Supporting resilience in Indigenous communities: how the emergency management sector can do better

By Bethany Patch from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. This article was first published in Issue Three 2021 of Fire Australia.

There are differences in the ways Indigenous communities, agencies and the broader community manage natural hazards. However, these differences provide opportunities to build strong relationships and find mutual benefit in supportive approaches.

Five Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC projects have identified ways to make the most of these opportunities, deepening the understanding of how the emergency management sector and Indigenous communities can work together to build disaster resilience:

1. A training program was developed that provides practical support for land management capabilities in remote communities across northern Australia. Led by Stephen Sutton at Charles Darwin University, this research was a partnership between CDU’s Aboriginal Research Practitioners’ Network (ARPNet), emergency management agencies, and several northern Indigenous communities and their leaders.

2. Community-led participatory action research in two Indigenous communities in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, explored governance issues and aspirations to guide future collaboration:

• one was conducted with the Ramingining community as a partnership between local community members, Dr Bevlyne Sithole, and researchers from ARPNet and the Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods at Charles Darwin University;
• another was conducted with the Galiwin’ku community as a partnership between Glenn James, local Indigenous leaders and the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA).

3. Prof Jeremy Russell-Smith, Dr Kamaljit Sangha, and Dr Andrew Edwards from Charles Darwin University worked closely with remote Indigenous communities, through the Darwin Centre for Bushfire Research, NAILSMA and ARPNet, to identify what is needed to build emergency management capacity across northern Australia.

4. Dr Timothy Neale (Deakin University) and Dr Jessica Weir (Western Sydney University) led a recent examination of the challenges and opportunities of collaborations between Indigenous communities and the emergency management sector in southern Australia.

Together, this research provides a snapshot of current priorities for the emergency management sector, and strengthens relationships with Indigenous communities in ways that are respectful, culturally appropriate and effective in the collective effort to build resilience and reduce harm from natural hazards.

Engagement with Indigenous leaders

The projects focused on developing a close dialogue between emergency management agencies and Indigenous communities, particularly senior Traditional Owners, Elders and leaders.

Emergency management must recognise and respect leadership and governance structures within each community through inclusive collaboration that shows deference to Indigenous communities and knowledge from the outset.

Maratja Dhamarrandji and Ted Gondarra – two Elders from the Galiwin’ku (Elcho Island) community, Arnhem Land – said in a joint statement on behalf of their community that they were optimistic about future possibilities.

“We have the power to help the emergency service providers do their job, but they must see us – our law, our systems, our leaders. We can work hard to support good emergency management here at Galiwin’ku, but that needs mutual respect, resources and the time so we can get it right. We want to take it further, but we need support,” they said.

Indigenous leaders emphasised the importance of engaging directly with them to lead the development of emergency management strategies.

“That’s the real difference from any other projects that I have seen,” one Elder from Malanganark in Arnhem Land said of Sutton’s work to develop new hazard management training units.

“We want to start targeting each clan group, train them so they can be strong leaders for own family and clan, they can make their own emergency plan for their community.”

These projects used the highly collaborative participatory action research approach, including the work led by Sutton, which involved researchers and Indigenous leaders working together to address the natural hazard training needs of people in the Top End region of the Northern Territory.

The result was an innovative training program, applicable in other jurisdictions, that concentrates on Indigenous perspectives and connections with the land and integrates Indigenous with non-Indigenous approaches to land and fire management.

You can learn more about the training program by reading Hazard Note 96: developing a culturally appropriate natural hazards training program for Indigenous communities.

Empowering existing knowledge structures

Self-determination is central to Indigenous community empowerment. The customary governance and hazard management structures within Indigenous communities are a core foundation for understanding and responding to community needs.

The two studies led by Dr Sithole and James both found issues with a lack of recognition of customary authority and local governance structures.

“Although some agencies express interest, there is little evidence of understanding or genuine desire for change that would stimulate meaningful reform,” Dr Sithole said.

“Communities are keen to develop materials and strategies to help emergency management agencies to understand their circumstances, and the principles and benefits of successful community engagement.”

This research has created a framework and set of protocols that help emergency management agencies engage more effectively with communities, by highlighting issues around customary authority and recreating an independent voice for Indigenous authority to inform future land management. You can learn more about this research here.

This empowerment of existing structures was also central to Prof Russell-Smith’s research, and summarised in the final report or in Hazard Note 94.

The research team worked closely with Indigenous community members and leaders to address their emergency management issues and aspirations, and particularly to explore the role of Indigenous Ranger Groups, working with state and territory agencies to provide frontline prevention, preparedness, response and recovery functions. This program, which began in 2007, is now widely used for a range of cultural and land management activities around Australia. The research showed that it was important for agencies to support these Groups to deliver emergency management services in remote settings, especially in the absence of agency capability.

“A collaborative model of emergency management in remote communities, developed in consultation with local members, is vital to improve the current situation,” Prof Russell-Smith said.

“Agencies need to be patient with their support and provide regular, flexible and approachable training, mentoring and resourcing assistance, and consider innovative approaches for contracting and delivering effective emergency management in remote communities.”

Inclusive and transparent communication

Another theme was the importance of inclusive, regular communication with remote communities. Strengthening cultural literacy across the sector will contribute to a more transparent and inclusive communication process.

For example, in Galiwin’ku in east Arnhem Land, community leaders identified poor communication between service providers and residents as a key focus moving forward, because it is a strong contributing factor to community disengagement, marginalisation, disempowerment and disadvantage.

Sutton’s research echoed the need for more inclusive and transparent communication. Throughout the project, researchers encouraged Traditional Owners to ‘own’ the process by hosting all training development sessions on Country and inviting attendees that they knew would benefit from hazard management training. Working with Traditional Owners, custodians and knowledge-holders prior to any actual service delivery was found to be one of the best possible predictors of success and sustained practice.

“To avoid trying to solve a long-standing problem with short-term band aids, we focused on asking Indigenous peoples for their perspectives, their needs and ultimately their world view on managing fire and disasters in their communities,” Sutton said.

“It costs a bit more up front, but the result is long-term sustainable change on the ground.”

A connection to place

The projects found that a deeper understanding of cultural and social contexts hugely benefits engagement and creates an environment of understanding and compassion for sociocultural intricacies specific to respective Indigenous communities. Working with communities on Country – that is, on Aboriginal land in a way that respects local law and custom, supports local aspirations, and promotes ecological, spiritual and human health – was seen as essential for prioritising Indigenous connection to place.

Dhamarrandji and Gondarra explained that it isn’t just about a connection to the land, but also about the laws and culture of those who live there.

“We are the holders and the keepers of Yolngu law. We are responsible for the land and the people. This project unites us with the common cause of protecting our rights, interests and values under the law,” they said.

A key focus of Dr Neale and Dr Weir’s research in southern Australia was the establishment of new avenues for trust, capacity and knowledge in intercultural contexts that can reduce risk to Indigenous peoples and the wider community. Their research found that the emergency management sector isn’t sufficiently familiar with the fundamentals of Indigenous knowledge and governance.

“It is clear from our research that if emerging collaborations are to be sustainable, Aboriginal peoples need to be centred on meaningful terms across a suite of natural hazard practices and policies,” Dr Weir said.

“This should involve not only support for Aboriginal peoples’ governance organisations to lead, partner and participate in natural hazard risk and resilience more generally, but also building capacity in the sector’s understanding about Country as a required expertise for all public servants across all employment levels and emergency management training.”

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The projects and their tools and resources are collected in the Indigenous Initiatives theme of the CRC’s Driving Change website.

Research like this can help to build trust-based collaborations that respect Indigenous peoples’ contexts, creating arrangements that ensure they are partners in building a resilient Australia for all.

According to CRC Research Director Dr John Bates, future research – such as is being discussed for inclusion in the research plan of the new national centre for natural hazard research – can use these findings as a foundation.

“This research gives the emergency management sector insights on how to advance co-designed programs and identifies opportunities to improve cross-cultural hazard management,” Dr Bates said.

“These projects could provide guidance for future research on how to develop natural hazard programs that are inclusive of First Nations people and what new effective partnerships might look like.”

Dr Neale echoed the importance of respectful partnerships as the sector continues to find collaborative solutions that strengthen resilience of Indigenous communities.

“We have to understand that, in Australia and elsewhere, many Indigenous peoples’ past and present experiences of sharing their knowledge have frequently been negative and exploitative,” Dr Neale said.

“There are better alternatives, and one is to think in terms of respectful partnership. As Aboriginal scholars and activists have been saying for a long-time: non-Indigenous people have to give up some of their power and control if they want to work together.

“We have to start from the premise of their rights, as the First Peoples of this place, to speak authoritatively about Country.”