities and Strategies for Indigenous involvement in the NRE's operations to be developed and implemented primarily at the local level and agreed with the relevant Indigenous community organisations;
-Improve information on, and education about services provided by NRE to Indigenous communities;
-Establish clear lines of accountability for each initiative supported through this strategy;
-Support initiatives on the basis that they contribute to the achievement of agreed outcomes;
-Provide a framework in which overall gains are achieved and recognised; and
-Maintain and improve the effectiveness of current systems of planning, funding and providing services and programs. | |
