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  • 01 Understanding governance
    • 1.0 Understanding governance
    • 1.1 The important parts of governance
    • 1.2 Indigenous governance
    • 1.3 Governance in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations
    • 1.4 Case studies
  • 02 Culture and governance
    • 2.0 Culture and governance
    • 2.1 Indigenous governance and culture
    • 2.2 Two-way governance
    • 2.3 Case studies
  • 03 Getting started
    • 3.0 Getting started on building your governance
    • 3.1 Assessing your governance
    • 3.2 Mapping your community for governance
    • 3.3 Case studies
  • 04 Leadership
    • 4.0 Leadership for governance
    • 4.1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership
    • 4.2 The challenges of leadership
    • 4.3 Evaluating your leadership
    • 4.4 Youth leadership and succession planning
    • 4.5 Building leadership capacity to govern
    • 4.6 Case studies
  • 05 Governing the organisation
    • 5.0 Governing the organisation
    • 5.1 Roles, responsibilities and rights of a governing body
    • 5.2 Accountability: what is it, to whom and how?
    • 5.3 Decision making by the governing body
    • 5.4 Governing finances and resources
    • 5.5 Communicating
    • 5.6 Future planning
    • 5.7 Building capacity and confidence for governing bodies
    • 5.8 Case studies
  • 06 Rules and policies
    • 6.0 Governance rules and policies
    • 6.1 What are governance rules?
    • 6.2 Governance rules and culture
    • 6.3 Running effective meetings
    • 6.4 Policies for organisations
    • 6.5 Case studies
  • 07 Management and staff
    • 7.0 Management and staff
    • 7.1 Managing the organisation
    • 7.2 The governing body and management
    • 7.3 Managing staff
    • 7.4 Staff development and training
    • 7.5 Case studies
  • 08 Disputes and complaints
    • 8.0 Dealing with disputes and complaints
    • 8.1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous approaches
    • 8.2 Core principles and skills for dispute and complaint resolution
    • 8.3 Disputes and complaints about governance
    • 8.4 Your members: dealing with disputes and complaints
    • 8.5 Organisations: dealing with internal disputes and complaints
    • 8.6 Practical guidelines and approaches
    • 8.7 Case studies
  • 09 Nation building and development
    • 9.0 Governance for nation rebuilding and development
    • 9.1 What is nation rebuilding?
    • 9.2 Governance for nation rebuilding
    • 9.3 Governance for sustained development
    • 9.4 Networked governance
    • 9.5 Kick-starting the process of nation rebuilding
    • 9.6 Case studies
  • Glossary
  • Useful links
  • Acknowledgements

9.3 Governance for sustained development

 09 Nation building and development
WayneQuilliamPhotography1553

Alice Springs, NT. Image, Wayne Quilliam.

“The challenge for traditional owners, like the Yawuru, is how do we, as a people, leverage our native title rights so as to promote our own resilience and reliable prosperity in the modern world?” (Patrick Dodson, presentation for ‘Common Roots, Common Futures: Different Paths to Self-determination—An international Conversation’, University of Arizona, 2012)

“Good governance is perhaps the single most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development.”(Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, 1999)

“The top 500 Indigenous corporations hold a total of $1.22 billion in assets. [They] add significant value to local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, functioning across a wide range of sectors, and employing over 9,100 people nationally.They also make a significant contribution… to the Australian economy, through income generation, employment and the provision of services.”(A. Bevan, ORIC Registrar, The Top 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations, 2010)

The MWG working together for the whole community

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7on3NrPQCA&feature=player_embedded

The Muntjiltjarra Wurrgumu Group (MWG) was awarded Highly Commended Category B in the 2014 Indigenous Governance Awards. Here MWG members Regina Ashwin and Stacey Petterson discuss how the family groups put their differences aside to work together for the whole community.

9.3.1 What is development and why is governance important?

The mounting evidence from national and international research indicates that having effective and legitimate governance is a ‘development enabler’.

In other words, it pays to invest in your governance.

While it is important, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations do not need to have legislated rights or treaties in order to be able to undertake sustained development.

However a critical factor is having governance arrangements that are capable of putting self-determination into successful practice, and so your members can be fully engaged in considering their options for the future.

Definition: Development is change or transformation that makes life better in ways that people want. It can take a variety of forms, including growth in traditional subsistence activities to increased participation in market economies; from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entrepreneurship to joint ventures with non-Indigenous corporations; from collective nation, community and clan enterprises to small individual and family cottage industries.

Development is sustainable when it ‘meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (The World Commission on Environment and Development’s Brutland Report).

As such, it involves value judgements about the preferred direction and speed of change.

For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the internal ‘test’ of sustainability in their development initiatives involves coming up with answers to a set of difficult questions, including:

  • What kind of future are we trying to build, not only for ourselves but for the next generations?
  • What kinds of governance arrangements might be acceptable and consented to now, and will remain acceptable to our people in the future?
  • What role should our collective culture play in our governance arrangements and economic initiatives, and how might that change over time?
  • Who should benefit from economic development, and will the benefits of current development still be available for future generations?
  • What kinds of development will help us maximise self-determination in the long run?

Effective governance enables a nation to be able to properly consider these questions, and to then prioritise, plan and implement their solutions.

9.3.2 Governing capabilities needed for development

Extensive research suggests there are several important governance capabilities that are needed in order to get successful development happening.

Tips: Building your governance capability for development

Governance capabilities for development include:

  • a stable, accountable leadership
  • broadly representative and fair representative structures
  • strong culture-based rules of governance
  • capable management and staff support
  • clear lines of authority and responsibility
  • consistent and fair decision making
  • fair and reliable dispute resolution processes
  • strategic business planning and risk management
  • effective communication and information systems
  • networks with public or private sector partners to engage with the wider economy;
  • working infrastructure in place
  • education and financial literacy
  • access to relevant training and mentoring opportunities
  • legitimacy and credibility with your members.

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Case Studies

NPY Women’s Council – strong culture, strong women, strong communities

  NPY Women’s Council (NPYWC) was set up in 1980 and incorporated in 1994.  The organisation was founded in response to the concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women throughout the APY lands.   The women were concerned about the …

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Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly

Self-determination and community control The Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly (MPRA) is comprised of the Chairs or representatives of 16 Aboriginal Community Working Parties (CWP’s) across the Murdi Paaki Region of NSW. MPRA see self-determination as the key success to their …

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NPY Women’s Council: Building your cultural guiding principles into your rulebook

The NPY Women’s Council became incorporated under new legislation in 2008. The council undertook a significant period of consultation with its members—spread across a large geographic region—in the lead-up to lodging its new rulebook (formally known as the constitution) with …

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News

ORIC Top 500 Report 2014-15

The Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) released the 2014-2015 top 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations report in December 2015. This is ORIC’s seventh report on the top 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations. It collates and …

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Social Justice Commissioner launches 2014 Social Justice and Native Title Report

Mr Mick Gooda is the current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. The Commissioner has a unique role at the Australian Human Rights Commission, responsible for advocating for the recognition of the rights of Indigenous Australians. As part …

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Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2014 Report

The Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report: Key Indicators 2014 (OID Report) was released by the Productivity Commission in November 2014. The OID Report measures the wellbeing of Australia’s Indigenous peoples. The report provides information about outcomes across a range of strategic …

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The Australian Indigenous Governance Institute

The Australian Indigenous Governance Institute is a unique Indigenous led national centre of governance knowledge and excellence. We know that practically effective and culturally legitimate governance is the staple building block for delivering real change.

We assist Indigenous Australians in their diverse efforts to determine and strengthen their own sustainable systems of self-governance by identifying world-class governance practice, informing effective policy, providing accessible research, disseminating stories that celebrate outstanding success and solutions, and delivering professional education and training opportunities.

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