A response to the National Water initiative from ... - Ninti One

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The NWI recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ needs in relation to wateraccess and management through appropriate representation in planning processes and incorporationof Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander objectives in plans with appropriate strategies developedwherever possible (NWI Clause 53). To date the processes through which Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander rights and interests will be managed in implementing the NWI are yet to be resolved.The core elements of the NWI relate to the more efficient use of water, the economic viabilityof water services and the sustainable use of water resources with consideration of ecologicalsustainability. The release of the NWI raised the questions: In practical terms how will the NWIaffect discrete Aboriginal settlements in South Australia? and How can Aboriginal settlementsrespond to the NWI? For example, the possible introduction of a user pays system for water hassignificant implications for Aboriginal settlements, some of which do not pay for water use andexperience social and economic disadvantages that adversely affect the health of people living there.Before a user pays system for water can be introduced into Aboriginal settlements, residents must beengaged in the planning and decision-making process to ascertain whether or not Aboriginal peoplehave the capacity to pay for water, or even if they should, given their prior claims to land and waterrights. Policy makers will need to go beyond engaging Aboriginal settlements in the planning anddecision-making processes, to include discussions about the level of service Aboriginal settlementsmight be willing to pay for (cf. World Bank 1993; Kaliba et al. 2003).In relation to the delivery of services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, COAGprovided policy direction across all jurisdictions. In June 2004, in addition to signing the NWIAgreement, COAG agreed to a National Framework of Principles for Government Service Deliveryto Indigenous Australians (hereafter ‘the Framework’) reproduced in Appendix 1. The principlesare: sharing responsibility, harnessing the mainstream, streamlining service delivery, establishingtransparency and accountability, developing a learning framework, and focusing on priority areas.Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in water service deliveryOne of the aims of the NWI Framework of Principles for Delivering Services to IndigenousAustralians (the Framework) is ‘to achieve better outcomes for Indigenous Australians’ in termsof improving delivery of services and enabling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australiansto move towards self-sufficiency (Appendix 1). The Lingiari Report (Lingiari Foundation 2002),however, raises concerns held by the Ngarrindjeri people in South Australia, the Karajarri peoplein Western Australia and Aboriginal peoples in New South Wales about their ability to decisivelyparticipate in the management of water resources, and asserts their right to good quality waterfor spiritual, cultural, social and economic uses (MacFarlane 2004). It is concerns such as thoseraised in MacFarlane (2004) that the Framework aims to address, as laid out in the sectionentitled ‘Sharing Responsibility’. Sharing responsibility means that the government would like toencourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to participate in delivering and managingwater services, and through this participation build partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander communities and together develop cooperative approaches to policy and service delivery.The government agencies, therefore, need to foster communication channels between people inAboriginal settlements and service providers so that all stakeholders can learn what arrangementsare working well and contribute to solutions.The ‘Harnessing the Mainstream’ section of the Framework indicates that professional providersof water and energy services should also supply Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander settlements.In the past some remote settlements were serviced by Aboriginal-specific providers. However,SA Water is the principal water service provider in SA and as such possesses a much higher levelA response to the National Water Initiative fromNepabunna, Yarilena, Scotdesco and Davenport Aboriginal settlementsDesert Knowledge CRC
of expertise, backup, and infrastructure compared with the small Aboriginal settlement-specificagency Aboriginal Affairs Reconciliation Division (AARD). Similarly, the professionalism ofthe private sector suppliers of electricity services lowers the risks and liabilities associated withproviding this service. The aim is to offer mainstream water services that are complementary toexisting arrangements and to reduce the bureaucracy associated with government provision of waterservices to isolated Aboriginal settlements.It would appear that at least some of the concerns raised by Altman and Cochrane (2003) regardingAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander interests and participation have been incorporated within theNWI. The NWI outlines a commitment to ‘Indigenous participation at all levels and a willingnessto engage with representatives, adopting flexible approaches and providing adequate resources tosupport capacity at the local and regional levels’. This is to be achieved through Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander representation in planning processes and the incorporation of Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander objectives in plans, with appropriate strategies developed wherever possible.The following section provides details of the likely impact of the NWI on discrete Aboriginalsettlements and thereby frames the research objectives.The responsibilities of water service providers in remote AboriginalsettlementsPart of the responsibility for efficient water use rests with the water service provider and part ofthe responsibility lies with the settlement. For example, part of Clause 64 (Appendix 2) of the NWIrequires the ‘efficient delivery of the required services’, which makes service providers responsiblefor ensuring that water is delivered ‘efficiently’. This might be interpreted as a duty of care to fixleaking pipes and take steps to identify and overcome inefficiencies in the water delivery serviceso as to minimise wastage. Service providers will also be bound by Clause 69 of the NWI whichrequires any new works or refurbishments to be ‘ecologically sustainable’ before they can beimplemented. In terms of remote settlements, this implies that service providers are not permittedto extract water from bores at a greater rate than the natural recharge rate of the groundwaterresources over a sustained period nor to install new bores where an aquifer is being dewatered.However, not all jurisdictions interpret this clause of the NWI in the same way.The requirement for full cost recovery of water services where practicableUnder the heading ‘Rural and Regional’, Clause 66(v) of the NWI states that states will agree to‘full cost recovery for all rural surface and groundwater based systems’, however, ‘some smallcommunity services will never be economically viable but need to be maintained to meet socialand public health obligations’. While the NWI recognises that some settlements will never beeconomically viable, it states nonetheless that in such cases states agree to achieve ‘lower boundpricing’ in line with commitments to the National Competition Policy (NCP). It is thereforepossible that some element of ‘lower bound’ costs may be introduced into settlements that currentlydo not pay for water. The legislation does, however, state that water pricing will be reviewed‘on a case-by-case basis’. Furthermore, the introduction or continuation of a Community ServiceObligation (CSO) is permitted. For example, NWI Clause 66 (v) Part c, states that ‘where fullcost recovery is unlikely to be achieved in the long term and a CSO is deemed necessary, the sizeof the subsidy is to be reported publicly’. The NWI does, however, add that ‘where practicable,jurisdictions to consider alternative management arrangements aimed at removing the need for anongoing CSO’. The CSO is an SA Water subsidy to ensure that people living in rural and remote regions pay the same price for water as those living in metropolitan Adelaide, regardlessof the cost of service delivery to the provider.Desert Knowledge CRCA response to the National Water Initiative fromNepabunna, Yarilena, Scotdesco and Davenport Aboriginal settlements
Page 1 and 2: A response to the National Waterini
Page 3 and 4: Contributing author informationDr M
Page 7 and 8: Figures and boxesFigure 1.1: Locati
Page 9: VIII Desert Knowledge CRC A respons
Page 12: Executive summaryAim of the study1.
Page 15 and 16: 26.27.28.Water use at Davenport is
Page 17: Action 3 of the ‘Doing It Right P
Page 21 and 22: Act 1998, and the Pastoral Land Man
Page 23 and 24: 2002). Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Page 25 and 26: 14 Desert Knowledge CRC A response
Page 27 and 28: income, to take part in leisure and
Page 29 and 30: yet still live below the poverty li
Page 31 and 32: the ERP estimate for a particular s
Page 33 and 34: household size and employment ought
Page 35 and 36: The study ran on a rolling basis wi
Page 37 and 38: Adapting the contingent valuation a
Page 39 and 40: percentage mark up of prices in rem
Page 41 and 42: Ascertaining reliable data for the
Page 43 and 44: with the community on the reliabili
Page 45 and 46: ConclusionThis study used a qualita
Page 47 and 48: Table 4.1: Population of Nepabunna
Page 49 and 50: Table 4.2: Household size at Nepabu
Page 51 and 52: Table 4.6: Weekly income of the hyp
Page 53 and 54: Creation of a family menu and costi
Page 55 and 56: An estimation of the weekly expendi
Page 57 and 58: 46 Desert Knowledge CRC A response
Page 59 and 60: Testing for heavy metals in October
Page 61 and 62: Four households show frequent perio
Page 63 and 64: volume of bleed-off water (Karpisca
Page 65 and 66: These findings point to the need fo
Page 67 and 68: The figures in Willis et al. (2004)
Page 69 and 70:
Participants were given one brief i
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Water-saving options within the hom
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much [water]…’ The community is
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64 Desert Knowledge CRC A response
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groups except for the 15-24 year br
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Data collected by the community in
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A car loan repayment system is gene
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The focus group of three women from
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Table 6.14: Comparison of costs and
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Age compositionAt the time of 2001
Page 89 and 90:
Table 6.20: Employment in Scotdesco
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Establishing the cost of living for
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Table 6.29: Comparison of total sup
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Cost of living for hypothetical fam
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The impact of additional costs such
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number of options, including a pilo
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12000Water use (L/d)100008000600040
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which has a moderating effect on ai
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As part of the Community Water Gran
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Figure 7.5: The disused coastal soa
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anging from 40 m 2 at a converted s
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in the late 1990s with the advent o
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Modern technology has significantly
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There are broad differences in popu
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Table 8.2: ABS (2002) employment da
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Schooling costsFamilies on low inco
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Limitations of the study findings a
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Page 127 and 128:
Residential water rating systemTher
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Table 9.1 Average daily per capita
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Water-efficient fittings cost a tot
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Recycled waterAs in 2002 (Willis et
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services a population of 5,000, but
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ConclusionDavenport has scope to re
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Objective 1: to conduct an economic
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YarilenaWhile residents at Yarilena
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Objective 3: to engage communities
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of hurdles not yet resolved. For ex
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venture to provide serious returns,
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Recommendations for Davenport• It
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Carson RT, Flores NE and Mitchell R
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Komives K and Prokopy LS 2000, ‘C
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Sanders W 2004, Indigenous people i
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Page 159 and 160:
• Maximising the effectiveness of
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c) where full cost recovery is unli
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ii) water service provider water ac
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Appendix 3: Aboriginal reference gr
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Appendix 4: Fact sheetsFact sheet 1
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Fact sheet 2: Greater use of rainwa
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Fact sheet 3: Water efficiencies in
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Fact sheet 4: New water statement o
Page 175 and 176:
Appendix 5: Flinders University eth
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CONSENT FORM FOR FOCUS GROUPSchool
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Appendix 6: Nepabunna weekly menuBr
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Meat and dairy perfortnightCopley$A
Page 183 and 184:
Appendix 8: Comparison of food and
Page 185 and 186:
Appendix 10: Yarilena weekly menuBr
Page 187 and 188:
Meat & dairy per fortnightCost of i
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Health hardware item Cost Cost per
Page 191 and 192:
Appendix 13: Scotdesco weekly menuB
Page 193 and 194:
Fruit and vegetables perfortnightCo
Page 195 and 196:
Appendix 15: Comparison of food and
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Appendix 17: Davenport weekly menuB
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