Dept of Climate Change, Energy, Environment & Water
As of today, 1 April 2026, the Indigenous Protected Area program will be managed by the Department of Climate Change, Energy and the Environment (DCCEEW) in partnership with the Community Grant Hub.
The program was previously jointly managed with the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA).
IPA providers now have a dedicated DCCEEW project officer.
This change will make things:
- simpler for providers
- easier to manage.
Existing projects will have their agreements managed by DCCEEW in partnership with the Community Grants Hub (CGH).
The change is administrative and does not affect:
- on-Country work and activities
- funding
- dedications
- management plans
- agreements
- the Indigenous Ranger Program, which remains managed by NIAA.
The Australian Government is committed to the long-term success and growth of the IPA program. There are 96 dedicated IPAs across Australia covering more than 115.3 million hectares of land and sea.
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