In September 2025, hundreds of people gathered from across Northern Australia to join the inaugural Australia's Great North conference, hosted by the Environment Centre NT, Environs Kimberley, Arid Lands Environment Centre and Cairns and Far North Queensland Environment Centre.

This landmark conference brought together campaigners, researchers, land managers, peak bodies, Traditional Owners, artists, and community members from across the north committed to a future where northern Australia’s communities, nature and climate can flourish in symbiosis. The inaugural Australia’s Great North Conference in Garamilla (Darwin) was a showcase of community storytelling, deep collaboration and environmental struggles for justice.

After days of moving presentations and challenging dialogues, we developed the below conference declaration.  

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We, the delegates of Australia’s Great North Conference, gathered on unceded Larrakia Country in Garramilla/Darwin, acknowledge with deep respect the custodianship of the lands and waters of Australia’s Great North by Traditional Owners, who have cared for the Country for tens of thousands of years. We honour their sovereignty, cultural leadership, knowledge and enduring connection to the country.

Australia’s Great North is globally significant and home to some of the most extraordinary natural and cultural values on earth: the world’s largest remaining savanna ecosystem, pristine coastlines, extensive and intact wetlands, the last free-flowing rivers in Australia, and First Nations cultures that continue to guide us today. These landscapes and communities are of global significance that warrant global protection.

Yet Australia’s Great North faces an existential threat from the dual and compounding climate crisis and biodiversity collapse, which is inherently intertwined with the displacement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples and their knowledge and cultural practices. Ongoing colonial practices, militarism and the neoliberal capitalist economy are driving increasing carbon emissions, raising temperatures, intensifying disasters, and species extinctions which are already reshaping the North and without urgent action it will become largely uninhabitable. That will be fatal to the communities in the North, where Country is a part of people and people are a part of Country. 

For 150 years, promises of prosperity built on large-scale extraction have left behind damaged landscapes, disempowered communities, and fragile economies. The north cannot afford another century of the same. For too long, promises of prosperity have come at the expense of Country, community, and culture.

It is time to build a new story - one where Australia’s Great North leads the way with strength, wisdom, and integrity.

The solutions to these crises must be led by and from the north: grounded in Country, culture, science and the wisdom of local communities, and designed to strengthen resilience, justice, and care for future generations. 

Together, we share a vision for a thriving, just, and resilient Great North.

We believe in a future where:

• Country is protected; the natural and cultural values of the North are protected and biodiversity, cultural heritage, and a healthy country endure for generations to come.
• Democracy is thriving; Communities across Australia are active participants and champions of democracy, ensuring that decisions about the North are transparent, inclusive, and respect the rights of First Nations peoples and local communities.
• Communities flourish; Economies are rooted in community well-being, supporting livelihoods that are sustainable, just, and resilient, rather than extractive and short-term.

Together, we are carrying forward a shared purpose:

• Meeting as a collective, to review progress, share knowledge, and strengthen alliances.
• Working across sectors, regions, and cultures to ensure that collaboration, solidarity, and mutual support are at the heart of our efforts.
• Acting with courage and urgency so that Australia’s Great North can remain a place of hope, strength, and inspiration for all

We invite governments, industries, civil society, and communities to walk with us.

We call on all levels of government to:

• Recognise and protect the outstanding natural and cultural values of Australia’s Great North and place Indigenous and western science at the heart of decision making.
• Enact reforms that reflect the unique nature of this region—including strong environmental laws, a water trigger for all developments, and permanent protections for free-flowing rivers and groundwater dependent ecosystems.
• Invest in locally driven, culturally informed solutions that prioritise long-term wellbeing over short-term gain.
• Expose the undeniable links between fossil fuel extraction, climate change, and their catastrophic impacts on nature, culture, and the economy — and take urgent, honest action to end them.
• Recognise and act on the deep connection between human wellbeing, intact environments, and justice and translate that understanding into bold, systemic change

The future of Australia will be decided in its Great North.
Let’s shape it together—with wisdom, care, and the courage to imagine something better.

Signed,
Delegates of Australia’s Great North Conference