The Burnett River is one of the major rivers of Central Queensland. With a catchment area of over 33,000 square kilometres, it gives life to a vast area ranging from arid inland zones to sub-tropical coastline. Source to Sea: Stories of Burnett River Country is a DVD documentary that records the landscape of the Burnett River from source to sea, through the eyes of the Burnett River peoples who respect it as the source of strength which flows through their ancestral homelands of Wakka Wakka, Wulli Wulli, Gooreng Gooreng, Taribelang and Bunda. It provides glimpses of an affinal connection with the river that spans thousands of years, and it takes you on a journey through the stories of the traditional owners who have grown up on the river, lived out of it, fished from it, and cared for it all their lives. And, as water and natural resource management become increasingly central issues for Australia's future, Source to Sea tells the story of a changed and changing river, a river subject to often conflicting pressures, now more than ever.

Source to Sea was produced by the Bundaberg Media Research Group at Central Queensland University, in partnership with the Burnett Mary Regional Group, and with the financial support of the Australian Government Envirofund. The DVD was completed in 2007. Community launches were held in Eidsvold, Gayndah and Bundaberg in November and December 2007 to celebrate the contribution of those communities to the DVD, and to highlight the importance of the Burnett River to the people in those communities.

Click here to view images of the DVD cover.

Click here to view images from the launches.

Source to Sea is a non-profit project distributed under a Creative Commons license. Copies of the DVD are being distributed to participants and their communities, libraries, schools, museums, archives, environmental groups, traditional owner groups, and other relevant organizations and interested individuals. If you would like a copy of Source to Sea, please contact Grayson Cooke on (07) 4150 7136 or g.cooke@cqu.edu.au.

Since its launch, Source to Sea has been featured in a number of forums and media. There is a story on the project on the Australian Government's Natural Resource Management Mosaic Map website, http://www.nrm.gov.au/projects/qld/bmar/2006-02.html. And, there is an interview with co-producer Grayson Cooke, and participant Selina Hill, conducted by Tiga Bayles on 98.9FM, available here: http://989fm.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=9&Itemid=17

Executive producers:

Grayson Cooke
Jonathan Pagliano

Others involved:

Phillip Roe
Lyn Costigan
Karl Neuenfeldt

Selina Hill
Viv Sinnamon
Sue Sargent

Taribelang Bunda Aboriginal Corporation
Gurang Land Council
Community Development & Employment Program
Bundaberg Aboriginal Corporation for Women
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Housing & Advancement Society
Cherbourg Community Health Centre
Jena Boran Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Corporation
Wakka Wakka Aboriginal Corporation (Eidsvold) Oscar &
Eidsvold Aboriginal Housing & Community Development Society
Bundaberg South Sea Islander Action Group