For Kelvin Dunrobin, Blackfella Beef is almost like coming full circle.

He is one of the brains behind a brand concept that seeks to unite Indigenous cattle producers to grow and market their own meat under the Blackfella Beef brand.

"You go back in history and most stockmen were Aboriginal, so they are part of the cattle scene," Mr Dunrobin said.

He said the name Dunrobin was taken from a central Queensland cattle property where his family lived and worked until the 1930s when his grandfather was moved to the Aboriginal mission of Cherbourg, north west of Brisbane.

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The idea of Blackfella Beef was developed by the Wangan Jagalingou and Western Kangoulu Indigenous groups and has garnered financial support from Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and the University of Southern Queensland.

The next step is to identify how many Indigenous-owned cattle enterprises there are in Queensland that could market their beef products under the brand.

The sky's the limit

Mr Dunrobin, who works for Indigenous-owned Urannah Station, near Mackay in north Queensland, said there would be no shortage.

He said within central Queensland alone there were at least eight large cattle stations. Then there is the Northern Territory.

"The picture I have come up with is we're going to have all-Aboriginal cattle ranches, and farmers and stockmen, all through the line, to sell cattle under the Aboriginal beef banner," he said.

With Aboriginal-owned abattoirs and butchers already operating, "the sky's the limit".

"It will be good for us to see our own mob get together again because we've been separated our whole lives.

"So if we can get together with the same purpose, the same goal, we can get ahead," Mr Dunrobin said.

Jonathan Malone, director of Western Kangoulou, is the other Blackfella Beef mastermind and he sees the proposal as a way of building sustainable communities.

At this stage the project is in feasibility-study phase, but it has been funded so that approaches can be made to Aboriginal landholders to determine its viability.

The idea is to get people into employment through selling beef, and in turn to provide education and training opportunities.

The feedback so far has been promising.

Queensland Senator Matt Canavan. back left, launches the Blackfella Beef concept at Beef 2018 recently. He's pictured with Jonathan Malone, Kelvin Dunrobin and champion bull owner Geoff Maynard. ( ABC Capricornia: Inga Stünzner )

"We held a forum a fortnight ago and approached a series of Aboriginal landholders in central Queensland," Mr Malone said.

"We're having conversations with other Aboriginal people in the region."

If the concept works in the beef industry, there is nothing stopping the group from moving into other agricultural industries.

"There are a lot of landholders in the south with sheep holdings, so what we need to do is ensure we do a good project, we get a good study and know where we want to go with it and get the marks on the board and see how we go from here," Mr Malone said.

Industry backing

Professor Alice Woodhead, from the University of Southern Queensland, will be working closely with the project to see whether Indigenous-owned cattle properties have the capacity and the product to supply markets.

"We will help them develop their brand, Blackfella Beef, and then it will be localised depending on how they want to do it in Queensland. Potentially, it will be a national program with Indigenous beef products marketed through Australia and globally," Professor Woodhead said.

Part of the analysis will be to identify just how many Indigenous-owned beef businesses there are in the state and determine herd numbers.

"There is so much talent in rural Australia, but particularly in Indigenous properties with the cattle management skills. But it's just not branded," she said.

Professor Woodhead said she had done a lot of work in Asia, where the demand for authentic products was high.

She said there was huge potential for Indigenous food to position Australia in a new space, but the opportunity had not yet been optimised.

"My gut feeling is that [Blackfella Beef] is going to be hugely successful," Professor Woodhead said.

MLA will work to fast-track project

"We already know from the land councils and from this team that there's a lot of enthusiasm and buy-in and there's a great appetite for these landholders to take control of their own destiny."

Lisa Sharp, from MLA's marketing division, came across the project a year ago.

"It caught our attention for a range of reasons," Ms Sharp said.

Jonathan Malone, Kelvin Dunrobin, Stairmaster with his handler Richard Norton, Lisa Sharp and Professor Alice Woodhead. ( ABC Capricornia: Inga Stünzner )

"Many organisations seek to establish their own brands but this certainly presents a unique value proposition so it certainly jumped out from the pack."

MLA will work to fast-track the project, which was officially launched in Rockhampton at Beef 2018, the largest beef industry expo in the country.

For Mr Dunrobin, the support of MLA and the university was a significant boost.

"It was just a little dream and now it might come true and I can see it will work," he said.