Recent figures released by the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) demonstrate that Indigenous engagement with the forest sector tends to be constructed in terms of employment in mainstream timber production forestry. The Commonwealth Government’s National Indigenous Forestry Strategy is currently going down this path, with a focus on areas of employment and business development in production of timber and fibre. However, the barriers and challenges for Aboriginal people wishing to gain employment in commercial forestry are probably greater than they have been historically. A rich oral history from the forested regions of Queensland, Victoria and NSW reveals high levels of employment in local sawmills in the mid 20th century, to the extent that local Aboriginal men were a significant component of the forestry workforce.

While mechanisation and corporatisation of the logging industry eventually squeezed out people without the proper tickets and qualifications, there are numerous other mechanisms by which Aboriginal people across Australia can and do engage with the forest sector. Understanding and characterising this engagement requires application of a new paradigm that embraces both the diversity within a broadly defined forest sector and, the diversity of Aboriginal people’s aspirations and opinions regarding forests and forest management.

This paper presents the findings of recent PhD research, aimed at characterising Aboriginal people’s engagement with the forest sector. A diversity matrix is used to demonstrate potentially effective ‘matches’, drawing on the Harvard models of ‘cultural match’.

Please note: This seminar is available in both Streaming Audio and MP3 formats.