Australian Indigenous knowledge and libraries

The library and information profession has much to learn to meet the information needs of Indigenous people and appropriately manage Indigenous knowledge within their organisations. The Indigenous perspective can well understand the profession\u27s desire to have clear prescriptions for practice and practical assistance. However, the path to developing clear and high standards of practice in this area rests on building a strong foundation for understanding what informs the concerns of Indigenous people about the intersection of their knowledge and cultural materials with library and archival systems and practice

Alcohol management plans and related alcohol reforms

Abstract Indigenous Justice Clearinghouse Research Brief 16 provides an analysis of Alcohol Management Plans (AMPs); a relatively new instrument joining the extensive range of regulations relating to alcohol supply and consumption. AMPs vary in design and implementation across Australia, and include strategies designed to reduce harms resulting from alcohol misuse. The authors chart the background and development of these instruments in Australia, as well as providing a comparison to international alcohol supply and control reforms. The authors find that evaluations in the public domain are limited. These evaluations appear to indicate that where AMPs are locally driven and owned, there are stronger and more sustainable outcomes. There is a good evidence base for the individual components that make up an AMP. Success has been achieved through alcohol restrictions, and both harm and demand reduction strategies have an evidence base as targeted interventions. The authors conclude that as more AMPs are implemented across Australia, there is a greater need for further research to better understand the process of implementation and how communities can work together with governments to design, implement and evaluate AMPs

The National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia: year one in review

The National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia was conceived at Gunyangara in Arnhem Land during the inaugural Indigenous Performance Symposium in August 2002. The symposium was funded by the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) and hosted by the Yothu Yindi Foundation (YYF) as part of the fourth Garma Festival of Traditional Culture. Indigenous communities have used recording technologies to circulate and support the inter-generational transmission of their performance traditions for several decades now. Many Indigenous performers now keep recordings of their forebears’ past performances and listen to them for inspiration before performing themselves. In recent years, community digital archives have been set up in various Australian Indigenous communities. Not only can recordings reinforce memory and facilitate the recovery of lost repertoire, they can also provide inspiration for creative extensions of tradition. This paper reports on the outcomes of pilot studies undertaken in 2005 to develop and trial appropriate procedures and methodologies, and establish infrastructure requirements for the project. Ultimately, the National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia hopes to aid Indigenous communities in sustaining cultural survival by stimulating lifelong interest in performance traditions through its serial recording and documentation initiatives, and the collections that it will deposit in local repositories for perpetual community access.Australian Research Council, University of Sydney, Yothu Yindi Foundation, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studie

The National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia: year one in review

The National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia was conceived at Gunyangara in Arnhem Land during the inaugural Indigenous Performance Symposium in August 2002. The symposium was funded by the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) and hosted by the Yothu Yindi Foundation (YYF) as part of the fourth Garma Festival of Traditional Culture. Indigenous communities have used recording technologies to circulate and support the inter-generational transmission of their performance traditions for several decades now. Many Indigenous performers now keep recordings of their forebears’ past performances and listen to them for inspiration before performing themselves. In recent years, community digital archives have been set up in various Australian Indigenous communities. Not only can recordings reinforce memory and facilitate the recovery of lost repertoire, they can also provide inspiration for creative extensions of tradition. This paper reports on the outcomes of pilot studies undertaken in 2005 to develop and trial appropriate procedures and methodologies, and establish infrastructure requirements for the project. Ultimately, the National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia hopes to aid Indigenous communities in sustaining cultural survival by stimulating lifelong interest in performance traditions through its serial recording and documentation initiatives, and the collections that it will deposit in local repositories for perpetual community access.Australian Research Council, University of Sydney, Yothu Yindi Foundation, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studie

Community-Oriented Protected Areas for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

Across the globe, community-oriented protected areas are increasingly recognised as an effective way to support the preservation and maintenance of the traditional biodiversity related knowledge of indigenous peoples and local communities. We argue that guaranteed land security and the ability of indigenous and local peoples to exercise their own governance structures is central to the success of community-oriented protected area programs. In particular, we examine the conservation and community development outcomes of the Indigenous Protected Area program in Australia, which is based on the premise that indigenous landowners exercise effective control over environmental governance, including management plans, within their jurisdiction (whether customary or state-based or a combination of elements of both), and have effective control of access to their lands, waters and resources.  Key Words: community-oriented protected areas, Indigenous rights, conservation, Australi

The politicisation of science in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia:discussion of ‘Scientific integrity, public policy and water governance’

Many water scientists aim for their work to inform water policy and management, and in pursuit of this objective, they often work alongside government water agencies to ensure their research is relevant, timely and communicated effectively. A paper in this issue, examining 'Science integrity, public policy and water governance in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia’, suggests that a large group of scientists, who work on water management in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) including the Basin Plan, have been subject to possible ‘administrative capture'. Specifically, it is suggested that they have advocated for policies favoured by government agencies with the objective of gaining personal benefit, such as increased research funding. We examine evidence for this claim and conclude that it is not justified. The efforts of scientists working alongside government water agencies appear to have been misinterpreted as possible administrative capture. Although unsubstantiated, this claim does indicate that the science used in basin water planning is increasingly caught up in the politics of water management. We suggest actions to improve science-policy engagement in basin planning, to promote constructive debate over contested views and avoid the over-politicisation of basin science

Governance and Susceptibility in Conflict Resolution: Possibilities Beyond Control

Governmentality analysis offers a nuanced critique of informal Western conflict resolution by arguing that recently emerged alternatives to adversarial court processes both govern subjects and help to constitute rather than challenge formal regulation. However, this analysis neglects possibilities for transforming governance from within conflict resolution that are suggested by Foucault's contention that there are no relations of power without resistances. To explore this lacuna, I theorise and explore the affective and interpersonal nature of governance in mediation through autoethnographic reflection upon mediation practice, and Levina's insights about the relatedness of selves. The paper argues that two qualitatively different mediator capacities - technical ability and susceptibility - operate in concert to effect liberal governance. Occasionally though, difficulties and failures in mediation practice bring these capacities into tension and reveal the limits of governance. By considering these limits in mediation with Aboriginal Australian people, I argue that the susceptibility of mediator selves contains prospects for mitigating and transforming the very operations of power occurring through conflict resolution. This suggests options for expanded critical thinking about power relations operating through informal processes, and for cultivating a susceptible sensibility to mitigate liberal governance and more ethically respond to difference through conflict resolution