The Queensland Government has a new strategy to preserve Indigenous languages. 

In an effort to revive and fortify the important cultural history, the Queensland government has introduced a plan that includes allocating over $238,000 in grants to 25 organisations dedicated to preserving languages.

Queensland, once home to approximately 150 traditional languages, has seen a significant decline in these languages, leaving only around 20. 

Leeanne Enoch, the state’s Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, has underlined the significance of preserving these languages in the context of the Path to Treaty process. 

“Ensuring children learn Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages is an integral part of preservation,” she said.

“It forms a sense of continuity between the leaders of the past and the leaders of tomorrow.

“Children in Lockhart River have already benefited from Indigenous Languages Grant funding for storybooks in the Umpila and Kuuku Ya'u language.”

There are more than 250 Indigenous languages in Australia but only a handful are still spoken regularly across different generations within communities. 

As part of the new initiative, 25 organisations in Queensland will receive funding for various projects, including Indigenous language school signage, language cards, multimedia resources for language instruction, recording and translating traditional songs, creating new language books, and hosting art yarning sessions.

The strategy encompasses 40 distinct actions, including using Indigenous languages for place names, supporting research at the Queensland State Archives to identify languages and language groups, and offering Indigenous Language Grants to community groups to facilitate language programs.

The plan continues the Indigenous Language Grants program, which has been instrumental in supporting community-based language initiatives across the state. This latest round of grants should contribute to the preservation of 42 languages.

The strategy, slated for implementation over the next three years, builds upon previous efforts between 2020 and 2022. It includes both new actions and the continuation of several from the previous strategy.

Some of the new measures include grants for artists to promote First Nations languages through community-based activities, public libraries offering tools and professional development for language documentation, and collaboration between state schools and Indigenous communities to incorporate Indigenous languages into the classroom.