Governance and funding of Landcare for catchment management in Australia—insights for the future

Community Landcare has underpinned Australia’s natural resource management (NRM) strategy for over three decades, significantly contributing to environmental stewardship, social cohesion, and community resilience. This article provides a critical analysis of the governance and funding structures underpinning State and Territory Landcare Organizations (STLOs) and the National Landcare Network (NLN). By examining comparative institutional data, policy evaluations, federal budgetary trends, and stakeholder perspectives, this analysis identifies marked disparities in funding distribution, coordination capacity, and institutional legitimacy across jurisdictions. The article investigates structural limitations confronting grassroots organizations and employs the NLN’s Futures Framework and program logic to highlight community Landcare’s strategic value as a national delivery mechanism, particularly regarding climate mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity markets, disaster resilience, and Indigenous partnerships. Integrating insights from the Landcare Enabling Program, national Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Improvement (MERI) frameworks, and recent federal government evaluations, the article advocates for a redesigned national approach to better enabling Landcare. It concludes with targeted policy reform recommendations aimed at improving funding continuity, evaluation consistency and effectiveness, and strategic alignment with key national priorities including climate adaptation, public health, Indigenous well-being, and community resilience. Collectively, these reforms provide a structured pathway for repositioning community Landcare as a robust, outcomes-driven cornerstone of Australia’s future environmental governance.