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Net gain
The term 'net gain' is a core concept in the Yarra River Protection (Wilip-gin Birrarung murron) Act 2017.
It states that there should be a net gain for the environment in the area of Yarra River land arising out of any individual action or policy that has an environmental impact on Yarra River land (S.9 (4)).
Birrarung Council commissioned a project to clarify the concept of net gain and how it can be applied to the River. A consortium of consultants undertook the work. The Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation managed the project.
The project reframes the concept of net gain. This new approach to net gain is based on restoration ecology principles, which can be applied to deliver future ecosystem health that is realistic and sustainable.
However, it is broader than a pure ecology-based understanding. The reframed approach to net gain would apply to:
- the physical landscape
- the cultural landscape, as understood by the Traditional Owners of the Yarra water and lands.
It would include a focus on the health of Country plus the health of connection to Country, the social capital, including the relationships and organisation, that is linked to landscape stewardship.
We will work with Traditional Owners to explore what an environmental net gain can mean. We will also continue to advocate for net gain as a concept applicable to Birrarung.
Net gain reports
Great Birrarung Lands
In 2018 parkland in the vicinity of the River between the urban growth boundary in Warrandyte and Punt Road, South Yarra, was declared and gazetted as the Greater Yarra Urban Parklands in the Birrarung Act; to be given a common identity as a state significant urban natural entity.
The concept of the Great Birrarung Lands recognises that land is important for rivers. The River is now recognised as a single living entity. It has shaped and formed the landscape over geological time. It also unifies the landscape that we all live within.
Our River lives, breathes and supports the life of the community. In return, the life of Birrarung has been supported by the custodianship of Traditional Owners for thousands of generations.
Birrarung is more than just water. It is the layers in the landscape that the River has formed, the soils, the trees, the plants, and the animals.
It is the cultural connections, stories and layers of history that live within this landscape. It is the new stories and layers that unfold as we flow like the River through time.
The land belongs to Birrarung. Beginning in the upper reaches of the catchment, the River passes through forests and farmlands to residential and industrial areas and finally enters the bay. It is a landscape and waterway brimming with life from source to sea.
The Great Birrarung Lands discussion paper was developed by the Birrarung Council to initiate a dialogue about how we might envision the Great Birrarung Lands as a valued and nurtured natural and cultural landscape, consisting of all of land uses and tenures, unified by a shared love and respect for the Birrarung as a living entity.
Conversations about the Great Birrarung Parkland
A discussion in March 2023 discussion at the MPavilion MTalks public program led by Alexandra Lee (Birrarung Council member) with Birrarung Council Elders Uncle Dave Wandin (Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elder), Uncle Andrew Gardiner (Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung board member and Elder), and our Birrarung Design Studio leads Sarah Lynn Rees (Monash University) and Jock Gilbert (RMIT University). Listen to the talk on the MPavilion website.
A series of workshops and presentations convened by the Birrarung Council on 28 March 2021 as part of Melbourne Design Week. These ideas and discussions focused on the concept of a ‘Great Birrarung Parkland’, a way of holistically imagining Birrarung and its lands.
A 3-part public program – including film screenings, panel discussion and a boat tour – co-presented by Birrarung Council, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and Fed Square. All events were focused on Birrarung as one integrated living entity, to advocate for Indigenous rights and values and for a more ecologically balanced future Melbourne.
The series aimed to highlight the design driven regeneration of the River corridor between Punt Road, Cremorne and Wallen Road, Burnley.
Read more about our work on the Reimagining Birrarung 2070 exhibition:
Past Birrarung Council annual reports and other resources
Find more information on the vision for the Yarra and actions to improve and protect it.
Past Birrarung Council Annual Reports
North east link documents
Other resources
Page last updated: 19/11/25