Indigenous ranger groups have called for the Queensland and federal governments to expand support for their land management and employment programs, after polling revealed backing from more than 80% of Queenslanders.

Galaxy polling commissioned by Country Needs People, a coalition of Indigenous traditional owners and ranger groups lobbying for better government commitment, found high levels of support across the political spectrum.

The November poll of a representative sample of more than 1,000 people included several questions related to Indigenous land management and its public funding.

It found more than 80% of people supported Indigenous land management, including more than 70% of One Nation voters, and 88% supported a proposal to create 200 new ranger jobs in Queensland over the next 10 years.

About 90% of people supported the statement “people living on the land in the outback have an important role to play in protecting and restoring the natural environment” and a similar proportion agreed that providing incentives for the work would benefit the state.

Indigenous rangers are funded through federal and state governments.

Queensland’s $11m Indigenous Land and Sea Management program is administered by the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection and operates in 17 remote and regional locations. Grants of up to $75,000 support ranger projects, including eight in 2017-18.

A 2017 budget boost increased the number of employed rangers to 100.

Ned David, the chairman of the Gur A Baradharaw Kod Torres Strait Land and Sea Council, said the ranger program was a rare success and “ticked all the boxes” in the Torres Strait, where unemployment was extremely high.

“People feel like they own the issues and more importantly they own the solutions,” David told Guardian Australia. “I’m passionate about it because I live and breathe my country, the Torres Strait.

“I’ve been involved in education in the Torres Strait for the last 22 years now. I see kids going from the early years into prep, primary, secondary, and then off to Tafe or university or a career. I can map that out and see where the gaps are and how the gaps are not getting any smaller.”

He said the program created jobs, encouraged people to work on their traditional country, supported Indigenous culture and conserved the environment.

“Something like this, you back it, you see it work, you want to make sure you do everything you can to make sure there’s a long-term commitment towards it.”

The Galaxy polling – conducted before the Queensland state election – found 45% of people said a commitment to increase funding to ranger groups would make them more likely to vote for a candidate. This increased to 55% among people who had visited a national park twice or more. One in 10 respondents were opposed to increased funding and the remaining 45% said it would not change their vote.

Patrick O’Leary, spokesman for the Pew Charitable Trust, welcomed the wide support for rangers in Queensland.

“It’s a huge state, seven times bigger than Great Britain, five times bigger than Japan, and to manage fire, feral animal impacts like wild pigs, weed invasions and other pressures across that area needs a skilled and ready workforce on the ground,” he said.

“There’s huge grassroots demand around Queensland for Indigenous ranger jobs and there’s a great opportunity in the next state budget to expand to meet that need.”

Queensland’s treasurer, Jackie Trad, told the Country Needs People campaign the Labor government would continue the state-funded program “and look for ways to build upon its successes to date”.

The Queensland budget will be handed down in June but the midyear fiscal and economic review flagged “emerging fiscal pressures” from a federal shakeup of GST distribution, with Trad warning of potential impacts on the budget.

The federally funded Working On Country program was established by the Coalition government in 2007 and employs more than 1,600 people to care for and manage land and sea, including about 60% of Australia’s Indigenous protected areas – which themselves cover about 43% of the national reserve system.

Current federal funding for the program ends in June. While the Indigenous affairs minister, Nigel Scullion, has given a verbal commitment of a two-year extension, and committed an extra $30m for training and expansion, supporters are calling for its funding to be brought in line with that of Indigenous protected areas and guaranteed until at least 2023.