Keep the fire burning: igniting change on Arrernte Country

Kiara Johnson and Territa Dick at Voices from the Bush 2024.

To mark NAIDOC Week, we're revisiting a pivotal moment in our sector’s journey towards truth-telling and equity.

This powerful reflection on Voices from the Bush 2024, originally published in Current magazine, captures how Aboriginal leadership is reshaping conversations around water justice.

Held on Arrernte Country in Mparntwe (Alice Springs), the event created space for honesty, cultural safety and collaboration. As we celebrate the strength and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities this NAIDOC Week, these reflections are a timely reminder of the importance of centring Aboriginal voices in water management and beyond.

While not everyone within the water community was present for Voices 2024, the generosity and collaborative thinking of Aboriginal leaders present created a ripple through the entire sector.

Last year’s two-day conference emphasised the importance of co-creation and co-design for sustainable water management and highlighted inequality in access to safe, reliable water for Aboriginal communities.

Hosted by the Australian Water Association (AWA) and the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA), the second conference was led by Kiara Johnson, Conference Committee Chair and proud Aboriginal woman from regional South Australia, who helped shape and foster a safe space for challenging and moving conversations.

Founder of KSJ Consulting, Platinum Civil and Argyle Recruitment, Kiara is a Peter Cullen Trust Fellow, 2023 Vicky Cullen Scholarship recipient, Leith Boully Award recipient and winner of the 2024 40 Under 40 Social Impact Award.

Building on lessons from the 2022 conference, the 2024 event made cultural safety, truth-telling and authentic engagement central to its approach.

Delegates were challenged to confront ongoing barriers to reliable water access for Aboriginal communities and to recognise the fundamental importance of early, meaningful consultation with Aboriginal people.

Feedback from all participants highlighted the transformative power of centring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, fostering hope and a renewed commitment to creating meaningful change.

Creating inclusivity

Reflecting on her decision to take on the role of Voices 2024 Committee Chair, Kiara said she spoke with the AWA about creating an advisory committee to ensure Voices 2024 allowed Aboriginal people to feel safe and have open conversations.

“At the first conference, non-Indigenous people talked a lot about what they were doing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It wasn’t culturally safe, and there were very few Aboriginal speakers,” she said.

Kiara agreed to be part of Voices 2024 only if AWA was able to be honest and open to feedback.

“To their credit, they were,” Kiara said. “This allowed the advisory group to stretch our thinking around what this conference should look like, how it needs to include varied opinions, and the need to be bold.”

Crucial to the shift was a dedication to getting the right people into the room, Kiara said, including removing economic barriers to Aboriginal attendance.

“Many Aboriginal community controlled organisations don’t have the funding that larger companies do to send people to events,” she said. “AWA sought sponsorship to cover costs to become more inclusive. That was probably the biggest difference – we had significant Aboriginal representation in the room.”

Community first

Chair of the Torres Cape Indigenous Councils Alliance and Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire Council Mayor Territa Dick presented at Voices 2024 on the need for community driven solutions to train Aboriginal people in managing water services.

“First, it’s not closing the gap – it’s not a gap, it’s a hole. And water is the foundation. It unlocks everything else. And the home is the starting point to life,” she said.

“Everyone should have access to clean drinking water and sustainable water services. We need to ensure homes are healthy and safe places to live for everybody.

“A key challenge for the Kowanyama community is investing in our own people. We have good essential services, but it’s all fly-in, fly-out. We want our own people to be trained, working here and taking over the operation of these services. It’s more sustainable and it’s good for the economic growth of our communities.”

Kiara agreed, stating it was also important to prioritise Aboriginal businesses when funding for communities become available.

“Too often funding goes to non-Indigenous organisations. They’ll then do some box-tick consultation and move on,” she said.

“That’s not meaningful engagement and it doesn’t help our communities in the long term. Early engagement is critical, and organisations need to own their mistakes and work collaboratively to ensure these issues don’t arise again.

“Capital investment into water should benefit Aboriginal communities through opportunities like water testing, maintenance contracts, and even community ownership of water assets.”

This isn’t just about solving water supply issues, but also fostering continuous economic sustainability for Aboriginal communities, Kiara said.

“I want to see a circular economy where Aboriginal people are central to the solutions, not sidelined,” she said.

And when it came to good co-design and collaboration, Territa said strong and regular communication was key.

“Keep in touch, keep having the conversation,” she said. “And get together. When you’re face-to-face, the engagement is real, and that’s where the real stuff happens. It’s crucial to recognise the strength and resilience of First Nations people. When we build together, we make a difference. That’s how it has to be.”

Real talk

Being the first time Territa attended the Voices conference, she said it was an eye-opener and felt meaningful due to the safety that had been purposefully created.

“As Mayor, I go to a lot of conferences and, honestly, many are just talk fests. But this one hit home for me because it was real talk,” she said.

“This conference was different. We could put our hand up, grab the mic and speak freely. It was very comforting to be able to engage this way. Being able to freely speak and genuinely connect created space for real, raw conversations. And that’s where change is made, when people speak from the heart and have honest discussions.”

Kiara said cultural safety and space for honesty should never be underestimated – and was something that required bravery, from both Aboriginal and non-Indigenous people alike.

“Our communities consistently offer intellectual property, time and emotional energy. Most of us are volunteers. We’ve already invested so much to share our knowledge and improve inclusivity across the water sector, so when things don’t change, it’s traumatic,” she said.

“As Indigenous people, we’re asking ourselves to be brave, but we’re also asking non-Indigenous people to be brave, too.

“We need leaders in the water sector to call out poor engagement and ensure their actions match their words. It’s critical for peak bodies to promote good practices and support Indigenous economic opportunities.

“When people ask: what can I do for reconciliation? I tell them: you need to be a part of the solution, not the problem. It’s about taking meaningful action, standing up against poor practices and supporting Aboriginal communities in tangible ways.”

Water for all

Looking back on her experience of attending Voices from the Bush 2024, Territa said she left Mparntwe knowing she had made friends for life.

“Those connections will guide me in my leadership,” she said. “When I came back, I spoke for weeks about the relationships I built and the friendships I made. It was a very meaningful experience.”

As Voices 2024 Committee Chair, Kiara said it was her intention that delegates left with personal and professional commitments to create change and implement learnings within their own projects and organisations.

“We need to sustain the momentum and keep the fire burning through regular education and engagement,” she said.

“Our people have sustained water for over 70,000 years. We are the first scientists and engineers, yet our intellectual property is often overlooked. Water doesn’t just belong to people with money – it belongs to everyone.

“It’s everyone’s responsibility to care for it.”