Community connection and water in the Gold Coast water plan area
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a deep and enduring connection to land and waters, which is central to their cultural identity, heritage, and traditions.
Incorporating the wealth of cultural knowledge, along with the cultural, environmental, and economic values and aspirations of Traditional Owners, is vital for effective water planning. The Water Act 2000 requires Queensland water plans to recognise the importance of water to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Plans must include cultural outcomes for water management and allocation, reflecting water’s role in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s lives, such as fishing, ceremonies, storytelling, and sacred activities.
Community engagement
We held culturally sensitive meetings with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to ensure their knowledge, values and rights were respected and integrated into water planning. These meetings respected cultural protocols and created a safe space for sharing knowledge and ideas.
Discussions focused on:
- the cultural importance of water
- co-management opportunities
and - integrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s knowledge into water planning.
Stakeholders emphasised the need to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s rights, cultural water values, and sustainable water use. Engagement activities included Traditional Owners in the Logan Basin and Gold Coast areas, aiming to:
- understand and incorporate cultural water values
- review barriers to water trading markets
- support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ aspirations for water, including agricultural opportunities
and - address obstacles to successful collaboration.
The process established culturally appropriate principles for collaboration and proposed actions to improve water access, support agriculture, and respect cultural heritage. These findings were used to develop the cultural significance assessment.
Summary of findings
The cultural significance assessments highlighted the need to recognise and integrate the cultural values, knowledge, and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. These values are essential to cultural identity, heritage, and sustainable management practices.
Key findings included:
- the importance of combining traditional knowledge and science to protect culturally significant sites, species, and ecosystems, such as the Guanaba Indigenous Protected Area and the Broadwater
- understanding the importance of maintaining water for cultural flows
- the desire to be involved in addressing environmental concerns like pollution and over-extraction
- interest in opportunities for economic development, such as eco-tourism and ranger programs.
Challenges identified include consultation fatigue, limited engagement, and gaps in cultural heritage monitoring. To address these, the assessment recommends:
- building meaningful partnerships
- including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in decision-making
and - embedding cultural values into water planning.
By considering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights and perspectives, the draft water plan aims to deliver sustainable and culturally informed water management outcomes.
Cultural values and plan outcomes
The current water plan does not provide specific cultural outcomes. Instead, cultural water-related outcomes are included under general outcomes.
The new draft water plan proposes to include dedicated cultural outcomes that seek to:
- make water available to support the cultural aspirations of the Traditional Owners in the plan area
- maintain flows that support water-related cultural, spiritual and social values of Traditional Owners of the plan area
- provide flows of water to support species and sites of cultural significance.
The cultural outcomes proposed can be found in section 19 in the draft Gold Coast water plan.
Continued commitment
We are committed to embedding cultural values into water plans and undertaking meaningful engagement with Traditional Owners.
Cultural outcomes will continue to be informed by engagement and resources such as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Database and Register and Native Title Register. These tools will help gather valuable information to guide decision-making.
We are committed to addressing knowledge gaps by capturing diverse perspectives and fostering inclusive engagement.