Resources and publications

Displaying 1 to 10 of 10 results.
Title Author /s Summary Date Tag(s) Type
Caring for country and sustainable Indigenous development: Opportunities, constraints and innovation John Altman, Peter Whitehead

This paper explores how Indigenous community-based natural resource management can generate both conservation benefit and economic development opportunity. We begin by noting that much of the Indigenous estate in north Australia is either thinly populated or unpopulated. There is emerging evidence that, in situations where Indigenous people live on their country, ecological and wider benefits are generated via favourable fire regimes, control over weed infestations, and potentially through feral animal harvesting. When people are on country, they generate economic benefit for themselves by harvesting wildlife for consumption and engage with the market sector by using natural resources in commercial enterprise like arts and crafts production. We argue that there is a strong correlation between such activities and cost-effective natural resource management. Links between landcare, wildlife use and biodiversity conservation need to be recognized, celebrated and supported. The removal of many barriers to enhanced and innovative Indigenous participation in such activities, and equitable public support through programs like Landcare, will facilitate sustainable economic development options that are compatible with Indigenous priorities, while ameliorating Indigenous disadvantage.

CAEPR, Caring for Country, Commercial development, Community development, Environment, Fire, Land and sea management Article / paper
Contested Governance: Culture, power and institutions in Indigenous Australia Janet Hunt, Diane Smith, Stephanie Garling, Will Sanders (eds)

This collection of papers examines the dilemmas and challenges involved in the Indigenous struggle for the development and recognition of systems of governance that they recognise as both legitimate and effective.

CAEPR, Governance, Indigenous knowledge, Leadership Book
Indigenous Community Governance Project: Year Two Research Findings J. Hunt and D.E Smith

This is the second research report by the Indigenous Community Governance Project (ICGP). The ICGP is exploring the nature of Indigenous community governance in Australia - to understand what works, what doesn’t work, and why. The first report, based on 2005 fieldwork, was published as CAEPR Working Paper No. 31/2006.

This report brings together findings from the fieldwork conducted during 2006, based on evidence drawn from case studies of Indigenous governance in action within differing community, geographical, cultural and political settings across the nation.

CAEPR, Governance Report
Let’s talk about success: exploring factors behind positive change in Aboriginal communities Janet Hunt

This paper draws on interviews with leaders of successful Aboriginal organisations to understand the factors behind the successes that they are achieving in their communities.

CAEPR, Community development, Making it work Article / paper
Partnerships for Indigenous Development: International Development NGOs, Aboriginal Organisations and Communities Janet Hunt

This paper outlines two pilot case studies which examine how international development non-government organisations (INGOs) conduct their work with Aboriginal organisations and communities in Australia.

CAEPR, Collaboration, Partnerships Article / paper
Researching Australian Indigenous Governance: A Methodological and Conceptual Framework Diane Smith

This paper sets out the methodological and conceptual framework for the Indigenous Community Governance (ICG) Project on Understanding, Building and Sustaining Effective Governance in Rural, Remote and Urban Indigenous Communities. The paper describes the Project’s research aims, questions, and techniques; explores key concepts; and discusses the ethnographic case-study and comparative approaches which form the core components of the methodological framework.

As an applied research project, the paper also considers the methodological issues inherent in participatory research, and for the dissemination and application of research findings within Indigenous and policy arenas. The framework draws on the multi-disciplinary expertise of the project team in areas such as anthropology, political science, demography, policy and legal studies, linguistics, and community development.

CAEPR, Governance Article / paper
Statistics for Community Governance: The Yawuru Indigenous Population Survey of Broome John Taylor, Bruce Doran, Maria Parriman, Eunice Yu

This paper presents a case study of an exercise in Aboriginal community governance. It sets out the background events that led the Yawuru Native Title Holders Aboriginal Corporation to secure information for its own needs as an act of self-determination and essential governance, and it presents some of the key findings from that exercise

CAEPR, Community development, Data sovereignty, Governance, PBCs (Prescribed Body / Bodies Corporate), Strategic planning Article / paper
Ten key messages from the preliminary findings of the Indigenous Community Governance Project, 2005 Janet Hunt, Diane Smith

The Indigenous Community Governance Project (ICGP) is an Australian Research Council Linkage Project between the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) at the Australian National University, and Reconciliation Australia (RA). The Project is exploring the nature of Indigenous community governance in diverse contexts and locations across Australia through a series of case studies—to understand what works, what doesn’t work, and why.

This document presents some key messages emerging from a summary of the comparative analysis of the Project’s 11 current Indigenous case studies, after the first phase of a longer study.

CAEPR, Governance Report
The power of data in Aboriginal hands Peter Yu

This paper explores the critical role that data can play in development scenarios when Aboriginal people are in control of collecting, managing and interpreting data. It was first presented as a pleniary paper at the conference Social Science Perspectives on the 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, held at The ANU on 11–12 April 2011.

CAEPR, Data sovereignty Article / paper
The Social Effects of Native Title: Recognition, Translation, Coexistence Benjamin Smith, Frances Morphy (eds)

The papers in this collection reflect on the various social effects of native title. In particular, the authors consider the ways in which the implementation of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth), and the native title process for which this Act legislates, allow for the recognition and translation of Aboriginal law and custom, and facilitate particular kinds of coexistence between Aboriginal title holders and other Australians.

CAEPR, Indigenous knowledge Book