While many of us associate poor and inadequate supplies of drinking water with developing countries elsewhere in the world, there exist many remote communities in Australia that struggle to access clean (suitably treated) and reliable drinking water. The reasons for this are complex and reflect the broader ongoing struggles to close the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians. This presentation discusses some existing water supply and demand management challenges and potential solutions using a case study from some recently completed research - the Remote and Isolated Communities Essential Services (RICES) project – which worked with four remote communities to explore culturally appropriate, place-based community water demand management strategies.
Griffith University's Associate Professor Cara Beal's teaching and research interests include environmental health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples environmental health, Pacific Island community water management, resilient & sustainable water and water-related energy management, behaviour change and community engagement, smart metering and big data, schools water efficiency management. She lectures in the Environmental Health program at the School of Medicine and leads research projects at the Cities Research Institute and School of Engineering and Built Environment. Cara also teaches and supervises WASH students in the International WaterCentre's Master of Integrated Water Management.