Before European settlement, more than 150 different languages were spoken by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders across Queensland.

Today, about 50 remain and fewer than 20 are used as first languages.

It’s an alarming decline for the world’s oldest living cultures and one the government is hoping to reverse through projects that will help keep Dreaming stories and Songlines being shared as they should.

A record $400,000 has been set aside this year for grants to fund language preservation projects.

Past projects have focused on connecting young Queenslanders with the language heritage of First Nations people.

Last year Mountain Creek State High School, on the Sunshine Coast, collaborated with local Gubbi Gubbi representatives to create a student code of ethics garden showcasing the school values in traditional language.

Murgon State School, in the South Burnett region, used its grant to create a community yarning circle to celebrate traditional Wakka Wakka language and stories.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Craig Crawford says language preservation and revival is a critical part of Queensland’s path way to a treaty with First Nations people.

“Language is the foundation of sacred knowledge held by elders and ways of understanding sense of place, being and belonging,” he said in announcing the funding on Wednesday.

“We aim for a sustained increase in the number and strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages being spoken by 2031.”

The state government is pressing ahead with efforts to forge a treaty that reframes the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Queenslanders.

It has committed itself to a truth telling and healing process that formally acknowledges the forced displacement of First Nations people, and the avalanche of inequality and disadvantage it caused.

Applications for the new language grants, worth up to $20,000 each, are now open.