The people of the Mallee are at the heart of the current and future management of our natural, productive and cultural landscapes.
Population
The Mallee is home to over 64,000 people. The largest centre is Mildura and its surrounds (Irymple, Merbein and Red Cliffs), which with almost 45,000 people represents the key service and economic hub of the region. Other population centres of the region; including Robinvale, Ouyen, Sea Lake, Hopetoun, Murrayville and Birchip; make up about 15 percent of the population (2).
The region’s population grew by 1.6 percent between 2001 and 2006, 0.7 percent between 2006 and 2011, and a further 3.6 percent between 2011 and 2016. This growth was uneven across the region however, with strong growth in urban Mildura, matched by parallel losses from smaller communities (3).
Overall, there are significant variations in population density across the region; ranging from over 2,000 people per km2 in the urban Mildura area, to less than 0.2 people per km2 across much of the dryland farming area.
The Mallee has a strong Indigenous heritage with some 3.8 percent of the total regional population, or 2,473 people, identifying themselves as Indigenous in the 2016 census; a significantly greater proportion than that of Victoria as a whole at 0.8 percent, or regional Victoria at 1.6 percent.
A diverse multi-cultural population has also helped to shape the region over the years and continues to provide many social and cultural benefits. While English is the first language of more than 81 percent of the population, the remaining 19 percent of the population speak another language at home including Italian (1.8%), Pacific (1.1%), Chinese (1%) and Mon-Khmer (0.8%).
Education
Rates of school completion in the Mallee region are lower than those for regional Victoria as a whole. For example, Year 12 completion is approximately 27 percent, compared with 32 percent for all of regional Victoria. Tertiary education in the Mallee region is also lower than that for regional Victoria as a whole (4).
Employment
The 2016 census identified that 25,574 people were employed across the region. Agriculture is the main industry sector covering approximately 19 percent of those employed. Other important industries include Health Care and Social Assistance (16%) and Retail Trade (14%).
While employment in the agricultural sector declined from 25 percent in 2001 to 20 percent in 2006, it remained relatively stable over the next ten years at 19 percent in 2016. Projections of change in employment to 2026 suggest that improvements in technology and efficiency, combined with growth in other sectors, will further reduce the proportion of people employed in agriculture in the future.
Wellbeing
Many communities in the Mallee are experiencing significant socio-economic disadvantage. All of the Local Government Areas within the region rank under Victoria’s average socio-economic status on the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Disadvantage. However, community connectedness in the region is strong. The proportion of people reporting feeling part of the community, having reliable social support and volunteering in community activities is significantly greater than the average for regional Victoria (5).
Land Managers
Some 62 percent (2.4 million ha) of the Mallee is private land, with individual landholders being primarily responsible for its management. There are currently 1,599 rural land holdings across both the dryland and irrigation industries, representing a 33 percent decrease since 2011 (6).
To keep pace with declining terms of trade (ratio between prices received for produce and prices paid for inputs) farmers are striving to increase productivity and scale across both dryland and irrigated industries. This has led to fewer numbers of farmers and an increase in larger holdings in the Mallee.
The average age of rural landholders has however remained stable at 55 years, which is consistent with trends for regional Victoria as a whole (7), and indicates some generational change is occurring in the farming community across the region. The average length of time landholders have been managing their land is 35 years.
The remaining 38 percent of the region is public land, the majority of which is managed by Parks Victoria and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. This includes large areas, such as Wyperfeld National Park, which are managed in partnership with Traditional Owners under a co-operative management agreement.
Seven Local Government Areas (Mildura, Swan Hill, Buloke, Yarriambiack, Hindmarsh, West Wimmera, Gannawarra), VicTrack, VicRoads and a number of Crown Land Committees of Management also have land management responsibilities.
(2) Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016. Census of Population and Housing, Age in Single Years, http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/Data
(3) Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016. Census of Population and Housing, Age in Single Years, http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/Data
(4) Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016. Census of Population and Housing, Highest Year of School Completed, http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/Data
(5) Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016. Census of Population and Housing, Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), Australia, 2016. http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/2033.0.55.0012016?OpenDocument
(6) Australian Bureau of Statistics 2015-16 Agricultural Census, http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/7121.0Main+Features12015-16?OpenDocument
(7) Australian Bureau of Statistics 2015-16 Agricultural Census, https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/7121.0Main+Features12015-16?OpenDocument
The Mallee has a long history of building effective partnerships between all sectors of our Natural Resource Management community; including individual farmers, industry groups, community based groups, Traditional Owners and government agencies and authorities.
Community
The Mallee region has 25 active Landcare groups with over 500 rural properties having at least one person who is a member of Landcare. This equates to approximately 22 percent of all rural land holdings. Collectively, these groups facilitate activities that address local and landscape scale issues, across both public and private land, through works such as revegetation, pest plant and animal management, soil health and waterway management. They also build skills and social connections in the community through training and events.
There are also a suite of Community Natural Resource Management (NRM) focused groups that make a significant contribution to the management of our natural landscapes. These include ‘Friends of’ groups, Community Reference groups, and Citizen Science based groups such as the Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group.
Partnerships with recreational groups that utilise the region’s natural landscape (e.g. angling groups such as OzFish Unlimited) support many conservation and enhancement efforts across the region.
Industry
The presence of industry groups such as Dried Fruits Australia, Citrus Australia Limited, Australian Table Grapes Association, Murray Valley Winegrowers, Almond Board of Australia, Mallee Sustainable Farming and Birchip Cropping Group in the region provides landholders with access to the knowledge and resources of locally-relevant community-driven organisations committed to the ongoing development of a competitive and sustainable agricultural sector.
Traditional Owners and Aboriginal Community
Traditional Owner rights and interests in the management and healing of Country is a core consideration in the application of partnership approaches to NRM. Traditional Owner groups include Barengi Gadjin Land Council, First People of the Millewa Mallee Aboriginal Corporation, Gilbie Aboriginal Corporation, Murray Valley Aboriginal Corporation, Latji Latji Mumthelang, Nyeri Nyeri, Tati Tati, Wadi Wadi, Weki Weki, Wemba Wamba and Werigia.
The diversity in Aboriginal representation across the region is also recognised, with input from broader stakeholders and partnership opportunities supported through community based forums and reference groups.
Non-Government Organisations
Organisations such as BirdLife Australia and Greening Australia are key delivery partners in regional efforts to conserve threatened bird species and restore native vegetation.
Government
Local government is a key regional stakeholder and delivery partner. The Mallee encompasses seven Local Government Areas including all of the Rural City of Mildura, most of the Rural City of Swan Hill (not including the city of Swan Hill), the northern half of the Buloke Shire and Yarriambiack Shire, the northern third of Hindmarsh Shire and small sections of West Wimmera Shire and Gannawarra Shire. The Mildura and Swan Hill Rural City Councils together account for 90 percent of the region’s population and 70 percent of the land area.
State government agencies and authorities also form a core component of our regional partnerships. These include the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR), Parks Victoria (PV), the Mallee Catchment Management Authority (Mallee CMA), Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water (GWMWater), Lower Murray Water (LMW), Goulburn-Murray Water (G-MW), First Peoples–State Relations, Trust for Nature (TfN), Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA), Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH), VicRoads, and VicTrack.
Neighbours
The management of our natural, cultural and productive landscapes requires effective cross-border partnerships and coordinated effort.
Within Victoria we border two other Catchment Management Authority (CMA) regions: Wimmera and North Central. In both cases we share different portions of the same river basins; with Wimmera, the Wimmera River Basin; and with North Central, the Avoca River Basin. The Mallee contains ephemeral northward flowing effluent streams from both systems including Yarriambiack, Outlet, Tyrrell and Lalbert Creeks. Significant remnants of the nationally threatened Buloke Woodlands vegetation community, Wyperfeld National Park, Big Desert State Forest, and large tracts of agricultural land also extend across these borders.
Uniquely for a Victorian Natural Resource Management (NRM) region, we also share our borders with two Australian states: South Australia and New South Wales. As with Victoria, both of these states have a range of entities with NRM responsibilities. These include CMAs, Traditional Owners, Landscape Boards, Water Authorities and a range of state government departments. Rivers, wetlands, agricultural land, biodiversity, cultural heritage and communities all interact at this tri-state level.
The breadth, scale and complexity of this cross-border relationship requires effective partnerships in diverse fields such as environmental watering, agricultural land management, soil health research, groundwater resource management, salinity interception and threatened species interventions.
As neighbours, regardless of our status and individual responsibilities, it is important to recognise, and where possible, integrate each other’s efforts to protect and enhance the natural, productive and cultural landscapes contained within these shared systems.
