A shift is underway across Australia’s water community as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership drives more holistic ways of caring for water and communities. Moving beyond consultation, cultural water leadership is reshaping water management, from catchments and policy design to ecological restoration and cultural flows.
At its heart is a transformative proposition: water governance is stronger, fairer and more sustainable when co-created with Traditional Knowledge Holders. Centring Aboriginal Knowledge recognises Traditional Owners as integral in how we care for Country together, ensuring decisions are grounded in long-standing custodial wisdom.
What does this shift look like in practice? Here, we’re exploring this question through the lived experience of Knowledge Holders and the work underway inside utilities and government.
At a time of climate pressure, ecosystem decline and tightening expectations around accountability, the question for the broader water community is no longer whether Traditional Knowledge should shape water solutions, but how institutions are willing to share influence to make it real.
A transformative co-creation model is gaining ground: one where Traditional Owners lead governance and decision-making on Country, and water organisations and governments learn how to become genuine partners in ongoing, co-created solutions.
2024 Water Professional of the Year and proud Gomeroi man Professor Phil Duncan said the first step towards realising this vision is for non-Aboriginal organisations and governments to understand the fundamental difference between how western systems and Traditional Owners view water.
“Many people still think water ownership is their divine right,” Duncan said.
“My people don’t talk about owning water or Country. We talk about belonging to Country and our responsibility to ensure water’s centrality to a vibrant Country.”
Wurundjeri Elder Uncle Dave Wandin agrees, stating that one view is of water as resource, the other is of water as a living entity that deserves its own protections.
“What Wurundjeri people are seeking is not water rights, it’s the rights of water. Water is a gift and it needs to be respected. Water provides for many other things beyond us humans. And our custodial obligations are to care for all living things,” he said.
“It is not our right to make decisions that impact on the lives of other things that need that same water.”
Fundamentally, the shift is about re-centring Aboriginal Knowledge to inform decisions about how the work is done.
Cultural leadership has always existed, Duncan said, but since colonisation, decision-making power has not.
“Aboriginal leadership has been here since the start. Aboriginal people have a spirit of generosity, which is born of our profound responsibility to care for Country,” he said.
“And we have clearly demonstrated a genuine commitment to sharing our knowledge and have repeatedly expressed our desire to be involved in decision making.
“Not planning, not advisory roles – decision making in genuinely co-created solutions.”
Uncle Dave said trust must be placed in Traditional Knowledge if the broader water community is to transition to a more deeply informed and holistic approach.
“When we look at today’s water authorities, they’re using data sets that are less than 250 years old and they are doing this under the assumption that they have the exclusive right to make these decisions,” he said.
“In Victoria, there has been a balance established between our lands and waters over a period of at least 100,000 years. We didn’t survive that long without good data. We have been collecting data for 100,000 years.”
Yarra Valley Water Aboriginal Partnership Manager and AWA Board Director Nina Braid said the key to genuine co-creation of sustainable water solutions is working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership early, and with the intention to partner, not engage or consult.
“When you engage, you generally have a program of work or project in mind, an outcome or an impact, and you’re going to seek approval. Whereas when you partner, you’re co-creating a solution, you’re actively listening and you’re being equitable within that decision-making process, as well,” she said.
Importantly, co-creation asks the water community to build real relationships and stay in them – even when the work is complex or uncomfortable.
Reflecting on the transition away from tick-a-box engagement towards more genuine partnership, Braid said the work is not always easy; a reality that needs to be accepted and worked with, not against.
“The work is real, but not always linear. It’s not always rainbows and unicorns. There are some days when people are not listening actively to the information being shared with them. This is why all this work hinges on good relationships,” she said.
Uncle Dave said cultural leadership works best when it is brought in at the concept stage – before planning, approvals and delivery.
“When we’re leading decisions on Country, we need to be involved from the point of initial concept, well before the planning stage. This reduces the long-term impacts that aren’t often considered when Traditional Owners are not brought in early,” he said.
“My knowledge and observations on Country have led to joint decisions in many projects I have been involved in. Leading those decisions on Country at the concept stage makes things work much better down the line.”
Braid said an early turning point for Yarra Valley Water was opening up decision-making processes to the input of Aboriginal voices, with Aboriginal customers and Elders involved in the citizens jury to inform the utility’s pricing submission.
“Their message was clear: you have an obligation to look after Country. The crux of the work that my team does is educate people about what that means. The principles are simple: always think about the environment, never take more than you need and leave Country better than you found it,” she said.
Cultural awareness training is helping some organisations to change internal culture and decision-making habits, Braid said.
“There is an expectation now that water community leaders need to have some kind of cultural awareness training. And this is great to see. It makes a difference,” she said.
“We’ve been really privileged to have Aboriginal board members at Yarra Valley Water, and they have helped us shape what this should look like. Placing Aboriginal people in leadership roles is important for shifting culture.”
While many organisations are leaning into partnership and co-creation, resourcing, timeframes and a project-end mindset are still areas of challenge that need considered thinking and effort.
Resourcing is a constant constraint, particularly when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders are expected to carry ongoing volunteer workloads. At the same time, the demand for cultural input keeps growing.
“Our water unit consisted of one person six years ago. We’re currently sitting at nine people, because of the demands on our input into what people are doing,” Uncle Dave said.
“Respectful decision-making partnerships means being engaged early so that we can plan for the work appropriately. It also means being suitably funded.”
Braid said delivery timelines are a major tension point when partnerships are being built, which is why it was important to start early.
“Traditional Owner organisations may not be able to respond to all your needs within your proposed timeframes. There are only so many Elders,” she said.
“Furthermore, Aboriginal people are often expected to share their knowledge with us for free. It’s time to build it into the budget.”
Uncle Dave said it’s unfortunate and disappointing when evidence is collected and provided, and there is no ongoing governance of the solution that was created.
“We would like the opportunity to give feedback on the results and point out if and where things went wrong.
“Generally, there is a lack of ongoing partnership. What about the Aboriginal values that informed the solution? If our values don’t continue after the closure and sign-off, the intended outcome won’t be achieved,” he said.
For a sector increasingly focused on circularity, sustainability and whole-of-system resilience, this is an uncomfortable but urgent reminder that governance doesn’t end at project handover.
Traditional Knowledge and western science, when brought together appropriately, are highly complementary, Duncan said, and offer great opportunities for Aboriginal people.
“Both are collaborative. There is the ability to create new ways of moving forward together. And this is the very platform where we can get Aboriginal people involved in the decision-making mechanisms,” he said.
“Recently, we launched the New South Wales Aboriginal Water Strategy. Accompanying it are 600 water licenses that are now up for Aboriginal interests.
“Some may see water licenses, but what I see here is an opportunity to build sound environmental water governance around these allocations. I see these licenses as stepping stones to unlocking Aboriginal people’s confidence, and support their capability in designing, planning, monitoring and reporting on water sharing plans moving forward.”
As this example shows, the shift is underway.
“The time is here and now,” Duncan said. “I encourage everyone to embrace it.”
This article was originally published in Current magazine. Take a look at the edition on Indigo here.