Australia's first Indigenous-owned water testing lab opens in regional Qld

Australia's first Indigenous-owned water testing lab has opened, empowering more traditional owners to work on sea country and land management. 

Nyamgim Gung means "looking at water" in the Gurang language and is the namesake of the new laboratory that sits next to the Burnett River at the Bundaberg Port, 400 kilometres north of Brisbane.

The lab was built by the Gidarjil Development Corporation overseeing projects in Gladstone and Bundaberg on behalf of traditional owner groups Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng and Taribelang Bunda.

Environmental scientist and lab manager Nirali Vadgama has been working to establish the lab since 2022, achieving national and international accreditation through the National Association of Testing Authorities in September.

"That means science can thrive right here in regional areas," Ms Vadgama said.

Built with sophisticated technology and automation, Ms Vadgama said they were able to test a wide range of parameters including nutrients, trace elements, hardness and alkalinity.

"We are specialised in seawater, but we are not just limited to that. We can also do all kinds of water, that is river water, fresh water, brackish water," she said.

The lab will test water samples collected by Gidarjil's Indigenous rangers, that help them manage water quality, and provide another income stream for the not-for-profit by offering water testing services to other organisations.

Building self-determination

Gidarjil CEO Margaret Blackman described the decision to set up the testing laboratory as "out of the box" thinking. 

"We want to empower other Aboriginal organisations up and down the coast to manage their country, to manage their sea country and to build self-determination for their people.

"And that's the vision of what Gidarjil was set up for, to empower our local traditional owners, but not only that, help other traditional owner groups learn how to manage their sea country and work towards establishing something like this."

Previously, water samples collected on country were sent to Brisbane for analysis. 

Ms Blackman said having the regional lab meant faster answers for its own water quality projects and greater independence and scientific authority in caring for its waterways.

"It means our people can test our own water, on our own country, to a standard the whole world recognises,"

she said.

Ms Blackman said they were working with on-site training organisation Yalga Binbi Institute to teach young Indigenous leaders about on-country management.

"Then hopefully they might go on to be a scientist and then they can run this lab, then it'll be an all-Indigenous-powered water lab," she said.

In conjunction with the lab's accreditation, the organisation launched its first all-female ranger program Dulba Muni, meaning "strong women" in Gurang language.

Biara Baron Wellington has been helping in the water lab, logging data and collecting and preparing samples.

"It's really cool to be part of it from the start, collecting the water at the sites and then actually being able to see the data and see the health of the water and actually get to know the results firsthand," Ms Wellington said.

"It's a very culturally significant thing to do. It's what our ancestors have been doing for tens of thousands of years, so for us to carry that on and care for country to this day is really special."