Water is Life Traditional Owner Forum

September 2026

Water is Life: Traditional Owner Access to Water Roadmap is the Victorian Government’s commitment to increasing Traditional Owner decision-making, resources and access to water. Each year, Traditional Owners from across Victoria come together to oversee how it is being implemented. As at 31 August 2025, 9,778 megalitres of water was held by Traditional Owner and Aboriginal organisations, of which 7,160 megalitres had been returned to Traditional Owners through government commitments.

In September 2026, Professor Kerry Arabena was Master of Ceremonies for the Water is Life Traditional Owner Oversight Forum, a two-day statewide gathering held at Larnangurrak in Bendigo, on Dja Dja Wurrung Country. The Forum brought together Traditional Owners from Nations across Victoria, alongside staff and decision makers from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, to oversee the implementation of the roadmap. Kerry opened the Forum with a single question for the two days: what rights does the water have in your Country? She designed a culturally grounded process in which rules of engagement were given as cultural protocols, every Nation had equal time to respond to the government’s progress report as a group, and Traditional Owner-only sessions gave Nations space to set their own direction. The result was a forum where hard truths were told safely and turned into clear priorities for action.

Key words

Traditional Owner access to water, Aboriginal water program, Water is Life Roadmap, facilitation and Master of Ceremonies, cultural protocols, self-determination, Country and environment, Dja Dja Wurrung Country, Victorian Government