Water licences and allocations to Indigenous people: An Australia-wide scoping

exercise

Jon Altman & Bill ArthurCentre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research

Aims: Others have looked at legal and planning

frameworks We looked to quantify allocations,

operating in a data poor environment Focused on Indigenous businesses which

use water for commercial purposes Contacted state and territory water

authorities to check what licences have been issued to Indigenous parties

Methods: We found that non-one had the statutory

responsibility to monitor Indigenous commercial use of water

We distributed questionnaires to lead Indigenous agencies and developed an inclusive list

We culled this list after consultation with NWC We sent the list to each state and territory water

authority to see if they could assist in developing a list of commercial water users

Most were as helpful as possible, some quite proactive

Estimate of Indigenous users of water for commercial purposes

Notes:a) As noted in the text this total tended to represent all of the Indigenous entities and programs that might conceivably use water; i.e. it was compiled to be as inclusive as possible.b) Excludes Goulburn Murray Water region.

Findings: Licences issued < potential users identified Enormous variation by states and territories;

75% of identified licences in NSW In some jurisdictions commercial entities did not

need licences There was little link between columns A, B and C Enormous variation in capacity to respond state-

by-state given the blank slate and absence of clear mandate to collect such data

Discussion topics: Knowledge of Indigenous commercial water

use Knowledge of Indigenous water licence

allocations Water and Indigenous enterprise

development Water and ‘Closing the Gap’ Indigenous economic development and water The way ahead: Water as property

Next steps: We have provided some data as a tentative

first step It looks like progress could be made, especially if

the local knowledge of water authorities is used Is an Indigenous water register necessary or

desirable? Will it assist to generate an Indigenous business register or vice versa re HRSCATSIA?

If so, to answer what questions, NWI requirements aside?

For active engagements in water planning purposes?