Professional Development
water
Australia
Background
Australia’s flooding problem is not different from flooding in other parts of the world. The 2010/11 floods in Queensland were the most destructive floods in contemporary Australia resulting in 33 deaths as well as 3 people who went missing.
Australian authorities aim policies towards ensuring that the people suffer as minimal losses as possible. From Queensland’s response to the 2010/11 flood’s fatalities, measures implemented include swift rescue and emergency services, public education on how to respond to flood sand call for help, and an early warning system regarding dangerous spots.
However, the essence of these measures could have been learnt from Indigenous Australians, who have lived around the reality of flooding, having managed Australia’s water resources for over 65,000 years.
Resources
- Disaster Risk Management in Queensland Aboriginal and Torrest Strait Islander Communities
- Droughts, floods and fires: where does water fit in the climate crisis?
- Indigenous Australian stories reveal sea level rise from 7000 years ago
- How Indigenous Australian storytelling accurately records sea level rises 7,000 years ago
- Extra 23 million people could face coastal flooding within 30 years
- Environmental Health in Australia