TY - JOUR
T1 - Government support for indigenous cultural and natural resource management in Australia
T2 - The role of the working on country program
AU - May, Katherine
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - In Australia national concerns about climate change, biodiversity loss, water quantity and quality and land degradation have high priority on the government's environment agenda. With this comes the opportunity to strategically integrate Indigenous land and sea management into plans for tackling these challenges, not least because the Indigenous estate - which includes some of the most biodiverse lands in Australia - continues to increase as a result of successful land and native title claims and the declaration of more Indigenous Protected Areas. This paper explores government support for Indigenous land and sea management focusing on the Commonwealth government's Working on Country program. The paper outlines the development of formalised Indigenous cultural and natural resource management, and the emergence of the Working on Country program is discussed in the past and current policy context. The opportunities and challenges for the future of the program, and formalised Indigenous land and sea management in Australia more broadly, are outlined. To finish, a note of cautious optimism: while an expanded Working on Country program underpinned by community-led priorities and aspirations has the potential to simultaneously ameliorate Indigenous poverty and ensure natural resource management occurs, this will require targeted investment and a more holistic and less sectoral approach from government. Indigenous Australians, environmental management. Working on Country program.
AB - In Australia national concerns about climate change, biodiversity loss, water quantity and quality and land degradation have high priority on the government's environment agenda. With this comes the opportunity to strategically integrate Indigenous land and sea management into plans for tackling these challenges, not least because the Indigenous estate - which includes some of the most biodiverse lands in Australia - continues to increase as a result of successful land and native title claims and the declaration of more Indigenous Protected Areas. This paper explores government support for Indigenous land and sea management focusing on the Commonwealth government's Working on Country program. The paper outlines the development of formalised Indigenous cultural and natural resource management, and the emergence of the Working on Country program is discussed in the past and current policy context. The opportunities and challenges for the future of the program, and formalised Indigenous land and sea management in Australia more broadly, are outlined. To finish, a note of cautious optimism: while an expanded Working on Country program underpinned by community-led priorities and aspirations has the potential to simultaneously ameliorate Indigenous poverty and ensure natural resource management occurs, this will require targeted investment and a more holistic and less sectoral approach from government. Indigenous Australians, environmental management. Working on Country program.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78149233050&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.2010.tb00186.x
DO - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.2010.tb00186.x
M3 - Article
SN - 0157-6321
VL - 45
SP - 395
EP - 416
JO - Australian Journal of Social Issues
JF - Australian Journal of Social Issues
IS - 3
ER -