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It’s widely understood that rivers, wetlands and other waterways hold particular significance for First Nations people. It’s less well understood that Indigenous peoples are denied effective rights in Australia’s water economy.
Australia’s laws and policies prevent First Nations from fully participating in, and benefiting from, decisions about water. In fact, Indigenous peoples hold less than 1 per cent of Australia’s water rights.
A Productivity Commission report into national water policy released last week acknowledged the demands of First Nations, noting “Traditional Owners aspire to much greater access to, and control over, water resources”.
The commission suggested a suite of policy reforms. While the recommendations go further than previous official reports, they show a lack of ambition and would ensure water justice continues to be denied to First Nations.
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First Nations’ knowledge supercharges environment’s response to flows
The traditional water knowledge of our First Nation Peoples is helping to supercharge the long-term benefits of environmental flows in the Murray-Darling Basin, while helping First Nations connect more with Country.
Water for the environment is water that has been purchased by governments to be used to improve the health of our rivers, wetlands and floodplains.
Director of Aboriginal Partnerships at the MDBA, Mark Foreman said the positive impact of the collaborations on both the environment and First Nations communities were to be celebrated while recognising there was always room for improvement.