Advocacy

The IDA’s advocacy work enables the collective priorities and power of its members to speak with a strong and united voice for the desert. 

From the IDA’s membership of Indigenous ranger teams to the IDA’s board of Indigenous directors and management, we are steadfastly Indigenous led.

A strong a united voice is vital for Indigenous people living in Australia’s desert regions who represent less than one percent of the Australian population but are looking after one third of the Australian land mass. The IDA’s advocacy forms part of ensuring the voices of Indigenous people, including their communities and organisations, can be heard on the unique challenges we face.

The IDA’s advocacy is powered through maintaining an engaged and connected network of Indigenous desert rangers who come together at a variety of IDA Network events, including workshops, training, forums, and the IDA Conference. A central feature of all IDA events are ranger-to-ranger sessions where Indigenous rangers can speak with each other about the opportunities and challenges that matter to them.

The IDA then builds support for these matters and brings issues with practical solutions to the attention of decision makers through a variety of initiatives including making government and corporate submissions on policy, engaging with major national and international event programs, and generating purpose-driven media publicity that puts the desert on the map.