Council members represent Traditional Owners, environmental and agricultural industry groups, water industry experts, landscape architects, Birrarung community groups and other members selected for their specific skills.

The composition of the council is specified in the Yarra River Protection (Wilip-gin Birrarung Muron) Act 2017. Our members bring a range of knowledge and industry experience to the council and a passion for caring for Birrarung. Members are appointed by the Minister for Water.

Birrarung Council members

Uncle Andrew is a proud descendant of the Wurundjeri clans of the Woi-wurrung people and identifies as an Aboriginal Muslim Australian. Uncle Andrew’s working life has been in the service of Aboriginal communities, Aboriginal community controlled health, and self-determination.

Uncle Andrew has held numerous positions across a range of organisations and has held (or currently holds) numerous board and committee positions.

In December 2019, Uncle Andrew was elected to the First Peoples Assembly Victoria as the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung reserved seat member and was re-elected in July 2023 to continue the work on Statewide Treaty.

Aunty Diane Kerr is a Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elder, and a well-known advocate in the health, welfare, childcare, education, and land rights arenas.

She has sat on committees advising the Royal Women’s Hospital, served as Director and Chair of the Board of Native Title Services Victoria, and also sat on the Victorian Aboriginal Working Group.

Uncle Dave Wandin is a Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elder and Cultural Practices Manager (Fire and Water) at the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.

He is a recognised leader in the promotion and execution of cultural (cool) burns in Victoria. He has also sat on the Waterways of the West Ministerial Advisory Committee.

Uncle Shane Clarke is a highly respected Elder and valued member of the Bunurong Land Council. He has provided great service and dedication to the land council and community.

Uncle Shane has a wealth of knowledge regarding Aboriginal culture including landcare management, culture practices, language, and storytelling.

For many years Uncle Shane has worked and been involved in cultural heritage management. He has also held various positions within several Aboriginal community organisations.

Zena Cumpston is a Barkandji woman who works as an artist, writer, storyteller, consultant and curator. She is passionate about plants and seeks out projects that empower community and Country.

Zena recently co-wrote the 'Growing on Country' resource, a unique space to consider food sovereignty, fostering fertile conditions for social and environmental justice and change.

She was a co-author of the Federal State of the Environment Report (2021) and the highly popular book Plants; past, present, future as part of the First Knowledges series. She regularly shares her art practice as part of exhibitions and educational resources both in Australia and internationally.

Sandra is an independent environmental consultant specialising in waterway and coastal management, and a Sessional Member of Planning Panels Victoria.

She is a former President of the Australian and New Zealand Geomorphology Group, an Honorary Life Member of the River Basin Management Society and a Fellow of the Peter Cullen Water and Environment Trust.

Previous government board roles have included the Victorian Catchment Management Council. Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority and Trust for Nature.

David is a planner, landscape architect and heritage advisor with over 40 years’ experience in academia, research, and practice, with strengths in First Nations’ Country values and care, regional planning, statutory and strategic planning, urban design, and cultural heritage.

From 2010 to 2020 he was Professor of Planning & Landscape Architecture at Deakin University, from 2020 to 2022 oversighted the strategic planning and urban design activities and engagements of the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.

He continues to practice in the Country/planning/design intersection assisting Corporations, and design/planning practices.

Erin has worked in water law and policy since 2002, in both the private and public sectors. She is recognised internationally for her research on the legal rights of Rivers and Indigenous water justice.

She is currently a Senior Lecturer and ARC Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne Law School, where she is working with Indigenous Peoples in Aotearoa, the USA, Australia, Sweden, Finland and Norway on the role of treaties in achieving water justice.

James is a professional scientist who has worked for CSIRO, industry and research institutes working in diverse areas from agriculture to microbiological safety, and most recently he has worked at DEECA in areas such as their Open Spaces program.

James has volunteered or served on the boards of several conservation organisations involved in revegetation and National Park advancement.

Alexandra is a Registered Landscape Architect with over 25 years’ experience in the private and public sectors. Her career has a strong focus on urban water management and exploring the importance of the community’s connection to place through water.

She is a member of the City of Melbourne Parks and Gardens Committee and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects ‘Connection to Country’ Victorian Sub-committee.

Bronwyn is Finance Manager at her family’s apple and pear orchard / Angus cattle grazing enterprise on Arthurs Creek. She is an active participant in Melbourne Water’s Stream Frontage Management program and is a life member of the Strathewen Landcare Group.

Matthew Sykes is an international environmental leader with 18 years experience learning from and working with Australian First Nations communities. Matthew believes in the power of combining Indigenous and Western knowledge systems in putting nature at the heart of decision-making.

Since 2020, he has partnered with the Birrarung as a living stakeholder through his consultancy Regeneration Projects, an actor in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

Matthew is the Co-Founder & Program Director of Swimmable Cities, a platform working to create more liveable, resilient and prosperous waterfront communities across 100+ cities around the world.

He also sits on the International Federation of Landscape Architects' Sponge Cities working group, founded by the late Dr Kongjian Yu.

How we work

The Birrarung Council understands that the way it works is as important as what it achieves. We commit to being independent, transparent, accountable, consultative, expert and considered.

We developed the Walking Together Statement to set out the way we operate as the voice for Birrarung, advocating on behalf of the River in planning and policy contexts so that the River may be heard by all.

The Birrarung is alive, has a heart, a spirit and is part of our Dreaming. We have lived with and known the Birrarung since the beginning. We will always know the Birrarung. Since our beginning it has been known that we have an obligation to keep the Birrarung alive and healthy— for all generations to come. We need to share, we need to listen and we need to find a way of coming together to do this. The strength of the Council is that it brings Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together. The Birrarung Council recognises the unique relationship between the Birrarung and its people. The Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung are the people of the river, and the Bunurong are the people of the mouth of the Birrarung. Their songs have been carried by the water from the mountains to the sea for tens of thousands of years. The Birrarung Council is the voice of the Birrarung, the Yarra River. We advocate on behalf of the Birarrung, which means that we speak for the river in policy and planning contexts so that the river can be heard by all. But we also have a more profound obligation. As the river’s voice, our role is to enable and support others to communicate with the river, as a single, living, and integrated entity. Doing so requires us to be in good relations with the river, and with each other. We commit to working together to protect and care for the Birrarung. We are a small part of the long story of the Birrarung, but our stewardship and our actions will shape the future of the river. We recognise that water is a source of infinite healing, and that in caring for the Birrarung, the river also cares for us in return. The experience and expertise of each member of the Birrarung Council is different, and valued. Like the tributaries of the Birrarung, we join our varied experience and expertise together to form a single, integrated voice for the river. We commit to ensuring that the Birrarung Council reflects the cultural diversity of the community of the Birrarung, and to creating a culturally safe place for us all to work together. The Birrarung Council recognises Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong as sovereign peoples who have never ceded their rights to lands and waters. We will work together to strengthen their voices as custodians of the Birrarung. We recognise that we have reciprocal and mutual obligations to each other, and to the Birrarung. As Council members, we recognise that we are at the beginning of a journey, but we commit to walking that path together.

The Birrarung is alive, has a heart, a spirit and is part of our Dreaming.

We have lived with and known the Birrarung since the beginning.

We will always know the Birrarung.

Since our beginning it has been known that we have an obligation to keep the Birrarung alive and healthy— for all generations to come.

We need to share, we need to listen and we need to find a way of coming together to do this.

The strength of the Council is that it brings Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together.

The Birrarung Council recognises the unique relationship between the Birrarung and its people. The Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung are the people of the River, and the Bunurong are the people of the mouth of the Birrarung.

Their songs have been carried by the water from the mountains to the sea for tens of thousands of years.

The Birrarung Council is the voice of the Birrarung, the Yarra River. We advocate on behalf of the Birarrung, which means that we speak for the River in policy and planning contexts so that the River can be heard by all.

But we also have a more profound obligation. As the River’s voice, our role is to enable and support others to communicate with the River, as a single, living, and integrated entity.

Doing so requires us to be in good relations with the River, and with each other.

We commit to working together to protect and care for the Birrarung. We are a small part of the long story of the Birrarung, but our stewardship and our actions will shape the future of the River.

We recognise that water is a source of infinite healing, and that in caring for the Birrarung, the River also cares for us in return.

The experience and expertise of each member of the Birrarung Council is different, and valued. Like the tributaries of the Birrarung, we join our varied experience and expertise together to form a single, integrated voice for the River.

We commit to ensuring that the Birrarung Council reflects the cultural diversity of the community of the Birrarung, and to creating a culturally safe place for us all to work together.

The Birrarung Council recognises Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong as sovereign peoples who have never ceded their rights to lands and waters. We will work together to strengthen their voices as custodians of the Birrarung.

We recognise that we have reciprocal and mutual obligations to each other, and to the Birrarung.

As Council members, we recognise that we are at the beginning of a journey, but we commit to walking that path together.

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The Sacred Kingfisher

The Birrarung Council has adopted the emblem of the Sacred Kingfisher to symbolise our role as an observer.

Perched high over the River, the Sacred Kingfisher observes everything happening on the banks and in the water, along the River, from source to sea.

The Birrarung Council watches over the whole of Birrarung and its lands, providing advice on one living and integrated natural entity.

Page last updated: 20/11/25