A little-known Aboriginal heritage site in south-west Victoria has moved one step closer to UNESCO World Heritage listing with the Victorian Government announcing $8 million to improve visitor facilities.

Key points: Government hopes site will be on UNESCO list in next few years

Government hopes site will be on UNESCO list in next few years Aboriginal people settled in Budj Bim and developed aquaculture system

Aboriginal people settled in Budj Bim and developed aquaculture system Money to be spent on upgrading visitor facilities

The Budj Bim lava flow landscape north of Portland is home to some of the oldest known examples of man-made aquaculture systems in the world, as well as evidence of numerous Aboriginal settlements.

The Gunditjmara people built the complex system of weirs and eel traps 6,600 years ago, across 3,000 hectares of land, providing them with enough sustenance to settle in one place.

Their descendants have managed the land for the past 15 years and more recently have been working on their application for World Heritage listing.

Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Natalie Hutchins said the upgrades could see Budj Bim put on the UNESCO list in the next few years.

"The sooner the better for this," she said.

"Budj Bim is an amazing site with huge significance with Aboriginal culture, and not only significant to Victorians and Australians but internationally renowned for the amazing historic background."

Ms Hutchins said the expected influx of visitors would boost the local economy.

"It's going to give many employment opportunities to so many locals," she said.

"Over time, as visitors are coming through this place, that is only going to build on the local economy."

Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation chairman Damein Bell said he was excited to share his land with more people.

"As Gunditjmara we believe if we share the story we help protect the story of the landscape," he said.

"With our World Heritage nomination bid, we want that listing to help protect the landscape because we've got land use change still happening, we've got climate change happening so the more people that understand the Budj Bim story, that helps us protect it."

Evidence of large, settled Aboriginal community

More than six millennia ago, the Gunditjmara people exploited the landscape north of Portland Bay, in south-west Victoria, sustaining their lifestyle on a menu of eels, wallabies, swans and local flora.

The remnants of their aquaculture system have remained spread across the fertile land created by the ancient Budj Bim lava flow.

A UNESCO listing could bring tens of thousands of visitors to Budj Bim every year. ( ABC News: Stephanie Juleff )

While the small circles of rocks may lack the large-scale impact of places like the pyramids, the historical footprint they left is arguably just as significant.

Gunditjmara elder Denis Rose said he believed as more people learned about the settlements, the prevailing image of Aboriginal people living a nomadic lifestyle would change.

"Gunditjmara people lived a life differently to that imagined — that people generally imagined — of Aboriginal people," he said.

"We had stone houses, we lived in villages, we manipulated water flows, we altered water flows along the wetland systems to farm eels."

Should the World Heritage List application be successful, an estimated 80,000 people could visit the Budj Bim area every year.