Constructing Aboriginal NRM livelihoods: Anmatyerr employment in water management

The provision of livelihoods for desert Aboriginal people is a common goal for desert communities as well as governments, research agencies and other organisations. We examine six issues surrounding the creation of indigenous livelihoods in cultural and natural resource management. Our analysis draws from the character of the training pathways and the livelihoods in water management that are being constructed in central Australia as part of the Anmatyerr Water Project, a research program that identifies culturally-based livelihoods as a major mechanism for facilitating the process of having Aboriginal rights and cultural values provided for in water management. Such livelihoods aim to enhance the cultural and natural resource management needs of non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal owners and managers through integration of profit and non-profit activities, and previously disconnected policies. The building of inter-cultural capacity and inter-cultural arrangements would assist in creating livelihoods in existing enterprises and work programs. A broader approach aims for cultural and natural resource livelihoods that have additional socio-cultural and economic outcomes. We discuss relevant issues and make consequent recommendations that inform the construction of these livelihoods