The new Victorian Waterway Management Strategy provides the policy framework for managing Victoria’s waterways for eight years. The 2002 Victorian River Health Strategy had limited consideration of Traditional Owner rights and interests in waterway management. The policy development process for the new strategy incorporated a comprehensive stakeholder engagement program. Involving Traditional Owners in the development of state policy was challenging, since Traditional Owner groups generally only speak for their Country. Knowing the right representatives to speak for Country continues to be difficult for policy makers. Specific policies and actions were developed for the new strategy to ensure the involvement of Victoria’s Traditional Owners in waterway management. Cultural values of waterways were separated from social values to demonstrate the importance of Aboriginal values in their own right. Traditional Owners will be involved in the development of regional Waterway Strategies and a state guidance note was developed to support this process, in consultation with relevant representatives. Formal evaluation of the regional engagement processes will be undertaken to enable continuous improvement in this area. The regional Waterway Strategies must identify Aboriginal values associated with waterways in their region and incorporate traditional knowledge where culturally appropriate and desired by Traditional Owner groups. A research project is commencing to investigate methods for identifying Aboriginal values associated with waterways and how they can be better incorporated into regional planning processes. Opportunities for education, training and capacity building are provided through scholarships to university graduate programs in waterway management and natural and cultural resource management.