Resources and publications

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.

The Centre for Native Title Anthropology is giving attention to the role of anthropologists in the post-determination phase. It investigates the methodology and learnings of the CLC community development unit in working with groups and communities in managing income streams from their lands for wider benefit is of considerable potential interest to anthropologists. It offers an illustrative example of the intense, collaborative engagement that is necessary at this intersection of Aboriginal and wider value systems, where monies gained from activities on Aboriginal lands are invested into broader community benefit. For these reasons, there is much to learn which is relevant to the governance of compensation funds held in trust by PBC and other entities (such as those established under mining agreements with Aboriginal groups). The podcast series also investigates the ethical and political issues they all face as anthropologists working with Aboriginal groups on social change in a framework of self-determination.

David Martin interviews Ian Sweeney, the Unit’s Manager, and four of the Project Officers, Dave Howard, Cecilia Tucker, Dianna Newham, and Carl O’Sullivan.

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.

This paper gives a brief description of what type of documentation is needed for a native title claim, what happens to the materials both during and after the claim process and how the research creates a valuable community asset. Finally, there is consideration of various options for the management of the historical material to give greater access and control to the indigenous communities in NSW.

This guidebook provides general information on how to get into local and regional media.

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.

Junyirri is intended to guide people in thinking about their current language situation, their aspirations for the use of language in their community, what assets their community has available, and the types of language programs that might be suitable for their situation.

This is the ANTaR Submission to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Inquiry into Language Learning in Indigenous Communities. Two years after the launch of the Federal Government’s strategy for preserving Indigenous languages, Indigenous Languages – A National Approach 2009, the Inquiry provides a valuable opportunity to assess the effectiveness of current Federal, State and Territory government policy in the area, and incumbent maintenance and revitalisation programs.

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.

The Mornington Island Restorative Justice (MIRJ) Project has worked with families to establish a community-based alternative dispute resolution (mediation or peacemaking) service inclusive of Island culture and conforming to the requirements of the criminal justice system.

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.

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.

Sharing Success Governance Workbook is a valuable resource introducing Indigenous community governance concepts, examples of good practices, signs of problems and diagnostic checklists used for a Reconciliation Australia Sharing Success Indigenous governance workshop held in September 2007 in Mt Isa, Queensland. The content of the workbook is drawn from the findings of the Indigenous Community Governance Research Project and analysis of all the Indigenous Governance Award applications. This workbook is an example of one of the very practical tools for Indigenous communities and organisations that has been developed from the Indigenous Community Governance research. 

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

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.

In this award-winning work Carlson explores the complexities surrounding Aboriginal identity today. Drawing on a range of historical and research literature, interviews and surveys, The politics of identity explores Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal understandings of Aboriginality and the way these are produced and reproduced across a range of sites and contexts.

Emphasising Indigenous debates and claims about Aboriginality, The politics of identity explores both the community and external tensions around appropriate measures of identity and the pressures and effects of identification. An analysis of online Indigenous communities on social media that have emerged as sites of contestation adds to the growing knowledge in this area, both nationally and globally.

This is a brave and personal contribution to the often vexed subject of Aboriginal identity and offers a distinctive and fresh line of analysis.

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.

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.

The Two-way Governance Resource has been designed to support and promote two way learning and informed decision making (related to mainstream governance) in remote Aboriginal Communities in the Northern Territory.

The aim of Warra is to make the collaborative work of producing Indigenous language resources easier for all involved.