The Indigenous Water Policy Group (IWPG) was initiated in 2006
to continue the dialogue of the Lingiari Water Rights Discussion
Booklets (Onshore and Offshore), which identified that Indigenous
rights, responsibilities and interests in water need to be
recognised in any water resource management plans. further to this,
a scoping study on
Indigenous interests in tropical river management identified an
extremely low awareness of the National Water Initiative (NWI)
amongst Indigenous peoples in northern Australia.
The aims of the IWPG are:
- to increase the awareness of Indigenous people living in
northern Australia about the government’s current policies
for water reform, and
- to engage in research relating to Indigenous rights,
responsibilities and interests in water resources in northern
Australia so that these aspects are articulated during the water
reform process.
The IWPG is funded by the
National Water Commission until 2011 under its Raising National
Water Standards Programme.
Background to government’s plan for National Water
Reform
The National
Water Initiative (2004) builds on the framework developed by
the Council of Australian Governments
(COAG) national water reform (1994) that recognised the need for
water resource management across Australia. To expedite this plan,
given that water resources in southern Australia are becoming more
restricted, the Government has since formed a National Plan for
Water Security (2007) that provided for the formation of the
Northern Australia Land and Water
Taskforce. The Taskforce, which is Chaired by Joe Ross, will
examine the potential for new development's in northern Australia
that rely on significant local or regional water resources and will
consult with stakeholders in the north to identify opportunities
for further development. The Taskforce is under the auspice of the
Office
of Northern Australia. This Office has been established under
the current Rudd Labor Government to ensure that the top end of
Australia shares in national prosperity and to facilitate the
provision of high level policy advice on sustainable development
issues affecting Northern Australia. In addition to this Office,
the Australian Government is delivering a program called the
Northern Australia Water Futures Assessment. This program is
delivered by the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the
Arts and the National
Water Commission to provide an enduring knowledge base to
inform decisions about development of northern Australia's water
resources, so that any development proceeds in an ecologically,
culturally and economically sustainable manner.
The IWPG contributes significantly
to:
- research development under TRaCK,
through its Indigenous engagement strategy and management of theme
research, and under its own research program
- policy development of the government’s plans for water
reform under the National Water Initiative through its engagement
with the National Water Commission
- informing processes for any development in the north through
its direct engagement with themes of the Northern Australia Water
Futures Assessment
- providing policy advice on sustainable development of the north
through its membership on the Northern Land and Water
Taskforce.
