Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation

The Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation is located at Nhulunbuy in Northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. The Corporation manages land on behalf of Yolngu, Traditional Owners.

The Dhimurru Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) comprises approximately 550,000 hectares of Yolngu land and sea country. In Australia an IPA is an area of land and/or sea country that is voluntarily dedicated by Traditional Owners as non-legislated protected areas and managed by Indigenous Rangers and partner organisations according to protected area guidelines of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. 

The Dhimurru IPA encompasses considerable ecological diversity - it includes spectacular rocky and sandy coastlines and islands with dune fields, beach ridge and bauxite plains as well as tall open eucalypt forests and numerous patches of monsoon forest. It is the home of 13 different species of frogs, 76 different reptiles, 207 different birds and 35 different mammals. It houses the most extensive and diverse coral reef network in the Northern Territory and its sea country contains a wealth of fish, sea snakes and other marine life.

To effectively manage and minimise the visitor impact to the IPA, Traditional owners tasked the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation to implement and manage a visitor and camping permit system enabling people to have access to popular recreational areas on Aboriginal land whilst ensuring that landowners requirements are met. 

In 2020 the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation engaged DigitalRez to provide an online system for visitor and camping permits onto country.

DigitalRez has incorporated into Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation’s website their premier online booking system - RezExpert (https://online.rezexpert.com/permits?business_code=500626), an online booking interface allowing visitors to purchase visitor access permits as well as camping permits (booking camp sites). 

Using the RezExpert management system has opened 24/7 access for guests to apply for permits, view real time availability of campgrounds and offer real convenience for visitors located within the region and worldwide. The resulting bookings are better prepared, well-informed and culturally sensitive visitors.

For the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation, the RezExpert online booking system has been easy for visitors and staff to access and it’s centralised data management features have greatly improved the administration and monthly reporting of permits. RezExpert provides comprehensive reporting options with data export available to Microsoft Excel for reporting requirements of all stakeholders. 

The system has also aligned with and fulfilled the goals of the Traditional Owners, allowing them along with the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation to continue to invest in further community projects and provide effective management of recreation areas within the IPA. 

To find out more about the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation, click here to visit their website.