Northern Australia Water Futures Assessment – Cultural and Social program
Northern Australia's water resources and aquatic ecosystems are important to individuals and communities across northern Australia for a range of reasons – cultural, spiritual, recreational, and economic.
The aim of the Northern Australia Water Futures Assessment's (the assessment's) Cultural and Social program was to understand the socio-cultural values, beliefs and practices associated with water and how these may be affected by changes in water availability. In order to do this, the Cultural and Social program:
- Identified key Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups and organisations
- In collaboration with key groups and organisations, identified socio-cultural values, beliefs and practices as these relate to water.
In catchments identified by jurisdictions as likely to experience water resource development, the Cultural and Social program worked with jurisdictions to:
- Identify requirements for specific socio-cultural studies or analyses
- Conduct location-specific case studies to understand socio-cultural values, beliefs and practices as these relate to water including patterns of usage, religious implications, economic activities, and social, and political issues.
The program also identified tools and processes to articulate Indigenous social and economic aspirations with respect to water, and made recommendations for directions and priorities for future research.
The outputs from the Cultural and Social program may be used to inform future decisions regarding the development of water resources in northern Australia. The outcomes of this program may also inform broader natural resource management issues in the north.
Projects
Review of existing cultural and social initiatives and key groups and organisations across northern Australia associated with water - Finalised
An initial review of projects, research initiatives and water planning processes relevant to cultural values, beliefs and practices was completed in September 2009.
Identifying tools and processes to capture/articulate Indigenous social and economic aspirations with respect to water in Northern Australia - Finalised
The objective of this project was to develop knowledge and understanding of Indigenous social, cultural and economic aspirations with respect to land and water management and development in the north of Australia. The project was led by the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA), which produced five reports and a summary and recommendations booklet.
- Indigenous Livelihoods: Background paper
- Sustainable Indigenous livelihoods from north Australian land and sea resources: Towards a research and development agenda and implementation strategy
- Supporting Indigenous Livelihoods: Appropriate Scales of Governance
- Indigenous knowledge in water planning, management and policy: Cape York Peninsula, QLD Case Studies
- Capturing Indigenous knowledge in water management processes: Wudjuli Lagoon Case Study, Ngukurr, NT
- Indigenous Livelihoods: Summaries and Recommendations of Research Reports
Social and Cultural Values project — Finalised
This project was conducted by CSIRO, and consists of three connected sub-projects, the findings of which increased our understanding of socio-cultural values, beliefs and practices held by various water using groups across northern Australia. The three sub projects were:
- Sub-project 1 - Social and cultural values in the planning cycle, which examined practical ways to improve the recognition and incorporation of social and cultural values at each stage of the adaptive water management planning cycle.
- Sub-project 2 - Relative values of water for trade-offs, which sought to gain a better understanding of the relative values of water for different stakeholder groups, the extent to which changes in stream flow and/or water quality could impact on these values and the extent to which different stakeholders are willing to 'trade-off' these values under a range of development scenarios.
- Sub-project 3 - Developing management models for Indigenous water strategies
The relationship between aquatic ecological assets and the protection of cultural and social values associated with water - In Progress
This project will produce a desk top literature review that identifies the relationship between aquatic ecological assets and the protection of cultural and social values related to water.
Strategic Indigenous Reserves in Wild River catchment areas of the southern Gulf of Carpentaria – Finalised
This project was run by the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation. The objectives of the project were to:
- Develop a framework and recommended procedures for allocation of an Indigenous reserve of water in the Wild River catchment areas in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria,
- Provide recommendations to the Queensland state government,
- Contribute to development of Strategic Indigenous Reserve policy and practices across northern Australia by working with the Indigenous Water Policy Group (of the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance) and sharing the lessons from case study experiences, process and approaches in non declared wild river areas done interstate, locally and regionally.
Contact us
For further queries or to receive updates, email northern.assessment@environment.gov.au or phone 1800 218 478.
See also
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