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Australian rangelands have been perceived as supporting a pastoral economy for more than 150 years.
This perception originated from colonial expansion in a frontier economy, with State and Commonwealth
institutions established to support rangeland pastoralism. As Australia's economy shifts in focus from
frontier expansion to sustainable development within a free and unprotected market, a new economic and
social paradigm is needed for the rangelands. This is essential for strengthening of those uses and
enterprises that can survive in a globalised economy, preservation of environmental values in Australian
rangelands, development of new land -use opportunities, as well as to facilitate a dignified exit of those
remaining frontier families who are increasingly marginalised from the mainstream Australian and global
economies. This paper explores the significance of rangelands, and the insignificance of rangeland
pastoralism, to the Australian economy, and proposes an alternative economic paradigm for rangelands in
the next century.