Institutionalising a Participatory Cross-Culture for Indigenous Sustainability: A Study of Housing in Western Australia

McGrath N¹*, Marinova D²*

1. Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia

Indigenous people in Western Australia have typically been excluded from the State decision making and bureaucratic structures that impact their lives. Sustainability as an emerging paradigm is most primarily concerned with reconciling the value and ethical conflicts between and within stakeholder groups, including government and community. Facilitating inclusion and participation of all stakeholders is thus a necessary pillar of sustainability. The differences that exist, and arise primarily through cultural mismatch, between mainstream Western bureaucracy and Indigenous communities provide an appropriate basis in which to examine the necessary reconciliation of values required for sustainability.

Two case studies are compared within this paper to analyse the potential for the application of a participatory approach to achieve reconciliation of values and improve the sustainability of public and community Indigenous housing within rural and remote Indigenous communities of Western Australia. The first case study is based in Newman, a small mining town in the remote Pilbara. The second case study is in Geraldton which is a comparatively larger urban centre. Reflections focus upon the complexities of crossing culture through participation.

The paper concludes with the necessary transformation of the public service from a director of passive programs and laws to a ‘whole of government’ facilitator of community processes and outcomes, towards an enabling state. Participatory methodologies are recommended within the Western Australian Government agencies to allow to build their capacity for participatory processes that involve the restructuring of power relations and the ability to cross culture required for dialogue and partnership with Indigenous communities.

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