|
 |
| Access to good quality water is an
issue at Dajarra, Western Queensland. Ronnie Condren and Henry
Dempsey use rainwater tanks for their household supply, although
low rainfall means that water sometimes needs to be brought by
truck. Research on desert services is working out ways to address
shortcomings in basic and essential services such as water.
|
Desert Services that Work
Services cover every aspect of life: housing, water, phones,
power, roads, rubbish, health, education ... most of the
necessities of modern living. On desert settlements these services
come from governments, Aboriginal organisations and private
companies, but the wide range of different services and providers
often means that getting the best from them is difficult and can be
extremely complex.
Community members, leaders, local employees and service
providers all agree that improvements can be made in the quality
and cost of services. The DKCRC’s Desert Services That Work
project has been underway since 2006. Its research has focused on
finding out how to improve services in desert Australia, beginning
with reports on telecommunications12, housing design and
thermal performance3, how people use different types of
services4, the ways that they are delivered and
maintained5,6, local needs7, and the
consequences of changing from evaporative to refrigerative air
conditioners8.
Outcomes
- Residents of remote desert settlements have better access to
services using demand-responsive technical, social and financial
systems.
- Service providers have access to knowledge to assist them in
achieving the intended outcomes of their policy and practice and to
meet the needs and expectations of consumers.
- Governance arrangements for services improved to achieve
greater effectiveness on both the demand and supply sides and which
create livelihood opportunities in remote desert areas.
- Residents, agencies, governments and businesses use
high-quality knowledge on service models for demand-responsive
desert services.
- Services making a stronger contribution to the economic
development of desert Australia.
Project components
The project is working with community members and service
providers to develop a picture of the services on the study
settlements. We are looking at who makes the decisions about those
services and how those services are used. To do this we are
carrying out interviews, running workshops and interviewing the
managers of service providers in regional centres and capital
cities.
We will also explore:
- government adopting a more sophisticated engagement with supply
chain
- responses to the local government reform and the Australian
Government’s ‘intervention’ as this unfolds
across the research sites
- research sites where groups have own-source income through
mining royalties or private commercial enterprises.
In the context of this research we will not ask about family,
private or secret business, and we are separate from government
native title, Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) and land
purchase business.
 |
| DKCRC researchers worked with Myuma
Pty Ltd, an Aboriginal-owned and operated earth-moving business
based in Camooweal, Queensland, to develop innovative approaches to
service delivery. Myuma provides a range of services to the
Indjilandji people of the Barkly Tableland, including cultural
heritage management and accredited training programs for local
Aboriginal people in civil construction work, mining and related
support services.
|
Participants
Steve Fisher is a project leader in the DKCRC.
He manages a national team of researchers working on a wide range
of projects aimed at building desert services that work for people
to live in now and in the future.
The project’s participants are:
- Ali
Curung, NT
- Australian
Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and
Indigenous Affairs
- Australian
Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- BHP Billiton
- Centre for
Appropriate Technology
- Charles Darwin
University
- CSIRO
- Dajarra, Qld
- Doomadgee, Qld
- Government of
Western Australia
- Hermannsburg, NT
- James Cook
University
- Jigalong, WA
- Mimili, SA
- Murdoch
University
- Myuma Pty Ltd
- New South
Wales Government
- Newman,
WA
- Ngaanyatjarra Council Aboriginal Corporation, WA
- Northern
Territory Government
- Parnngurr, WA
- PY Ku Planning Forum/TKP Regional Forum, WA
- South Australian
Government
- University of
Queensland
- University of
South Australia
- Urandangi, Qld
- Western Desert Lands Aboriginal Corporation, WA
- Wunara, NT
Notes
1 Abolhasan, M. 2007. Sparse ad hoc networks for the
desert. DKCRC Research Report 23, Desert Knowledge CRC, Alice
Springs.
2. Abolhasan, M & Wright, A. 2008. Survey of the potential of
emerging wireless technologies to improve telecommunication
services in remote Australian settlements. The Rangeland Journal 30
(1), 157–65.
3. Duell, M. 2007. Housing design and thermal performance. DKCRC
Research Report 14, Desert Knowledge CRC, Alice Springs.
4. Seemann, K et al. 2008. Housing for livelihoods: Scoping the
lifecycle of housing and infrastructure through a whole-of-system
approach in remote Aboriginal communities, DKCRC Research Report
29, Desert Knowledge CRC, Alice Springs.
5. Anda, M & Dallas, S. 2008. Technical services in desert
settlements: The role of Aboriginal resource agencies: A scoping
study. DKCRC Research Report 13, Desert Knowledge CRC, Alice
Springs.
6. Grey-Gardner, R. 2008. Implementing risk management for water
supplies: a catalyst and incentive for change. The Rangeland
Journal 30 (1), 149–56.
7. Moran, M et al. 2007. The transformation of assets for
sustainable livelihoods in a remote Aboriginal settlement. DKCRC
Research Report 28, Desert Knowledge CRC, Alice Springs.
8. Duell, M et al. 2008. An assessment of the impact of
refrigerative airconditioning on power use, cooling, costs and
daily life at Areyonga, Northern Territory. DKCRC Research Report
33,Desert Knowledge CRC, Alice Springs.