Communities of the Basin

People have been living in the Murray–Darling Basin for more than 50,000 years. Today, the Basin is home to more than two million people, including Aboriginal nations who continue to have a strong spiritual connection to their land, water and environment.

The Basin is Australia’s largest agricultural centre, producing about one-third of the national food supply. The agricultural and associated industries of the Basin have given rise to and continue to support many regional communities that have a diverse and rich history. The future of these communities depends on a healthy river system and environment, so it is critical that we involve them in managing the Basin’s natural resources.

Consulting communities

MDBA consults the community in various ways, including through the Basin Community Committee, the Community Reference Group of The Living Murray program, and the Indigenous Partnerships Program. The authority liaises with the Murray Darling Association representing over 90 local government municipalities in the Basin, as well as community groups and businesses.

We also regularly liaise with the 21 Catchment Management Authorities throughout the Basin. CMAs work directly with their local communities to restore and improve natural resources. CMAs are responsible for ensuring that decisions about natural resource management are made within the catchment.

Community consultation is a key element in developing the Basin Plan to ensure stakeholders are informed of the process and have an opportunity to input to the development & implementation of plan. To this end an engagement and communication plan has been developed, which is available here

Engaging Indigenous communities

Australia has been home to Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years, sustaining cultural, social, economic and spiritual life. Aboriginal people all along the Murray and Darling rivers and throughout the Basin talk of their deep relationship with the rivers.

Trade routes, major gathering places and sacred sites exist across the Basin and continue to hold great significance for Aboriginal Nations. This continuing connection to ancestral lands is conveyed through stories, totems and lore.

The MDBA engages Indigenous people on cultural and natural resource management issues in the Basin, primarily working with the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) and the Northern Murray-Darling Basin Aboriginal Nations (NBAN.)

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Education and learning

MDBA also promotes greater understanding of the Basin’s unique environment through school and community-based programs, including regional conferences and workshops.
Such programs and activities include:

• - the International River Health Conference, Kids teaching kids conference held every two years since 1999, with regional conferences in lead-up years
• a series of youth forums on The Living Murray program, conducted in partnership with the Murray Darling Association, at places such as Cohuna, Swan Hill and Corowa, where students learnt more about The Living Murray, and were also able to propose solutions for improving river health in their areas
• the Special Forever program, in partnership with e:lit (formerly the Primary English Teaching Association), which uses Basin environmental issues to, and publishes an annual anthology of students’ work
• the Engaging Visions project, in partnership with the Australian National University, supporting artists’ engagement with communities in environmentally sensitive areas of the Basin
• Native Fish Awareness Week, involving public forums, school presentations, and discussions with catchment management authorities, local government, Indigenous groups and recreational anglers
• participation in and sponsorship of many relevant community events such as field days.
• Basin kids

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