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This report highlights an action-research case study of the West Coast Aboriginal Network (WestCAN). The network was first conceptualised in 2004 through the Plants for People project of the Desert Knowledge CRC (DKCRC). From this, community members banded together to form a network. Twenty-four people made up the core of the network. These people worked on enterprise projects within their communities. The network provides a support mechanism enabling people with common interest to be encouraged by providing a range of information and resources outside their communities. At the time of publication of this report the small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) members of WestCAN were: • Pampul Therapy and Healing Wiru – Patricia and Zane Gunter family, 10 km east of Ceduna • Scotdesco Expresso Cafe – the Scotdesco Community, 100 km west of Ceduna • Minnie’s Outback Tours – Lerline Crisci at Scotdesco community • Tjilkaba Gardens – Glenette Miller and the Scotdesco community • Cultural Awareness Training – Wanda Miller at Scotdesco community • Wanda’s Bush Medicine – Wanda Miller at Scotdesco community • Koonibba Internet Cafe – with John Thomas at Koonibba community, 35 km west of Ceduna • Koonibba Nursery – contract growing with Peter Gray at Koonibba community • Dinahline Bushfood Gardens – Dinahline Homeland community, 5 km west of Ceduna The focus of this research was to observe, monitor and facilitate where necessary the businesses’ development through time. The research aimed to understand the challenges faced by aspiring Aboriginal entrepreneurs in desert areas (and why a networking approach might be a successful one), issues associated with start-up, the role of external facilitation, and forming a network and impacts on individuals and the group as a whole.

We propose a set of four principles that will improve health and wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal people from their engagement in Aboriginal land management (ALM). ALM has a wide scope. Hence these are general principles rather than specific prescriptions or standards for best practice. These Livelihoods inLand™ principles were developed inductively, synthesised from findings of various studies conducted in the Desert Knowledge CRC’s Livelihoods inLand™ project (Core Project 1), from literature and from other experiences of members of the research group with ALM in desert Australia and in similar contexts internationally. The principles focus only on health and wellbeing outcomes from ALM. Integrated approaches to ALM also need to consider the interface and tradeoffs between health and wellbeing outcomes from ALM and other potential public and private benefits such as biodiversity conservation, economic development and social equity. We define ALM as comprising the activities that Aboriginal people undertake to maintain or enhance the flow of ecosystem services. ALM activities take place in a number of domains: customary or cultural resource management, natural resource management, services that support settlement living, and land-based enterprise. In general, desert Aboriginal people are most strongly motivated by customary or cultural resource management.

This report presents a method to clarify how remote Aboriginal groups want to build on their strengths and talents to design better communities for themselves that properly bring together country and culture as one system. Remote residents are full of creative ideas and plans for their country and community, but are rarely given the decision-making power to develop those ideas. Most management positions in communities are held by outsiders, who manage the resources (funding sources, knowledge networks, political contacts and material flows) that influence a community. These limitations placed on Aboriginal residents’ ability to significantly manage their own circumstances have contributed to ‘gaps’ in health, education, employment and other outcomes compared to the non-Aboriginal professionals who service them. Local people need skills to systematically try out ways to ‘close the gap’ between local and outside control. I therefore studied how elders, adults and service providers saw their communities and country, and the methods they used to improve their wellbeing.

The study showed that local government shire councils have a host of programs to support business and employment in their areas of jurisdiction in varying degrees. There appear to be more programs targeted specifically towards improving employment outcomes rather than stimulating business activities, although councils recognise the links between the two. Programs to support employment focus on four areas: 1. general training programs 2. youth-targeted training programs 3. Aboriginal-targeted programs 4. linked training and employment programs. Programs to support businesses fall into four areas: 1. building capacity for business owners 2. supporting business 3. supporting industry 4. engendering business-friendly policies.

The critical success factors that determine whether businesses survive and thrive in desert areas include: • goals and attitude of the entrepreneur • passion of the entrepreneur • relevant education, knowledge and skills • business skills • family support • understanding the market and market demand • networks and networking • start-up capital • government support • access to information and communication technology (ICT) • management and leadership in the business • business-friendly government policies

DesertBiz™ researchers held a series of workshops on supporting livelihoods and small business in desert Australia. The key theme of the workshops was ‘Identifying clever ways of creating and supporting businesses and better livelihoods for desert Australia’. The aim of the workshops was to identify government programs and initiatives that work, understand why some programs worked well and others were less successful, and identify factors that are likely to make them work better. Researchers invited government agencies, industry bodies and organisations operating in the desert to participate in the workshops. The workshops were held by the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre’s project DesertBiz™. The aim of DesertBiz™ is to find out how small businesses and business networks can effectively deliver livelihoods for desert people. The workshops were held in Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth. The objectives were to: 1. find out about the initiatives by industry, government, companies, and organisations operating in desert regions in Australia that aim to enhance economic development and deliver livelihoods for desert residents 2. identify the challenges that inhibit effective businesses and livelihoods of desert residents 3. identify possible solutions to improve livelihoods for desert residents 4. foster networking among program providers and workshop participants. The key themes that emerged from initiatives profiled in the workshops included: • the diversity of initiatives by various government departments • the confusing processes and departments for customers • the philosophical conflict between economic and social developme nt • the key ingredients for success in establishing and operating micro- and small businesses • the opportunities that arise from skills shortages • the importance of programs that focus on cultural change and foster independence • the role of effective networking

This evaluation of the Partnerships for Success program in Port Augusta was initiated through an agreement between the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre and the Graham (Polly) Farmer Foundation, and funded by the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre. Researchers associated with the David Unaipon College of Indigenous Education and Research at the University of South Australia conducted the research between January and December 2009. Ethics clearance was obtained from the Human Research Ethics committee at the University of South Australia. The broad aim of this study was to identify the effectiveness of the Partnerships for Success program (‘the program’) in increasing student educational achievement, secondary school graduation, and transition into further education and employment.

Herbivores, particularly introduced ones such as sheep and rabbits, have reduced the levels of regeneration of a number of species of native trees and shrubs in the arid rangelands of southern Australia since European settlement. These reduced levels of regeneration mean that populations of some species are declining while others, less palatable to herbivores, are being maintained, hence gradually altering the composition and/or overall cover of vegetation. In the long term, this could result in loss of palatable species valuable to the pastoral industry for animal production, and/or the dominance of large areas by undesirable “woody weed” species. To investigate the effects of grazing, we develop a model which projects the long-term survival rate of a focus species, Myoporum platycarpum, under grazing and nongrazing regimes. The technique we are applying is an extension of the Leslie growth model, where the vital rates are linked to random rainfall events and deterministic grazing. The effect of grazing is incorporated into the model based upon data primarily collected from the TGB Osborn Koonamore Vegetation Reserve, 400 km north of Adelaide in South Australia within and without the exclosure. The results suggest that only with higher than average rainfall for extended periods will the species of interest, M. platycarpum, survive under grazing.

The South Australian mining industry is in the process of developing relationships with Aboriginal people along many different paths — economic, cultural, land, social, family, health, livelihoods and governance. For a few larger mining companies, supporting Aboriginal people to develop micro and small business enterprises is a foundational element of these relationships. From an industry point of view, Aboriginal enterprises can provide the basis for developing a selfsupporting local economy, it can provide a degree of security for the company by assisting in validating a social licence to mine (therefore supporting the triple bottom line), it can provide life-long skills for Aboriginal people after the mine ends, and can provide an opportunity for mining companies to access a local pool of resources (including employment). From an Aboriginal point of view, enterprises can offer the chance to become self-sufficient, a chance to provide a future for children and grandchildren, and one avenue to strengthen culture. In order to manage risk to their commercial operations, the mining industry wants to understand Aboriginal enterprises better.

Regionalised natural resource management in South Australia: prospects and challenges of the new regime

With knowledge from our deserts, Australians can reshape the human story. Dry Times: Blueprint for a Red Land provides new insights into how our desert environments and institutions work - and how this affects the people living in them, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal alike. Contents Dramatic deserts Spreading deserts: past and future What drives deserts? Desert survivors Living off a lean landscape Dry but smart: tomorrow's desert business Surprising settlements Tantalising technologies Desert democrats Deserts and our future.

[ERRATA] Managing the impacts of feral camels in Australia: a new way of doing business - ERRATA FIX July 2010

[ERRATA] Overview of the project Cross-jurisdictional management of feral camels to protect NRM and cultural values - ERRATA FIX July 2010

What can help make small remote communities sustainable? This booklet arose out of field work for the Sustainable Desert Settlements project, a core project of the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre. The aim was to study mostly small remote communities to find factors that promoted sustainability. Researchers worked closely with six communities in four Australian States/Territories for up to three years. In this booklet we have arranged some of the broad lessons learned from those communities and some questions people could ask in discussions about the future of their communities. One of the key lessons shown in our research is that: While some people think ‘problems’ in small remote communities are because of environmental or technical issues – such as supplies of water, food, housing, fuel, medical services – many of the really difficult issues were people issues – such as how to live together, access to relevant knowledge and education, gender and family needs, leadership succession, surviving changes in government policies and managing government memory of community meetings. People issues underpinned much of whether a community was sustainable or not.

The focus of this project was to identify the factors that contributed to the success of businesses in desert Australia. In particular, the study was designed to determine: • how successful these businesses had been over the last three years • what factors were used to measure such business success • what factors were considered important to the success of the business • what was the availability of these factors to the business • what importance owner-managers and managers placed on their approach to leadership.

The aim of this study is to explore the value of country visits and local Indigenous Language and Culture (ILC) Programs for community engagement and natural and cultural resource management. Findings from this research show ways in which ILC programs and associated country visits integrate education into the social and cultural schema of remote communities. This research shows that schoolbased country visits and ILC programs should be seen as part of the solution to improving Aboriginal education outcomes. This research used qualitative methods to explore the country visit (day field trips, overnight camps and week-long camps) component of the ILC program in two remote Aboriginal schools in central Australia. The two case-study schools, Willowra School and Ntaria School, belong to the Warlpiri and Western Arrarnta language communities. This research is important because improving Aboriginal education outcomes is an urgent national priority and is considered key to ‘closing the gap’ in Aboriginal disadvantage. There are a multitude of complex and interrelated factors that contribute to poor education outcomes for Aboriginal students. Education research shows that education service delivery to remote communities is successful if it is integrated into the social and cultural schema of local communities (Kral & Falk 2004; Guenther et al. 2005; Hartman & Henderson 1994; Hoogenraad 1994; Harris 1990). To improve Aboriginal education outcomes, Aboriginal perspectives need to be included in curriculum and pedagogy (MCEETYA 2006), and improved community engagement will enhance education outcomes (NT DEET 2006a). Accordingly, Aboriginal people want their local schools, as places of learning for children, to accord equal value and status to Aboriginal language and knowledge alongside Western knowledge. However, reconciling what Aboriginal people in desert Australia want from their schools – the inclusion of local language and culture – and what schools routinely deliver is not often achieved in practice.

This paper provides a general profile of Pukatja (Ernabella) and its surroundings. It discusses some of the general features that contribute to sustainability, such as water, fuel, distance and employment. While these are certainly sustainability issues for the region, the paper discusses more of the social or ‘people’ issues for sustainability, which the authors believe are more urgent. For this region we believe the main problems for sustainability are those of the large youth population and lack of resources to engage them, and the constant changes in government policies and services that disrupt any ongoing planning and can set community members against one another. It is difficult for communities to plan ahead when there is a long history of everything being changed within a year or two. This is especially a problem with service provision, even though service provision is essential for sustainability.

This research paper gives an overview of the discipline and practice of public procurement. It outlines government procurement policies and practices in Australia, including the development of opportunities for desert businesses to bid for contracts offered by the public and private sectors in Australia. It uncovers formal and informal policies, such as ‘buy local’, which may help desert businesses bid for government contracts and identifies the implications of state borders and their subsequent impact on procurement contracts for desert businesses. It discusses international initiatives and experiences of improving public procurement opportunities that aim to alleviate the subordinate position of Aboriginal and minority communities in a number of countries. It also gives an overview of some private sector initiatives offered by a number of businesses in Australia, particularly in the mining industry. The overarching conclusion is that, for desert businesses to win more contracts from government and other businesses, there needs to be more diversity in the range of initiatives to help. Traditional solutions were simplistic and city-centric. Typically, they failed to take account of the unique challenges of desert community business ventures.

This report describes the development of a Geographic Information System (GIS) that models the patterns of travel of self-drive visitors to desert Australia. The VRUM™ system (Visualising Relatively Unpredictable Movement) depicts road segments used, overnight stop locations and direction of travel. At completion of the initial development stage, the system was populated with data covering travel in the period 2000–2006. This report is concerned with the user needs and logical specifications of VRUM™. It includes some description of the technical specifications, but details thereof remain commercial in confidence and are proprietary to the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre. The report also includes some examples of analysis of VRUM™ output. Aspects of the report have been published elsewhere in Holyoak and Carson 2009, Holyoak et al. 2009 and Chewings et al. 2007.

‘How can you make decisions about Aboriginal people when you can’t even talk to the people you’ve got here that are blackfellas?’ This question was posed by an Aboriginal senior public servant whom I interviewed for this research in 2007. She was imagining a conversation with the Northern Territory Public Service, whose invitation for Aborigines to join its departments provides the backdrop to my study. Counterposing the absent Aboriginal policy subject with the ever-present, idiomatic ‗blackfella‘ public servant, the question aptly reframes the government expectation that an Aboriginal presence within the public service will represent the absent through Aborigines‘ numeric sufficiency, their location in the corridors of power and their contribution to Aboriginal policies and programs. This interviewee was insisting that she be heard, if her people were to be taken into account. This thesis begins with a history of Aboriginal employment in the Northern Territory administration which concludes that the unplanned accretion of a substantial number of Aboriginal public servants, in 1978, became the new Northern Territory Government‘s opportunity to legitimize itself as a representative bureaucracy. After reviewing empirical studies of representative bureaucracy and theories of political representation, I argue that all public servants discretionarily represent others in their advice to government. I go on to explore the extent to which Aboriginal senior public servants understand themselves to represent other Aborigines in their work. Analyzing data from 76 interviewees, I ask: how compelling to Aboriginal senior officials is the Northern Territory Government‘s self-account as a representative bureaucracy? I argue that these officials work to a social imaginary in which they are present for those Aborigines whom they regard as absent only by circumstance. Aboriginal senior public servants see themselves as neither the naïve tokens nor misguided advocates that the literature has largely made them out to be. Rather, they see themselves as exemplary representatives of others, for whom they model mindful professionalism, and with whom they share fates as Aboriginal Territorians.

In 2007, the Ali Curung Council requested that the Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT) independently evaluate the Ali Curung Shared Responsibility Agreement (SRA) , which it did as part of ‘Desert Services that Work’ Core Project of the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (DKCRC). Residents of Ali Curung, staff from the Ali Curung Community Council, and NT and Australian Government staff who worked with people from Ali Curung community were invited to participate. The Tennant Creek ICC, along with the SRA Steering Committee, also agreed to the evaluation. The evaluation was to provide feedback to the community and the steering committee with the aim of learning from and improving the SRA’s implementation. An early draft of this report and its recommendations was provided to Ali Curung participants, the SRA Steering Committee and the ICC in order to provide the parties with immediate feedback from the evaluation. The following report details the content of the SRA, the research methodology, results and recommendations. Although substantial changes in policy, including local government reform and the Northern Territory Emergency Response (the Intervention) meant that the recommendations could not be acted on, it is hoped that they will provide guidance for future agreement or policymaking that affects Ali Curung and other similar Aboriginal communities.

The PY Ku network is a centrally managed network of community centres combining service delivery with technology, providing opportunities for training and employment, incorporating shared counter facilities for service delivery, and electronically linked multi-purpose meeting facilities. PY Ku: Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjaraku – for the people! The network consists of one-stop shop remote area transaction centres located in the communities of Amata, Mimili, Fregon (Kaltjiti), Indulkana (Iwantji), Pipalyatjara and Watarru on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of South Australia. Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara leaders conceived of PY Ku as a key pillar in their long-term vision for better service delivery options for Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (Anangu) communities. A key element of the vision for PY Ku is to sustainably involve Anangu more actively and directly in the service delivery system, by providing training and support to help them gain employment, and making sure that Anangu maintain a strong voice in the design, delivery and management of all services on their Lands In 2003, PY Ku was endorsed as one of two Council of Australian Governments ‘whole of government’ initiatives on the APY Lands for service delivery to remote Aboriginal communities – in this case, to provide a single local point in each community where a range of Commonwealth and state services could be accessed. From inception to operation, this innovative approach to integrated service delivery on the APY Lands posed many challenges for all people involved, especially: • the coordination across levels of government, and with and between Anangu communities • the costs involved in rolling out major new building and IT infrastructure across APY Lands • the human resource issues involved in recruiting and training new Anangu staff for PY Ku • finding a sustainable approach to develop and maintain both the PY Ku centres and the integrated services model. This document reports on the findings of an evaluation of PY Ku that is a part of a larger research project of the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (called ‘Desert Services that Work: Demand-responsive Services to Desert Settlements’, Fisher et al. 2011). Desert Services that Work aimed to develop a sophisticated picture of the supply of services to desert settlements and explored how demand for services is expressed and responded to in remote community contexts. The research questions of the Desert Services that Work project guided our approach to this research. The research method we used combined a comprehensive review of documentation of PY Ku from inception to implementation. We identified and assessed the impact of key levers, success factors and critical points of change on remote service delivery to the target settlements. Our methodology used an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, drawn from collating respondents’ overall feedback to narrative open-ended questions. We held extended narrative interviews and discussions with key Anangu leaders, and Anangu and non-Anangu key players who were involved at all levels of the PY Ku program. This gave us a rich overview of the dynamics involved in the implementation of what is a complex and multi-faceted initiative. From interviews and discussions with people involved in using or developing PY Ku centres, we collected perspectives on the PY Ku program and its services. But ongoing concerns from the implementing agency (PY Media) about the possibility that government support for the program would not be renewed after the first term led us to become involved in meetings about the sustainability of the services. This provided insight on the challenges for government and service providers in achieving a sustainable service model. Establishing PY Ku has been a complex undertaking involving purpose-built facilities, new technology, training and employment of new Anangu staff, and multiple levels of contracting with different agencies for the delivery of specific services through PY Ku as a local agent. For the Anangu-controlled regional organisation PY Media – which acted as project manager for the planning, rollout and implementation of the program – the challenges often proved almost insurmountable. However, the successful introduction of PY Ku has demonstrated the tenacity and good faith of the many key Anangu and non-Anangu people involved. Sustainable development of remote service delivery requires a high level of consistent, ongoing investment by governments. If systemic change is to be achieved, investments should be viewed over a ten-year, rather than three-year, horizon. The report highlights that while investing in a regional Anangu service provider to deliver PY Ku is good practice, local organisations would need to be adequately compensated for the burden this places on them. The strength of resilience, reciprocity, capability and goodwill between Anangu and non-Anangu individuals has led to remarkable growth in the capacities of Anangu to engage in the service system. Achieving an operational PY Ku network under Anangu leadership now places the network in a pivotal position to engage more with local people, achieve strategic community development and empower the Anangu people to get maximum long-term value from these services to their communities.

This paper, the third and final in a series of papers for the Desert Knowledge CRC, examines the landmark document of the present policy period in Indigenous affairs, the National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA). The first paper in the series examined a previous policy instrument, Regional Partnership Agreements (RPA), in particular the Ngaanyatjarra RPA, concluding that services to desert settlements are still bogged down with long chains of bureaucratic administration. The second paper described the importance of the Indigenous service sector and argued for greater recognition and support for it to provide appropriate services. This paper examines the current policy environment with those findings in mind. Though periods of public policy are not easily pinned down, since policy itself is necessarily somewhat ambiguous (Mosse 2004, pp. 650–651), and scrutinising policy documents is like seeing through a glass darkly, it is clear that before the turn of the century we entered a new policy era in Indigenous affairs. This era has turned its back on the vision of a semiautonomous, de-colonised and modernised discrete realm for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, where they would largely manage themselves in culturally appropriate ways. The new era is characterised by the intention to re-engage the state with its Indigenous peoples, and normalise their relations within their communities and with the wider population. Normalisation is the term used in this paper, deliberately, though the policy is not officially called normalisation. The present government prefers ‘closing the gap’, but this paper retains the term because it encapsulates the development dilemma for Aboriginal people. Normalisation is a positive goal if this means that Aboriginal people can expect a standard of living at the national norm. It is a challenge if it means that Aboriginal people are required to reflect socially, culturally and individually an idealised profile of the normal citizen established by the remote processes of bureaucratic public policy making.

In Dajarra, the supply of drinking water was a long-term problem that affected the quality of life in the town. As a critical service that required substantial improvement, the Dajarra water problem was selected as a case study for the second stage of CP5, which provides the data for this report. Core Project 5 addressed five research questions at sites across arid zone Australia (see Moran 2006): • What are characteristics of the interplay between demand and supply of services, according to the perceptions of consumers and service providers engaged at the local interface? • What are the conditions that permit successful practice to develop between consumers and service providers? • At what scales of governance should different service delivery functions be assigned to optimise both demand and supply based criteria? • What are the service type and delivery style priorities of consumers within a specified budget framework, and what is their capacity to participate and willingness to contribute to services? • What are the critical issues and strategies to improve the service system, including the strengths and weaknesses of different technology and governance options?

This monograph was prepared during 2007 to 2009 as a contribution to the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (DKCRC), and specifically to its Core Project 5 (CP5) titled ‘Desert Services that Work, Demand Responsive Approaches to Desert Settlements’. The overall aim of this project was to provide guidance on how to enhance Aboriginal livelihoods in desert settlements through improved access to and effectiveness of services. This project sat within the broader aim of the DKCRC, namely to create economic opportunities for desert people and make a demonstrable difference for remote Aboriginal communities through the application of research and training. The current descriptive case study sits within the nexus of these two aims statements. This monograph explores and presents a case study of Aboriginal cultural and socioeconomic empowerment situated within both the fields of service delivery and of mainstream economy, that of the Myuma Group. It contains valuable case study material for Aboriginal organisations, industry partners and government agencies seeking to promote more effective Aboriginal engagement and outcomes in enterprise and service delivery. The Myuma Group comprises three inter-linked Aboriginal corporations centred on the upper Georgina River in far western Queensland, which were established by the local traditional owners, the Indjalandji-Dhidhanu people. The Myuma Group first established a Work Camp on the outskirts of Camooweal (a township near the Queensland–NT border), then a second Work Camp at a remote quarry, and an office in Mt Isa. From these three bases they administer a combination of enterprises, training, service delivery and cultural heritage activities. The various innovatory achievements and successful features emanating from this group have stimulated this report as a good-practice case study. It consists of a culture-contact history, a contemporary profile and an analysis of the activities of the Myuma Group in relation to a set of key DKCRC research questions.