Closing the gap: WSAA water services report

Following the release of the Water Services Association of Australia’s (WSAA) preliminary report in August 2022, the Hon Linda Burney, Minister for Indigenous Australians, launched the full WSAA ‘Closing the Water for People and Communities Gap: Improving water services to First Nations remote communities’ report on 7 November 2022.

Burney said: “[The report] provides a comprehensive review of remote water services and elevates the voices of First Nations people. ... Many remote First Nations communities across Australia face challenges accessing safe and reliable sources of water. This is simply unacceptable.

“An adequate, safe supply of water is critical for so many aspects of life. It is essential for health, the environment and even culture. From drinking water, to cooking and cleaning, washing clothes and taking showers. And water has significant social and spiritual meaning for First Nations people — with many people believing that: if the water is healthy, Country is healthy. If Country is healthy, then the people and culture will be healthy.”

WSAA welcomes the recent Australian Government changes to the Investment Framework for National Water Grid funding to allow for a broader range of projects to be considered; however, it is short on details about how First Nations communities will benefit.

Currently, over 500 First Nations communities do not have regular water quality testing. Some of the communities, particularly those in remote areas, are receiving drinking water with levels of uranium, arsenic, fluoride and nitrate that are above levels against the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

The WSAA report found:

• All states and territories should formalise the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines to ensure at least a minimum quality standard is met.
• Ongoing significant investment is needed in both water quality monitoring and an innovation fund to develop new technologies that are resilient to climate change impacts, and ideally integrated with renewable energy and digital communications.
• First Nations communities need a stronger voice in the services they receive. Stakeholder mapping showed complex interactions across a myriad of agencies and unclear accountability.
   

The report contains case studies which show that dirty or smelly water, or taps clogged with calcium deposits can affect communities significantly beyond drinking water, adding to the urgency of the recommendations.

There are, however, signs of positive action emerging. For example:

• The WA Government is investing in water infrastructure for communities in the Kimberley.
• In the APY lands in South Australia, plumbing courses are helping communities to maintain their health hardware.
• In Borroloola in the NT, there has been a significant shift in engagement and a new water treatment facility.
• In Queensland, the Health Department has been working hard with local Indigenous councils on improving skills of operators of water treatment plants.
   

WSAA believes this is an opportunity to invest in culturally sensitive skills and training, and for First Nations businesses to grow and expand expertise in water services.

“The time to improve this situation is now. The Closing the Gap targets for infrastructure which calls for equitable services and the UN conference on Water and the Sustainable Development Goals in New York in March 2023 is both an opportunity and a call to urgently improve water quality for First Nations communities,” said Adam Lovell, Executive Director of the Water Services Association of Australia. “We estimate that it will require invest of a minimum of $2.2 billion to bring drinking water in line with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, more when you include replacing old pipes and plumbing.”

Image caption: iStock.com/BrianAJackson