Contemporary Issues in PRME Annual Lecture 2023

Water for Life: Danjoo Koorliny and Kep Katitjin - Gabi Kaadadjan

In this lecture, we explore the profound significance of water as an essential life force and how our relationship with it has changed since colonisation. Aboriginal peoples have long understood that there is ‘one water’ from the sky and below, sustaining the land and its people. It has however been commoditised over time, transitioning to an essential component of the economy. This has resulted in its overuse, waste and its depletion in quantity and quality impacting our precious groundwater and associated environments, which has necessitated a reliance on technological solutions to this imbalance. 

Danjoo Koorliny and WA State government are committed to walking together through Kep Katitjin – Gabi Kaadadjan Waterwise Perth action plan 2 a ten-year journey to leading waterwise communities. Embracing the Whadjuk and Bindjareb Noongar terms for 'water knowledge,' Kep Katitjin and Gabi Kaadadjan emphasise wisdom in managing precious water resources and our connection, or indeed reconnection, to them. 

Speakers

Jason Barrow

Jason is a Nyoongar man from the South West of WA and was born at the same place as his Grandfather, Gnowangerup – the place of the Mallee Fowl.

Jason has had varied career in National Parks, child health research and the Tertiary Education sector where he’s been able to bring together his Environmental Science and Traditional Aboriginal Knowledge to help provide an enriched conversation and perspective to many settings and projects. In 2022 he joined the Danjoo Koorliny team based within the UWA and he continues to work with many different boards, advisory and community groups providing cultural advice and ways of working and thinking, particularly in local schools.

Carol Innes AM

Carol is currently a Co-Director in the Danjoo Koorliny Project – 2029 and Beyond, which is a long-term, Aboriginal-led systems change process based in the Centre for Social Impact at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Her previous role was the position of Manager Aboriginal Cultural Heritage & Arts at the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority.; Landcorp & Development WA.

Her role was established to engage Noongar people involvement in the major developments of Yagan Square, Elizabeth Quay and the Scarborough Redevelopment.

Carol Innes has a strong commitment to work with our community across all sectors. Her experience in government and the non-government sector spans over 30 years. Carol was employed at the South West Aboriginal Land & Sea Council for 10 years during the period of the State Government negotiation for the South West Settlement.

Carol worked for 11 years in the arts sector. She is experienced in government at both State and Federal levels and in the community arts sector. Carol specialises in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and she is a very strong advocate for raising the profile of Aboriginal people in Western Australia.

Winsome MacLaurin

Winsome leads the State government’s Waterwise program of work, being delivered across eleven agencies and multiple stakeholders. Kep Katitjin – Gabi Kaadadjan Waterwise Perth action plan 2 was developed with guidance and advice from Danjoo Koorliny and Bindjareb Elders and is an important next step on the journey to Boorloo and Bindjareb becoming leading waterwise communities. To strengthen the inclusion of Aboriginal knowledge, cultural values, voices and participation in the plan’s delivery, the plan’s lead agency, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation is supporting her placement with Danjoo Koorliny, based in UWA’s Centre for Social Impact.  

An important aspect of her role as Waterwise Cities Program Manager is its interface with the work of Water Sensitive Cities Australia at Monash University and the Western Australian Water Sensitive Transition Network. She has considerable experience in corporate and business processes, strategy, sustainability and engagement and has worked in the government, private and the not-for-profit sectors in senior and executive roles. Her strength is in working collaboratively, including a diversity of voices and needs to reach robust, well-considered and shared outcomes.

Dr Richard Walley OAM

Richard is a Nyoongar man of the South-West region.

Richard has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal and two honorary doctorates for his contribution to the promotion of Nyoongar Culture and the Arts.

In 2010, Richard received the ‘Citizen of the Year Award ’in the ‘Indigenous Leadership’ category of the Celebrate WA Awards. In 2021 Richard was awarded the Senior West Australian of the Year for Western Australia Award.

A fluent speaker of the Nyoongar language. Richard continues to push boundaries, whilst always focussing on the bigger ‘community’ picture of Culture, Education, Arts and Environment.