Northern Australia has been a priority location for future economic development since the national White Paper in 2015. However, this development places enormous pressure on the systems of governance for lands and waters, including the long overdue recognition of Indigenous land and water rights. Water law frameworks in the NT have been repeatedly exposed as inadequate, with major limitations in water planning and water monitoring requirements. Sustained leadership from Indigenous Peoples in the NT led to the creation of a reserve of water to be set aside for Aboriginal use, but rather than ushering in a progressive approach to water allocation, the failures in the Aboriginal Water Reserve have merely intensified the impact of the ‘hydrological frontier’. This lecture will draw on work I have undertaken jointly with Sue Jackson, Lee Godden and Marcia Langton to explore water policy frameworks in the NT, their strengths and weaknesses in terms of Indigenous water justice, and what the future might hold as economic development pressures continue to grow.

Speaker's bio:

Dr Erin O’Donnell is a Senior Lecturer at Melbourne Law School. She has been working in water law and policy for over two decades. Erin is recognized internationally for her research into the legal rights for rivers and Indigenous rights to water. Since 2018, she has been a member of the Birrarung Council, the voice of the Yarra River in Melbourne. In 2023, Erin commenced an Australian Research Council research fellowship to explore the opportunity of treaty to address aqua nullius, increase Traditional Owner power and resources in water, and create more sustainable and legitimate settler state water laws.

Photo credit: Mataranka Springs, an iconic and culturally important groundwater dependent spring-fed ecosystem that is at risk from development in the NT.