Professor Bhiamie Williamson, National Indigenous Disaster Resilience program lead
Contact: +61 9903 4940 or [email protected]
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How major weather events uniquely affect Indigenous communities
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Opportunities available to reduce risk by leveraging Indigenous knowledge of Caring for Country
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Can put media in touch with specific Indigenous community members that have been impacted and can tell their story
Australia is facing devastating weather emergencies across the country, including bushfires, flooding and tropical cyclones.
Indigenous communities, with a unique connection to the land, are also uniquely affected by environmental disasters and often face greater risks. For example, we know from Black Summer experiences that Indigenous peoples often face extensive physical and spiritual displacement from their Country, and are usually not adequately consulted during evacuation procedures.
This summer has so far seen Aboriginal communities in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria affected, including Yarrabah, Palm Island, Hope Vale, Wujal Wujal, Cape and Gulf communities in northern Queensland impacted by ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji, and many Aboriginal communities in eastern and northern Victoria and East Gippsland affected by widespread fires. As the season progresses, weather emergencies are likely to spread to other states.
When it comes to keeping all Australian communities safe by reducing hazard risk and managing the environment holistically, Indigenous knowledge of managing the environment should be considered a viable and valuable resource. However, doing this would require investment, resources, and a willingness to support broader aspirations of Indigenous groups.
The following comments can be attributed to Professor Williamson:
“Indigenous peoples have enormous capacity to make Australia more resilient to the climate crisis, as we have an extraordinary database of cultural knowledge reaching back to ancient climate change events.”
“Emergency planning laws have historically been made without regard for the unique interest of Indigenous peoples. This means that in contemporary disasters, Indigenous interests are not known and cannot be accounted for, which creates additional risks for groups.”
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