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Aboriginal Culture and Healing Flood Recovery Grants Program
The Aboriginal Culture and Healing Flood Recovery Grant Program offered a targeted, Aboriginal-led recovery model for addressing the disproportionate impact of the October 2022 Victorian floods on Aboriginal Communities. By prioritising long-term, culturally grounded recovery, the initiative showcased the unique value of empowering Aboriginal organisations and communities.
Traditionally, government provides grants directly to Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations and groups, a process that often strains local capacity due to administrative requirements and can lead to misalignment with government and community systems. To address this, Emergency Recovery Victoria (now Emergency Management Victoria) partnered with the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations (FVTOC). Leveraging FVTOC’s expertise in administering nation-building, traditional foods grant programs and community capacity-building, the program successfully
applied self-determination principles to ensure recovery from the October 2022 Floods was both culturally appropriate and community-driven.
Funded projects included remote sensing for cultural heritage assessments, training Traditional Owners in waterway restoration, repairing infrastructure for Aboriginal businesses, developing emergency preparedness kits for Elders, and undertaking Country-healing activities that supported trauma recovery. Through case studies, leadership interviews and program analysis, the initiative identified key design considerations for effective Aboriginal-led recovery. Findings highlighted that community-driven decision-making, alignment with Whole of Country Plans, and integration with existing services and cultural priorities significantly improved recovery outcomes.
By embedding Aboriginal-led implementation within existing emergency management and recovery frameworks, the grants program achieved measurable social, cultural and environmental benefits. This work contributes to broader disaster management and resilience-building discourse, offering actionable insights for developing inclusive, culturally responsive recovery frameworks that enable Aboriginal self-determination and strengthen community resilience after natural disasters.
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