Get out of the city if you want to experience native Australian foods in context, rather than behind a tablecloth. Bushwalk with Josh “Koomal” Whiteland, a passionate Wadandi man, to forage for native foods and learn about bush medicine against the stunning backdrop of the Margaret River region. Learn about the six Noongar seasons and how this guides what food is hunted and gathered.

The Bardi people who traditionally live north of Broome are a saltwater people with a deep connection and knowledge of the coast. Brian Lee, a colourful character of the Dampier Peninsula, will lead you around the mangroves of Hunter’s Creek to teach you the history of the region while showing you traditional mud-crabbing and fishing. If your catch is good, you’ll enjoy it for lunch over an open fire.

A celebration of Kakudu culture spanning music, dance, bush foods and the arts, Mahbilil Festival is held each year in the Kurrung season (late August to early September). This is the time when the magpie geese migrate in huge numbers across the wetlands and lay their eggs. It also means magpie goose is on the menu at the Mahbilil Festival. You can try the bird cooked over the coals of the traditional Gungarre ground oven, and there’s even a magpie-goose cooking competition.

Spend a day with a Kuku Yalanji traditional custodian whose people originate from the rainforests of Far North Queensland. Learn about the importance of this traditional homeland while being introduced to the traditional spearfishing still practiced today. You’ll also be shown some wild edible plants and medicines as you wander along Cooya Beach.

In the heart of Fitzroy’s quickly gentrifying and highly competitive Gertrude Street is Charcoal Lane, a social enterprise with food worth seeking out. Run by Mission Australia, the fine-diner offers hospitality opportunities to disadvantaged young people, many of them Indigenous, looking for a fresh start. The dishes mine the possibilities of native produce: lemon myrtle, wattleseed, finger lime and wallaby feature throughout.

Although not an Indigenous enterprise, chef Dan Hunter shows how you don’t need to look beyond your own backyard – literally – to run a world-class restaurant. Brae operates on a Birregurra farm in Victoria’s Otways, growing most of its own produce and sourcing the rest from nearby producers. The set menu changes with the whims of the seasons, but if the red flowering eucalyptus ice cream with quandongs is on, you’re in for a treat.

The untouchable Ben Shewry continues to elevate Attica as the pinnacle of Australian dining: playful, personal, and – even at its eye-watering prices – somehow, not pretentious. The meticulous ingredient sourcing and preparation is a multi-course love letter to urban and regional Australia – from Shewry’s take on Vegemite pies and shiny red marron you crack open with your fingers, to the whipped emu egg served in its dark green shell that feels more like a fantastic, alien object plucked from your own homeland.