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First Nations and Freshwater in North Queensland 2023

A guide aimed at improving First Nation participation in freshwater governance and management.

This guide was developed by Shannon Burns, Allan Dale, Jennifer McHugh and Jim Turnour.

About this Guide

Under the auspices of the Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub, First Nations and Freshwater in North Queensland 2023 – A guide aimed at improving the participation of First Nations in freshwater governance and management (this Guide) has been prepared by The Cairns Institute at James Cook University, Cairns.

This Guide is designed as a practical tool aimed to:

  • Assist North Queensland First Nation institutions and groups to better understand and make use of their existing interests, rights and opportunities in freshwater under Queensland Government water planning and management regimes; and
  • Outline processes that can be used to create and manage rights to freshwater, identify how North Queensland’s First Nation institutions and groups can become involved in these processes to improve their rights and protect their economic and cultural values in freshwater, and improve their opportunities to fulfil traditional responsibilities to Country.

This Guide is divided into two main parts:

  • Part One deals with First Nation interests in water, the history of water management in Queensland and information about water planning and management processes, and general advice about how First Nation institutions and groups can be more involved and influential in water management, including the implementation and review of water plans, and benefit from water use; and
  • Part Two deals with the thirteen North Queensland catchment-based water plans. For each water plan it describes the volumes of water potentially available to First Nations peoples and how it may be accessed. It should be noted that the volumes of potentially available water will change over time as water is allocated for use, so the volumes indicated in this Guide may not be available in the future. Note also that additional First Nation corporations may also exist in the future as native title determinations and other processes are completed and new corporations established.
  • Part Two also outlines water plan expiry dates and opportunities for First Nations people to be involved in water plan reviews.

This Guide provides links and references for further information so that the reader may pursue details and points of interest in greater depth.

You can download or read the Guide below.

Download the Guide

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This program received funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund.
We acknowledge the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of this country and pay our respects to the Traditional Owners and Elders, past and present, of the land on which we stand today, the Djabugay (pronounced Jap-ur-kai), Yirrganydji (pronounced Irri-kan-dji) and the Gimuy Yidinji (pronounced Goom-eye Yidinji) people (and all other country/people joining us today). In the spirit of reconciliation, we also acknowledge the valuable contribution that Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to make to James Cook University and the broader community.

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