INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE PROJECT

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• INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE PROJECT
• RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP

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What is Governance?
Governance is about people. Its about the
processes, relationships, institutions
structures by which a group of people
organise themselves to collectively represent
their rights interests, and make enforce
decisions about how to get things done
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Governance is.

• Fundamentally about the scope and exercise of
  power control
• More about processes than structure
• Not static it evolves changes
• A product of culturally-based values traditions
• Indigenous community governance takes place
  within wider governance arrangements

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The Case Studies

• Wadeye (NT)
• Anmatjerre (NT)
• Yirrkala (NT)
• Maningrida (NT)
• Fitzroy Crossing Kurungul (WA)
• Noongar (WA)
• Wiluna (WA)
• Coen (QLD)
• Torres Strait Islands (QLD)
• Yarnteen (NSW)
• Policy communities (WA NT Aust)

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WHAT MATTERS?

• The diversity of governance models
• No single model - But common guiding principles
• Local solutions reflect local conditions
  histories
• Representation structures based in
  relationships strengths challenges
• Hub spokes governance, families of
  organisations
• Dispersed regionalism regional confederations
  inter-dependent social layers
• Negotiation of subsidiarity scale

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WHAT MATTERS?

• The Extent of Power and Control
• Peoples participation in governance is greatest
  when they feel they have a real stake in their
  organisations - when they have real power over
  real resources, and can make decisions about the
  things that are of immediate concern to them
• Poor education health undermines participation
• Unilateral intervention undermines participation
• Local control generates capacity development
• Local control generates legitimacy

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WHAT MATTERS?

• Leadership, leadership, leadership.
• Hierarchies networks of leaders
• Enabling vs disabling leadership, and the
  governance culture
• Difference between leadership and power
• Concepts and styles of leadership differ
  cross-culturally
• Support leadership development
• Invest in succession planning

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Governance Institutions

• Building a governance culture in organisations
• Creating own rules, policies, plans, procedures
• Mediating internal disputes
• Setting own direction and agenda
• Getting cultural match in the institutions
• Institutional Capacity

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WHAT MATTERS?

• Effectiveness/Practical Capacity
• Different views about evaluating effectiveness
• Agreement about delivery of services, financial
  management and accountability
• Indigenous emphasis on communication,
  consultation, transparency with members/clients
• Governments emphasis on risk avoidance,
  micro-management, reporting upwards
• i.e. tensions over outputs/processes/accountabilit
  ies

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WHAT MATTERS?

• Cultural Match Legitimacy .
• What matters is that contemporary authority is
  exercised, decisions made, and things are done in
  ways that win the support, participation and
  trust of the people and which get things done.
• More complex cultural match issues in Australia
• Legitimacy plus practical capacity - role of
  culture in these
• Relationships first the right people to talk,
  lead, make decisions negotiating representation
  is complex
• Need time/flexibility to innovate and
  experiment

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WHAT MATTERS?

• Cultural Concepts Differ
• Language of governance embedded in western
  culture/knowledge system
• Leadership and succession cultural processes
• World views assumptions about good life
  differ
• Key issue is informed choice and control
• Failure of outsiders to take these issues into
  account will undermine success

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Socio-Economic Development

• Range of capital required for socio-economic
  development (e.g. infrastructure, human, natural)
• Strategic governance enables combinations of
  capital, and generates new capital
• Success is associated with
• an Indigenous-driven vision of development
• linkages with support from public and/or
  private sector institutions
• access to research/knowledge/technology and
• strong, stable governance management.

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Capacity Development

• Capacity development occurs within a system
• Includes individual, organisations, institutions,
  inter-organisational and governance environment
• More focus on governance environment needed
• Indigenous people have to own and direct the
  process of developing their capacity
• Governance capacity development is about cultural
  match and legitimacy
• Most effective using place-based methodology.

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WHAT MATTERS?

• The Workload of Community Governance
• Multiple functions
• Major administrative workload
• Locked into grant-hunting short-term projects
• High upwards accountability workload, reporting
  demands
• High turnover of staff, managers, CEOs
• Multiple demands community external
• Government funding models are not working to
  support good governance - coherent planning,
  capacity development, and downwards
  accountability.

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WHAT MATTERS?

• The Wider Governance Environment.
• The surrounding systems, things, players,
  conditions, networks and webs of relationships
  within which Indigenous community governance
  operates
• The dimensions - Individual, organisation,
  community, regional, state and national
• Policy, political, legal, economic, cultural
  systems
• The effectiveness of community governance is
  directly linked to whether there is an enabling
  or disabling environment

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WHAT MATTERS?

• For Strong Governance..
• On the ground - support
• Genuine decision-making authority local control
• Cultural legitimacy of representation decisions
• Enabling leadership management
• Investing in emerging leaders
• Building internal governance culture
• Ongoing, place-based capacity development

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• For Strong Governance..
• The Enabling Environment
• Building the capacity of government public
  sector
• A cohesive policy framework for governance
• A lead government agency with mandate
• Integrated funding agreements for governance
• A developmental approach to building governance
• A whole of community partnership model
• Delivering on two way accountability