Water Research Australia’s First Nations Independent Board Member Collene Castle recently provided this update to our Board which, with her permission, we share these insights with our members. Collene is a former Diversity Manager at Water Corporation and is now a Director in Wannil Partners.
The National Agreement on Closing the Gap is a collaborative effort between Australian governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, organisations, and businesses. The agreement recognises that to effectively close the gap, First Nations people must lead, determine, and drive the desired outcomes.
Implementation plans have been developed at national, state, and local levels to align policies and programs with the agreement’s objectives. The agreement focuses on four priority reform areas:
- Formal partnerships and shared decision-making
- Building the community-controlled sector
- Transforming government organisations
- Shared access to data and information at a regional level
The framework includes 17 socio-economic outcome areas, spanning health, housing, education, economic participation, justice, and cultural preservation.
Outcome 9(b) Ensuring essential services, is particularly significant as it holds governments accountable for providing essential services, including water, to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households. By 2031, the goal is to ensure:
- All households in discrete Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities receive essential services that meet or exceed jurisdictional standards.
- Households in or near towns receive services equivalent to those generally provided within the town, including those classified as town camps or reserves.
The 2024 report
Despite some progress, the 2024 update report highlighted that only four outcome areas are improving, while critical areas such as child protection and social and emotional wellbeing are regressing. While there has been slight national improvement, the data suggests that Australia is not on track to meet its 2031 targets, with Tasmania and the ACT showing no improvement at all. It is notable that no data is available on Outcome 9(b) hence understanding extent of the gap is unknown, and progress on improvements difficult to determine.
Addressing water inequality
To address inefficiencies in water service delivery, a preliminary report by Eric Vanweydeveld, Closing the Water for People and Communities Gap, was released at the 2022 Voices for the Bush conference in Alice Springs. The report made key recommendations, including:
- Establishing a First Nations water advisory group focused on safe drinking water.
- Creating a national water quality monitoring program, with at least $30 million in funding led by the Commonwealth Government before transitioning to state and territory oversight.
- Establishing a multi-year innovation investment fund for emerging water treatment solutions tailored to remote communities.
- Driving innovation in essential services through service integration opportunities.
- Delivering community-based solutions that improve the integration of essential services.
- Renewing the National Water Initiative to galvanise coordinated action.
- Simplifying governance arrangements to improve service delivery.
Collene has called for attention to return to the recommendations of this preliminary report, and also for WaterRA, its members and the wider water sector to support with research seed funding research to gather data, analyse the data, and develop the necessary projects to close the Gap for Outcome 9(b).
WaterRA is committed to supporting the National Closing the Gap policy, particularly in relation to essential services such as water access and quality. In alignment with Outcome 9(b) of the policy, WaterRA is exploring opportunities and partnerships to support First Nations research and Researchers. If any WaterRA members wish to discuss their potential collaborative support for Outcome 9(b) and the potential to establish seed funding for First Nations-led research to drive meaningful progress in water service delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities – please contact the WaterRA team.
Further reading see: Closing the Gap