About

Background Briefing

What Is BMEET

BMEET is an organisation established by Barkindji and Maraura elders in Dareton, Wentworth and Gerard to provide culturally appropriate training and employment in cultural and natural resource management of country for the young people of their communities. It is to provide a pathway out of social welfare, crime, drugs and alcohol through meaningful and appropriate employment.

BMEET has shown that it is a contract works organisation that can deliver appropriate vocationally oriented training and employment to a highly disadvantaged community.

Our Objective - Bringing country back to life

Our Output - Appropriate people managing country appropriately and holistically

Outcome – Better managed country and a healthy community

LINKS

BMEET'S VIDEOS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Apj1JYVplw

ENVIRONMENTAL WATERING VIDOE – MDWWG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNC8f3qwiWw

Fish Habitat Project
watch

Indigenous Heritage Project
watch

ABC INTERVIEW

www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2013/05/22/3765182.htm

SUNRAYSIA DAILY ARTICLE – SITE SPITE

http://www.sunraysiadaily.com.au/story/1596903/site-spite-ride-motorbike-riders-deliberately-desecrate-cultural-burial-areas/

What BMEET Has Done

BMEET has proven itself to be able to create good role models in our community, to pass on important information about culture, heritage and the environment.
BMEET’s aim is to provide ongoing work for young Indigenous people in Cultural and Natural Resource Management (CNRM) on a range of public land in the Dareton and Wentworth areas to develop biodiversity, create corridors for wildlife, manage pest plant and animals and preserve and protect culturally significant sites.
Our work provides social and emotional well being support for young people, especially young men, in conjunction with the CNRM programs to give them a sense of their cultural identity and the value and possibility of work and employment.
BMEET wants to be funded to research and manage the high value national cultural heritage sites around Fletchers Lake that are conservatively estimated to be around the 15,000 – 20,000 years old
BMEET wishes to continue to develop our partnerships with scientific and technical organisations, like the Murray Darling Freshwater Research Centre, the Murray Darling Wetlands Working Group to develop the technical skill base of our work teams to be able to bring together Science and Tradition for a better approach to the sustainable management of land in this region – and the country
BMEET has a model that trains and develops an Indigenous model of caring for country that incorporates traditional ecological knowledge and the best of the west. It works and can be taught in other communities.

Our Model

Since its operational commencement in August 2011, BMEET has shown that;

It has a great model for delivering vocational training and employment to the Indigenous community that is based on;

putting the responsibility back on the community and the workers to deliver outcomes
Bringing together traditional ecological knowledge and the authority and responsibility of elders in the community with a range of scientific and technical knowledge and expertise in ecology to create a unique method for managing country
Being able to implement the model into a range of land management and land use systems to improve outcomes for all
a ‘Smart And Skilled’ approach, developing enhanced skills amongst Indigenous workers so that they can continually raise the levels of work they can do, their relevance in mainstream management and the levels of careers they can aspire to.
a continuing responsibility by the organization (BMEET), for the ongoing employment of its trainees. This is because it is a community organization, headed by community elders and employing principally Aboriginal people in management, administration and work crews. You cannot divorce training from employment or people are given false hopes and expectations that lead to heightened sense of frustration and abandonment when

Using this model developed over the last two years, BMEET have created a crew of workers that want to work and will do whatever it takes in terms of attendance, punctuality, training and interest to achieve their goals of taking on sustainable employment.

There have been significant positive benefits of this small group to the whole community as role models, particularly for younger people in the community, to see that there is a possibility for a positive future. This has had a major positive effect in the community in terms of reduction of anti-social behavior and more importantly giving a future for the young, especially those still in school.

BMEET Projects 2011 – 2014

Project Date Agency
Training Certificate 2 August 2011 - February DEEWR
Agriculture 2012

Australian Inland April 2012 - November Murray Darling
Botanical Gardens 2012 CMA

Training Certificate 3 March 2012 - November DEEWR
Agriculture 2012

Elders Housing February 2012 - July Murdi Paaki
Maintenance 2012 Housing

Namatjira Avenue November 2012 GWAHS
Housing Cleanup

Bone seed Weed May 2012 Wentworth Shire
Cleanup Council

Fletchers Lake July 2012 - July 2013 Caring For Our
Tradition - Meets Country Open Call
Science

Fletchers Lake May 2013 Murray CMA
Fencing

Namatjiri Avenue May 2013 Murray CMA
Reserve Landscaping
And Hothouse

Fletchers Lake - Pest July 2013 - September National Landcare
& Animal Control Grants

Business Support & July 2013 - September DEEWR
Enterprise Development 2013

Mine Site August 2013 Crystal Mining
Revegetation

Social & Emotional Well October 2013 - December Coomealla Health
Being Camps For Men & 2013 Aboriginal Corporation
Woman

Track Repair & August 2013 - October Friends Of Kings
Maintenance 2013 Billabong

Pest Plant & Animal August 2013 - March Murray CMA
Management at 2014
Fletchers Lake

Horticultural Training March 2014 - May 2014 Murray CMA
Project

Fletchers Lake Reserve December 2013 - June Department Of Prime
Indigenous Ranger 2014 Minister And Cabinet
Program - Working on
Country