Australia’s national security is increasingly shaped by the resilience and presence of communities across our remote and strategically significant regions. With more than 10,000 km of vulnerable coastline, northern Australia is a crucial frontline both for border and biosecurity.
Indigenous rangers are quietly playing a vital role in this space. By protecting ecosystems, maintaining biosecurity, supporting stable communities, and contributing to intelligence and emergency response, they are a national security asset hiding in plain sight. Their integration of traditional knowledge with modern conservation methods makes them uniquely capable, yet they remain under-recognised and under-resourced.
The Indigenous Rangers Program was established in 2007 under the government of prime minister John Howard and was initially designed to integrate First Nations knowledge into land and sea management. Today, its impact has grown well beyond biodiversity protection. Indigenous rangers are often the first and sometimes the only responders along remote parts of our northern coastline.
In November 2024, Indigenous rangers rescued four Chinese asylum seekers on a remote island off the coast of the Northern Territory. In May, two more asylum seekers were found near an Indigenous community 500 km east of Darwin. These are reminders that northern Australia is not just a geographic frontier; it is a strategic one.
Indigenous rangers play a frontline role in protecting Australia’s biosecurity. Under the Indigenous Ranger Biosecurity Program, they work in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to conduct pest and disease surveillance, as well as plant mapping. Their efforts support early detection of transboundary threats that could have devastating consequences for agriculture, ecosystems and health security.
These roles will become even more important as climate change accelerates the spread of pathogens, invasive species and natural disasters. Indigenous rangers bring adaptive fire management practices, long-term ecological knowledge, and community trust—critical assets in building localised resilience.
One of the most overlooked aspects of the Indigenous Rangers Program is its contribution to community stability. Remote communities with active Indigenous rangers often have stronger engagement in education, lower rates of social harm, and higher levels of local leadership. Indigenous rangers foster economic participation, cultural continuity and gender inclusion: 33 percent of Indigenous rangers are women, and that number is set to double by 2030 under federal funding commitments.
Stable communities are resilient communities. In strategically exposed regions, that resilience is not just a social good; it is a national security imperative. Regions with strong local ownership and capacity are far less vulnerable to unrest, foreign influence, or governance vacuums. Indigenous rangers foster precisely the kind of grounded, trusted and capable presence that Australia needs in the north.
Indigenous rangers have assisted the Australian Defence Force during exercises and disaster responses, offering knowledge of terrain, ecological conditions and cultural protocols. Their constant presence provides continuity that episodic deployments cannot. In this way, Indigenous rangers serve as force multipliers, offering surveillance, situational awareness, and community liaison in areas where formal defence and border personnel are thin on the ground.
The Pilbara Regiment—a key unit within the Australian Army’s Regional Force Surveillance Group—operates across 1.3 million square km in northwestern Australia, covering the Pilbara, the Mid West, and the Gascoyne. This region hosts some of our nation’s most critical defence and economic infrastructure. As geopolitical competition intensifies across the Indo-Pacific, protecting this infrastructure is central to national resilience.
The Pilbara Regiment includes a significant number of Indigenous soldiers from local communities. Their understanding of Country enhances operational effectiveness, especially in remote surveillance and reconnaissance. Their cultural fluency also enables respectful engagement with Traditional Owners, reinforcing the ADF’s reconciliation and recruitment goals.
Notably, the Pilbara Regiment collaborates with Indigenous rangers across its area of operations. These partnerships range from informal information sharing to joint activities and mutually beneficial training opportunities. Indigenous rangers’ year-round presence, grounded knowledge and environmental monitoring capacities are invaluable in maintaining awareness and trust in regions with limited state visibility.
Despite their contributions, Indigenous rangers are not formally resourced or integrated into national security frameworks. They lack communications infrastructure, mobility assets and clarity over their role in responding to illegal activity. Nor do they receive the recognition afforded to more traditional security actors.
Rather than extending overstretched agencies deeper into remote regions, the government could more effectively support a formalised, interagency-backed model that enables Indigenous rangers to contribute more directly to surveillance, reporting and emergency preparedness. This approach would be cost-effective and culturally grounded, and would leverage capabilities already in place.
Indigenous rangers are already contributing to border security, biosecurity, defence readiness and disaster response. Their roles should be formally recognised and supported within Australia’s national security architecture.
Northern Australia is central to the nation’s security. This does not mean militarising the Indigenous Rangers Program. Rather, it’s about ensuring Indigenous rangers have the tools, training and interagency support to do what they are already doing, only more effectively.