Outback Academy Australia

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Outback Academy Australia

Accelerating economic freedom, employment and wellbeing for Indigenous Australians.

'Dream, connect, make a difference'

Outback Academy is a not-for-profit organisation established for the purpose of accelerating economic freedom, employment and well-being for Indigenous Australians through strategic joint business ventures; job creation and local jobs for local people; relevant training; and targeted social investments. Our team is building to work across Australia to join the dots between existing services, resou

rces and programs to ensure Indigenous jobseekers, entrepreneurs and organisations have the right support at the right time. Outback Academy grew out of a project funded by the Australian Government to pilot this approach in three communities in Victoria and WA in 2012-13. The success of the pilot project in bringing employers, government agencies and communities together to create opportunities and provide appropriate support has led to a growing network of OA collaborators across business, government, Indigenous communities, the education and training sector and commercial investors. An overwhelming number of opportunities for employment and business have emerged since the pilot project. Outback Academy has a strong interest in supporting Indigenous majority owned business around Australia, particularly in areas associated with sustainable agriculture and environmental services, including bush native foods; and hospitality and tourism. It’s intended that these businesses, stand-alone and joint ventures, will in turn create further employment opportunities for Indigenous communities using a Reconciliation model. It’s intended that the partnerships we broker will in turn provide a donation back to OA programs in recognition of the networks and support provided.

23/08/2026

Early morning start for the OOA team supporting our Red Dust Heelers in their appearance on Sunrise this morning ☀️

Plenty of brekky muffins and coffee.

14/08/2026

Our wonderful CEO Clare O'Kelly addressing some of the delegates at our National Gathering 📷

Outback Academy Australia wouldn't be where it is without the support of our funders and partners who make this work possible.

William Buckland Foundation | Paul Ramsay Foundation | Australian Government | Lotterywest | CSIRO | University of Melbourne | Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Together we are delivering for mob and Country.

🖤❤️💛

03/08/2026

Heritage Mapping with Wilman out in the Dryandra

Nothing better then doing business on country.

16/07/2026

At to be heard is to be seen.

Our Follow the Flowers members are given a voice and space to share all their wins and losses.

Doing this collectively cultivates shared learnings.

Our farms are not competing against each other.

They are competing together for the greater good of country.

17/06/2026

Wilman Dryandra Peoples Corporation is progressing its healthy country plan on Dryandra Country, Western Australia.

Chairperson Brett Hill and Board Member Raylene Storey recently visited Pumphreys Bridge, a site that acknowledges the Aboriginal families who camped in the area across generations.

"Exciting times, as we implement our healthy country plan."

Brett Hill, Chairperson.

The Corporation is supported through the WA Aboriginal Ranger Program, administered by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA). The program provides funding for employment, training, equipment and cultural planning, enabling Traditional Owners to lead land management on Country.

Research consistently shows that ranger participation contributes to improved health and wellbeing outcomes and supports the continuation of culture.

Pumphreys Bridge WA 📍

05/06/2026

Big news out of Tiwi Country.

The Mapurlarri Prawn Farm, a partnership with Tiwi Resources and Portaminni Trust, is moving out of pilot and into commercial production.

Indigenous-led across every aspect, research, cultural knowledge, and employment on Country.

This is exactly what self-determination looks like in practice. Our mob building, farming, harvesting, and producing on their own Country.

We're hoping this sets the trend.

More Traditional Owners creating their own enterprises, on their own terms. The blueprint is there.

Deadly work to everyone involved🦐

📍 Tiwi Islands, NT

Credit:

Shrimply the best. 🦐

The world can’t get enough of Australia’s prawns. And the Top End is seizing the opportunity.

For more than five years, we’ve partnered with Tiwi Resources and Portaminni Trust on the Mapurlarri Prawn Farm project to ensure Indigenous-led collaboration, research, and community engagement is at its core.

The project, which is now moving from pilot testing towards establishing a commercial tiger prawn farm on the Tiwi Islands, is guided by cultural knowledge and environmental understanding with western scientific expertise.

The prawn farm is creating long-term opportunities for employment by training and creating economic opportunities for Tiwi People on Country, benefiting future generations.

Read more about the project: https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/Articles/2026/June/Mapurlarri-Prawn-Farm-moves-from-pilot-towards-delivery-on-the-Tiwi-Islands

29/05/2026

At Outback Academy we are more than just farms.

We deploy a "greatest good for the greatest number and Country" mantra.

More training.

More jobs.

More Indigenous Ownership.

More Self Determination.

And no one left behind.

22/05/2026

Happy Friday everyone!

06/05/2026

Brother Nathan from Two Rivers Nursery shares insight into his solution to healing country and getting rid of Australia's biggest riverway pest.

European carp are Australia’s most destructive aquatic pests, often making up over 80% of the fish biomass in the Murray-Darling Basin. Known as "underwater vacuum cleaners," they constantly stir up riverbeds to feed, which muddies the water and blocks sunlight from reaching native plants. This destructive behavior kills off vital aquatic greenery that acts as a carbon sink, indirectly weakening the ecosystem's ability to mitigate climate impacts. By outcompeting native species and contributing to toxic algal blooms, these hardy invaders have significantly degraded Australia’s freshwater health, prompting the government to explore long-term biological control measures to restore the natural balance of our waterways.

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http://www.outbackacademy.org.au/

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