Justice Health NSW’s First Nations Sustainability Program, at the Forensic Hospital in Malabar, is growing roots across Sydney’s east thanks to a partnership with Randwick City Council.
Piloted in November 2024, the Bundaleer Project is a vocational program that contributes to local ecosystems, reduces the hospital’s environmental footprint and supports patient rehabilitation through growing native plants and bush foods within the hospital grounds.
The new partnership with Randwick City Council will support local citizenship ceremonies, where each month 150 plants grown through the program will be provided as ceremonial gifts for new citizens. Plants are individually packed by patients and include a specially designed label detailing the plant species, needs and program details.
Justice Health NSW Forensic Mental Health General Manager, Dr Vindya Nanayakkara said the new partnership with council will see the project expand further into the community.
“With around 16 per cent of Forensic Hospital patients identifying as Aboriginal, the Bundaleer Project strengthens cultural connections, encourages hands-on engagement, and supports recovery,” Dr Nanayakkara said.
“We are very proud to see the Bundaleer Project expand through our partnership with Randwick City Council, enabling the Australian native plants grown here in the Forensic Hospital by our patients to be donated as gifts to new Australian citizens – and it’s a real source of personal and cultural pride for our patients too.”
Mayor of Randwick City Council, Councillor Dylan Parker said he is proud to partner with Justice Health NSW to support First Nations peoples.
“Council is committed to supporting the efforts of First Nations peoples to close the gap on disadvantage, build stronger local economies, and support culturally vibrant and healthy communities. We deeply value Aboriginal initiatives and businesses such as IndigiGrow in our local government area,” said Mr Parker.
“By gifting our newest citizens native plants that have been grown and nurtured through the Bundaleer Project, we share not only a living part of the land with them, but a story of healing, culture, growth and connection.”
The Bundaleer Project is delivered in partnership with IndigiGrow, an Aboriginal company in La Perouse. First Nations patients participate in a fortnightly program where they learn to grow native plants using traditional knowledge and methods passed down from Elders.
Since its inception, patients have cultivated more than 4,000 native plants, including Wattle, Rosella, and the critically endangered Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub. More than 500 plants have been donated to local schools and returned to the environment.
Supported by $25,000 in funding from the NSW Health Sustainable Futures Innovation Fund, the project has procured a greenhouse, shade house, gardening tools, rainwater tank with pump, and a native stingless beehive.