The Aboriginal-managed Wandoo Aboriginal Corporation provided employment, training and business opportunities for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders in Albury-Wodonga & district through the administration of the ATSIC funded Community Development Employment Program (CDEP).

In addition to this, the organisation generated income, and employment, through the operations of the following businesses:

• Wholesale Nursery (sold an average of 70,000 native trees, shrubs, grasses & some bush tucker for bush regeneration each year)
• Fencing & Bush Regeneration contract services
• Cultural Heritage (site surveys, site monitoring and, through a partnership with Parklands, established ‘Burraja the Journey’ Cultural Education Centre)
• Park Ranger program with Parklands

With the winding up of ATSIC and CDEP programs, Wandoo Aboriginal Corporation also closed.

Parklands would like to acknowledge the significant contribution of the CDEP team over the seven years that they were hosted with Parklands.  We also acknowledge the contribution of 22 Aboriginal staff who were offered additional employment during this time as opportunities were generated.

Their legacy was significant, for example:

• McFarlanes Hill and Huon Hill are two of the most popular bush reserves in the region in terms of park usage, thanks to walking tracks constructed in the steep and inaccessible hill country.
• Many of the plants purchased from Wandoo Nursery are now well established wildlife corridors, such as Heathwood Park on Bungambrawartha Creek.
• The significant volumes of woody weeds removed from sites such as Eastern Hill and Padman-Mates Park have transformed what were previously impenetrable wastelands.

Given the significant contribution of this valued workforce and the personal growth witnessed in participants, Parklands has included details of this former partnership to demonstrate it’s value and to express our appreciation to former staff and participants.  Thank you!