ID: 1825
Presenting Author: Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh
Session: 749 - Engaging Indigenous Nations for Inclusive Impact Assessments and Misinformation Response
Status: pending
This paper discusses how Indigenous communities in Australia are using Indigenous-led impact assessment to counter misinformation generated through proponent-led regulatory impact assessment.
Proponent-driven regulatory impact assessment (IA) creates misinformation by systematically understating negative effects of planned projects and overstanding their positive impacts. It also relies on highly technical and voluminous ‘scientific’ data whose reliability Indigenous communities can find difficult to assess. Indigenous-led impact assessment (IIA) offers an important mechanism for challenging misinformation, and for communicating complex data about projects and their expected impacts. IIA minimises the potential for misinformation and for obscuring information because Indigenous peoples control the knowledge sources mobilised for IA and methodologies applied in its conduct; the definition of what constitutes ‘impact’; judgements regarding ecological, social and cultural values, the significance of impacts, and the balance between potential project benefits and costs; choice of IA consultants; and design, monitoring and review of impact management strategies. This paper highlights the potential of Indigenous-led impact assessment in two contexts, a massive horticulture project in an arid, sparsely populated region of Australia’s Northern Territory, and a pumped hydro project in Southeast Queensland, an area of rapid population growth and multiple development pressures. The paper also addresses challenges involved in Indigenous-led impact assessment, including how it can be funded, what governance structures are effective in maintaining Indigenous participation, and how barriers between environmental, social and cultural impacts can be broken down.
Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh is Professor Emeritus at Griffith University, Brisbane, and supports Indigenous communities in conducting Indigenous-led impact assessment.