Rangers dedicated to looking after Country under the direction of Traditional Owners have used a Territory Government grant to enhance their work skills, including recovering 4WD vehicles in what can be remote country.

The Arafura Swamp Rangers Aboriginal Corporation, which is based in Ramingining in Arnhem Land, accessed just over $40,000 in funding under the Aboriginal Responsive Skilling Grants program.

It supported 20 Aboriginal rangers to complete a skill set from a conservation and land management training package.

ASRAC chief executive Helen Truscott said applying for the grant was simple.

“Finding funding for training can be difficult,” she said.

“When the next town is 600kms away, it costs a lot to bring trainers and staff together. Sending one or 2 staff to town doesn’t have the needed reach."

Helen said the grant enabled on country training to ensure maximum benefits from the grant.

“Without continual training and upskilling of staff the organisation cannot grow and cannot meet its objectives,” she said.

“ASRAC performs in very remote and at times challenging situations where safety is so important.

“This training helped rangers gain skills to do their job safely, including 4WD recovery, complex 4WD operations and quad bike operations.

“By using our own equipment - quads and vehicles - in our work environments it meant rangers learned skills and techniques most relevant to their job," Helen explained.

“They learnt how to safely use the gear they need every day and how to handle situations like vehicle recovery in black mud billabongs, which are real and unique situations the rangers find themselves in.

“Training not delivered in this way could not provide this and prepare rangers adequately for their roles.”

The Aboriginal Responsive Skilling Grants program supports accredited and non-accredited training to improve work skills, open the way to better employment pathways or opportunities, and obtain nationally recognised qualifications.

Funding may cover the entire cost of training for people looking for work or up to 50% of the cost of training existing workers.