Indigenous Community Governance Project Understanding, Building and Sustaining Effective Governance in Rural, Remote and Urban Indigenous Communities Agency and sustaining development: Two case studies of Indigenous community governance from the Kimberley, WA   Kathryn Thorburn (PhD (APAI) scholar), in association with Bunuba Inc. and Kurungal Inc. This case study is inquiring into two fundamental questions: what are the governance characteristics of effective or successful Indigenous organisations? And secondly, are there particular essential characteristics that can be generalised across these organisations, which to some degree might point to a characterisation of Indigenous ‘good governance’? The apparently simple nature of these questions belies the enormous on-ground complexity with which these organisations must contend. This complexity—often marginalised in the rhetoric of ‘good governance’ and attendant policy-making—is an inherent feature of both their statutory and broader operational governance environments, which include engagement with Commonwealth Acts governing Indigenous corporations, various other levels of government, industry bodies, and regional development groups. In addition, there are difficulties relating to communication across a cultural chasm, and ongoing contestation as to the actual constitution of the ‘community’ being governed by a particular structure. To examine these issues this research project is engaging with two Indigenous community organisations in the Kimberley, WA: Bunuba Inc. in Fitzroy Crossing, and Kurungal Inc. at the community of Kupartiya on Bohemia Downs Station, 100 km to the east of Fitzroy Crossing. Bunuba Inc.’s offices are situated in Fitzroy Crossing, although some of its constituents live as far afield as Derby, more than 200 km distant.  The basis of its membership is identifying with the Bunuba language, and being a member of a particular group of families, although there is provision made for long term non-Bunuba residents of communities on Bunuba land, such as Junjuwa in Fitzroy Crossing.  Bunuba Inc., which has existed for some six years, is a federated body of eleven separately incorporated clan or family groups. Each of these clan groups nominates two representatives to sit on the Board, one of whom has voting rights.  The organisation also has a corporate arm—Bunuba Pty Ltd—which has interests in real estate, local businesses in the town itself, and two cattle stations. Kurungal Inc. is a CDEP grantee organisation that looks after five communities, totaling around 350 people, the largest of which is Wangkatjungka situated on an excision from Christmas Creek station.  It includes speakers of Walmajerri and Wangkatjungka, languages of the Great Sandy Desert to the south. Some of these groups are not living on their own country, although they have nevertheless maintained cultural vibrancy, and connections with the desert people’s diaspora, which is now spread from Balgo in the east to Bidyadanga on the coast. The field research for this project began in early 2005, with the researcher based in Fitzroy Crossing and then in Kupartiya. On top of her own research, Kathryn has assisted Bunuba Inc. with a number of tasks, including aspects of future planning, preparing internal discussion papers, assisting in funding submissions and putting out an organisational newsletter. At Kurungal Inc., Kathryn assisted in a cross-cultural training session, and has provided an informal feedback paper on her research to the organisation's co-ordinator. She returned to Canberra in January 2006 to begin writing up.   Papers arising from this research include: 'Governance and development: Being agents of change in two "remote" Kimberley communities', ICGP Occasional Paper No. 13, by Kathryn Thorburn. [90 Kb PDF document] Click here to download document. '"Talking to the people": Implications of the "new" model for sustainable service delivery in Indigenous settlements', Paper presented to the Sustainability of Indigenous Communities—National Conference, Murdoch University, Perth, 12-14 July 2006, by Kathryn Thorburn. [62 Kb PDF document] Click here to download document.