Help support joint management in Purnululu
Purnululu is celebrated the world over for its geology. Its Traditional Owners are still seeking a say in how their own Country is managed — joint management promised in 1987, and never delivered.
The petition is to the WA Legislative Council. Live in WA? Add your name. Just visiting? Share it with a West Australian who can sign.
A World Heritage Area without a voice
Purnululu is one of a small number of places in Australia recognised for its significance by UNESCO as a World Heritage site, inscribed in 2003. It is internationally recognised and protected for its landscape — but the people whose families have looked after this Country for tens of thousands of years still have no formal role in how Purnululu is managed.
Joint management between the State and Traditional Owners was promised when the park was declared. Today, nearly half — 42.8% — of Western Australia's Parks and Wildlife managed conservation estate is jointly managed with Traditional Owners. Purnululu, a World Heritage Area, is not. A petition to the WA Parliament is asking the State to finally honour that promise.
Joint management was anticipated in Purnululu's own World Heritage nomination, more than twenty years ago:
“Today, the visitor to Purnululu National Park has little opportunity to see, to appreciate or to understand these values that are integral to this aspect of the Park. In the future, after … the establishment of a joint management regime and Aboriginal people are able to act as the guides and interpreters of this place, these values will become an essential and integral component of the visitor experience.”— UNESCO World Heritage Nomination File 1094, 2003
Three questions the State hasn't answered
Why is there still no joint management? Purnululu has been a national park since 1987, and its original management plan says the estate will be jointly managed. It isn't.
Why does the State fund joint management with other Traditional Owners, but commit nothing to the Traditional Owners of a World Heritage Area?
Why does Purnululu still run on a management plan dated 1995–2005 — with no relevance to 2026 or the 2022 Native Title determination? How hard is it to fund an update, and does the State really care?
“You can't separate the people from the land.”
Add your voice
Sign the petition →Every signature supports Traditional Owner input into the management of their Native Title lands in Purnululu. The petition is open until 3 September 2026. If you can't sign, please share this page with someone who can.