Desert Internship Program

The internship is a unique opportunity if you are considering a career change or wanting a more purposeful role connected to people and country. The internship is a pathway into a rewarding career, and we encourage people with diverse skills and experience to apply.

The internship selects for attitude and trains for skills.

If you have the following attributes we would welcome an application:

• You can listen, learn and take direction from Indigenous people
• You value strong relationships and understand the importance of inter-cultural communication
• You want to see teams and individuals thrive
• You have a strong interest in Indigenous culture, environmental management and community development
• You have a flexible mindset, can think on your feet and adapt
• You would enjoy living and working in a remote community and carrying out remote fieldwork with a ranger team
• You are healthy, enjoy outdoor work and remote camping

The Indigenous land management sector needs good people to support rangers to continue to lead the way up.

As Indigenous ranger programs have grown across the desert, rangers and their organisations have identified the need for better recruitment and training of ranger coordinators to support ranger team development, leadership and operational capacity.

The Desert Internship Program responds to this challenge through providing a dedicated entry pathway into the sector that aims to attract a broader pool of talent into the sector and train interns with foundational skills to work in ranger coordinator positions.

This internship program is part of building the sustainability of the Indigenous Land Management Sector through providing a pathway into the sector.

The Desert Internship Program is an initiative of the Indigenous Desert Alliance (IDA). The IDA is a member-based, Indigenous controlled organisation that plays a vital role in securing the future health of the Australian desert and its people. It does this by strengthening the existing connections between desert people, empowering Indigenous groups to look after their country and by promoting the importance of the Australian desert.

We work with 66 ranger teams from across the desert to support in our role ‘Keeping the Desert Connected’ to empower a united voice for the desert.

Ranger coordinator roles are dynamic, demanding and highly rewarding.

Ranger coordinators organise remote field trips, manage safety and logistics in the field and support rangers to do their work on country. They support team development, on-the-job training and the delivery of work schedules and management plans, as well as facilitating connection between the ranger team and overseeing organisation and with its partners, funders and stakeholders.

Ranger coordinators work in a dynamic inter-cultural space and need to have great interpersonal skills. 
 

The type of work rangers do includes:

• Keeping culture strong and passing down knowledge to the next generation
• Fire management
• Cultural site and heritage management
• Threatened species monitoring, management and recovery projects
• Feral animal and weed management
• Two-way science and collaborations with scientists and stakeholder groups
• Fee for service economic activities (e.g. environmental management, tourism)
• Sharing knowledge with others, working with schools and the local community

Here are some good films about rangers doing their work:

Nyangumarta Rangers looking after Black-footed Rock-wallaby

Cool Fire and Bright Skies at Muruntji

Ngurra Yulpararra – Rangers using drone mapping to look after country

Expert Trackers Lead Workshop on Saving Culturally Significant Great Desert Skink

The Australian desert remains one of the most culturally connected and environmentally significant areas on the planet. It has been cared for and expertly managed over thousands of years by Indigenous minds, hearts and hands.

Today, a network of over 66 ranger teams look after desert country and manage its exceptional cultural and natural values.

The Australian desert has:

• More than 30 languages spoken
• The world’s largest Indigenous-led fire management project
• Iconic threatened species including the Bilby, Great Desert Skink, Night Parrot, Malleefowl and Black-Footed Rock-Wallaby

The Indigenous Land Management (ILM) sector includes Traditional Owners, Indigenous Rangers and their land management organisations who undertake a wide range of cultural, environmental and natural resource management activities. In Australia’s desert regions, which includes 28 Indigenous Protected Areas, these activities may include:

• cultural and ecological knowledge transfer initiatives
• fire management
• cultural site and heritage management
• feral animal and weed control
• threatened species monitoring and recovery projects
• fee for service economic activities (e.g. bush harvest, pastoral)