Indigenous futures and sustainable development in northern Australia: Towards a framework for full Indigenous participation in northern economic development Discussion Paper
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Governance: This topic deals with the institutions and relationships that determine how decisions are made and actions taken to implement them. Different arrangements operate at many levels from national governments through to local organisations. At one end of this spectrum are models at the level of individual communities, which determine how information on community needs and goals reaches governments and how communities respond to government programs. At the other end, are the way governments at various levels take decisions and ways of improving their capacity to deal effectively with Indigenous views of goals and knowledge of how to achieve them. Participants should consider how decision-making and implementation processes could be improved to make them work better for Indigenous people. Are there working collaborative governance arrangements that effectively support economic or social development in you region? How do they work to ensure that cultural obligations can be met and values protected? What values or principles of behaviour and shared goals are needed to support a satisfactory governance model? Can these successful models be applied in other settings?
What are the important economic initiatives occurring in your region or area of expertise? How does the community benefit from these initiatives? Are decisions required of government, industry and the community properly informed by reliable knowledge? In what areas is research required to provide new knowledge?
How can existing government or industry programs be used to increase the capacity of Indigenous communities to influence their economic futures? Are new programs of support needed to develop leadership or other community processes for taking greater control?
Can Indigenous communities really take greater control over their futures and drive positive change through good planning? What partnerships or collaborations will be necessary to create and implement better planning frameworks? Priorities Under each of these headings, we expect to identify specific priorities for economic development, strengthening culture and protecting heritage, conservation of natural values, building social capital, and associated planning arrangements. The IEP has identified the terms reliable prosperity and resilient communities as convenient shorthand for the sorts of outcomes that might be sought. Reliable prosperity is delivered when economic systems are built to meet - over the very long term - the fundamental needs of people and the ecosystems that sustain them. Resilient communities are those who bounce back from problems by actively influencing and preparing for economic, social and environmental change. What are your key priorities for reliable prosperity and resilient communities? What other values or principles will need to underpin economic development? Actions For each priority, we will consider the issues they raise, the principles we will apply to address those issues, a statement of the outcomes we seek and the strategies we propose to achieve them. All of this will be assembled into a draft action plan for initial discussion with the NAMF and refinement at future forums. What are the key strategies and actions for achieving priority goals? How well equipped are Indigenous organisations and communities for taking these actions? How will individuals, groups and organisations work together to implement strategies and monitor their success? Table 1 below is an IEP draft of areas of priority, principles, strategies and outcomes sought. This is not intended as a final view of the approach that the Forum might adopt to formulate its response to the opportunity offered by the NAMF and NAIEF processes. But it provides an essential checklist of the sorts of issues that will need to be considered and the relationships among them.
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