Abstract
Collaboration between government agencies and communities for sustainable water governance in remote Indigenous communities is espoused as a means to contribute to more equitable, robust, and long-term decision-making and to ensure that water services contribute to broader considerations of physical, social, and economic prosperity. In Australia, the uptake of collaborative water governance in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island contexts has been slow and few examples exist from which to inform policy and practice. This study identifies barriers to uptake of collaborative sustainable water governance, drawing from qualitative interviews with water practitioners working in remote Indigenous Australia and analysis of key project documentation. Thematic analysis revealed discrete barriers across five key categories: (1) governance arrangements, (2) economic and financial, (3) capacity and skills, (4) data and information, and (5) cultural values and norms, with many barriers identified, unique to the remote Indigenous Australian context. The paper provides insights into how to address these barriers strategically to create transformative and sustainable change for Indigenous communities. The results contribute to the greater body of knowledge on sustainable and collaborative water governance, and they are of relevance for broader water management, policy, and research.
Highlights
Access to a safe, secure supply of fresh water is fundamental to the health, wellbeing, and prosperity of communities, and a foundation for sustainable development across regions and nations [1]
This study addresses the following question: What factors prevent uptake and implementation of sustainable collaborative potable water governance processes for transformative outcomes in remote Indigenous communities? Data were drawn from interviews with professionals involved in the practice of community water management and governance, including service providers, government organizations, non-government organizations, contractors, and researchers working in remote Australia, and supplemented with a document review and analysis of remote community sustainable potable water governance initiatives
We aimed to answer the following question: What factors prevent uptake and implementation of sustainable collaborative potable water governance processes for transformative outcomes in remote Indigenous communities? We have presented new theoretical and empirical insights into the key factors that prevent transformative and collaborative water governance in remote and Indigenous Australian communities
Summary
Secure supply of fresh water is fundamental to the health, wellbeing, and prosperity of communities, and a foundation for sustainable development across regions and nations [1]. Indigenous peoples often have strong connections and presence in remote communities due to centuries and millennia of continual connection to specific territories and resources [2,3,4,5,6,7]. Poor water and sanitation services in Indigenous communities are linked to inappropriate institutionalization and poor functionality stemming from “ineffective dialogue, insufficient inclusion of concerned groups, and lack of local knowledge and cultural perceptions linked to water and sanitation” [7]. These issues are relevant in remote Australia, where it is described as
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