Throughout the world, there is growing recognition of the important role Indigenous people play in natural resource management and conservation. Indigenous Land and Sea Management Programs (ILSMPs; which provide funds to Indigenous people to support Indigenous land management activities) are also known to generate social and economic benefits, although relative few of these co‐benefits have been quantified. Using northern Australia as a case study, we analysed data on ILSMP expenditure within three regional input–output tables, learning more about the size and distribution of their associated regional economic benefits. We found ILSMPs make a significant contribution to regional economies—with multipliers commonly exceeding that of other key regional industries such as agriculture and mining. We also found ILSMP expenditures make a larger contribution to Indigenous household incomes than they do to non‐Indigenous incomes—thus helping to close the (income) gap. They will continue to do so, provided the proportion of ILSMP money spent on Indigenous (compared to non‐Indigenous) incomes does not fall below a threshold amount. Rather than finding evidence of a trade‐off between socio‐ecological and financial/economic goals, our results suggest ILSMPs, known for their ecological importance, can also make a vitally important contribution to economic development in rural areas.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	closing the gap, indigenous advancement, indigenous land and sea management programs, input–output analysis, northern Australia development
Research Division:	Human Society
Research Group:	Policy and administration
Research Field:	Economic development policy
Objective Division:	Economic Framework
Objective Group:	Macroeconomics
Objective Field:	Economic growth
UTAS Author:	Stoeckl, N (Professor Natalie Stoeckl)
ID Code:	136201
Year Published:	2018
Web of Science® Times Cited:	13
Deposited By:	College Office - CoBE
Deposited On:	2019-12-05
Last Modified:	2022-08-29
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