Andrew Kelly - Keeping the Yarra River

Andrew Kelly is the Yarra Riverkeeper - he patrols and protects the Melbourne waterway and advocates for its well-being. Last month the Yarra Riverkeeper Association celebrated a new law which requires a plan to look after the river for the next 50 years. The Act includes the involvement of the indigenous people of the area and, in a first for Australia, part of it is written in their language, Wurundjeri. The Act will consider the Yarra and its parklands as one single living entity and it will co-ordinate the work of government agencies along the waterway and the riverbanks. Kelly grew up on the banks of the Yarra. He has degrees in geography and archaeology from the University of Melbourne and pursued a career in publishing and communications before becoming Yarra Riverkeeper in 2014.