The Albanese Government has placed Mithaka Cultural Landscape in southwest Queensland on the National Heritage List, in recognition of the site's outstanding Indigenous heritage value.
Spanning more than 33,000 square kilometres in Channel Country, the site sits within the traditional lands of the Mithaka People, who have cared for Country for thousands of years.
It was the heart of an extensive production, trade and exchange, and ceremonial network known as the East Lake Eyre Trade Route, which supplied the needs of numerous Aboriginal groups across north and central Australia.
In an Australian first, Traditional Owners personally wrote parts of the National Heritage nomination, putting their wishes front and centre, now and into the future.
Minister for the Environment and Water, Murray Watt said the inclusion of Mithaka Cultural Landscape on the National Heritage List recognises its outstanding significance to Australia's culture and ensures its protection for generations to come.
"By listing the Mithaka Cultural Landscape, we are supporting Traditional Owners to protect and manage the site's cultural and natural values for future generations," Minister Watt said.
"The area tells the story of some of Australia's earliest manufacturing and trade. It provides fascinating insight into village life on an important trade route, and holds an ongoing, meaningful cultural connection to the Mithaka People.
"The Mithaka Traditional Owners have been extremely hands-on in seeking this National Heritage Listing, which will protect this significant site into the future."
The Landscape features a rare and dense combination of sites that offer rich insights into past economic, social, and cultural life of Indigenous tradition.
These include ancient quarries, hearths, rare standing Indigenous houses called gunyahs, and stone arrangements, which also represent part of Australia's most extensive Indigenous trade and exchange system dating back at least 2600 years.
