About
Research
Resources
Whole of Government, Water Catchment Management Groups and Indigenous Livelihoods
Project Background: This project has been contracted to AIATSIS by NAILSMA. It is funded by the Commonwealth government’s Northern Australia Water Futures Assessment (NAWFA). It has been carried out by Dr. Patrick Sullivan, AIATSIS Senior Research Fellow in Public Policy, Governance and Development, with the assistance of Claire Stacey. Patrick has held meetings with catchment management groups, Aboriginal reference groups and native title PBCs at Kowanyama (Mitchell river catchment), Daly River (Daly river catchment) and Fitzroy Crossing (Fitzroy river catchment).
Project Objectives: This research asks questions about current government programs for assisting local Aboriginal people to manage land and water in their regions. It focuses on their ability to gain a livelihood from land and water, both in the sense of their economic use of land and water, and also through employment opportunities in environmental management.
The final report of the project is in an advanced stage. It will:
- Describe the representative groups and networks for environmental management in the catchment or locality
- Assess the current ability of these representative groups and networks to actively manage land and water, influence policy, and control development
- Assess relevant government agencies and their ability to work together, and suggests improvements in their processes
The project concludes that whole of government approaches in Indigenous affairs have largely been ineffective because they continue to ignore local capacity and enforce top-down central planning. In contrast environmental services are largely being delivered appropriately by encouraging an alternative approach that acknowledges local diversity and adaptive, experimentalist process-driven management systems.
Project Team: Dr Patrick Sullivan, Claire Stacey
Project Funding Partner: Northern Australia Water Futures Assessment (NAWFA)