In 2021, WSAA commissioned Eric Vanweydeveld, who has spent many years working on water quality and First Nations engagement in the water industry, to research and document the arrangements for water servicing of remote communities across Australia.
Through extensive research and engagement with stakeholders and the communities themselves, Eric has developed a review which maps the complex and opaque arrangements in each jurisdiction, highlighting the linkages, differences and legacies. In this report, WSAA presents the most complete snapshot that we can of the information we have obtained at time of publication.
Read the full report and summary report here
The review includes a number of case studies
| Title | Location | |
| 1 | Looking back on the Blanchard Report – Return to country: the Aboriginal homelands movement in Australia | Australia |
| 2 | Minimum level of service – SACOSS’s literature review and brief analysis to address relevant issues | South Australia |
| 3 | Stakeholder consultations with Central Australian communities on Water Directions Paper | Northern Territory |
| 4 | The struggle for safe drinking water in Alpurrurulam | Northern Territory |
| 5 | Concerns over water quality in remote Queensland – Residents in the north Queensland Aboriginal communities’ express outrage about the state of their local water supply | Queensland |
| 6 | Kwatja Ngkama (Talking Water): a voice to First Nations peoples | Australia |
| 7 | That’s My Water Bush Schools – Water sustainability education in NT remote communities | Northern Territory |
| 8 | A successful Aboriginal engagement through honest and genuine trusted relationships: the case of Borroloola | Northern Territory |
| 9 | Building community resilience in partnership with remote communities | South Australia |
| 10 | First Nations engagement and economic participation through the delivery of Leigh Creek Pipeline Upgrade Project in South Australia | South Australia |
| 11 | A novel partnership in developing a next-generation of water treatment technology for the provision of safe drinking water to regional remote communities | Western Australia |
| 12 | A unique and novel approach to engagement – Water Corporation’s Aboriginal engagement and participation strategy | Western Australia |
| 13 | The Torres Strait Region | Queensland |
| 14 | The story of Kuuku I’yu Northern Kaanju homelands | Queensland |
| 15 | Safe and Healthy Drinking Water in Indigenous Local Government Areas Program | Queensland |