First Nations people have experienced 237 years of consecutive shock events starting with colonisation in 1788. The Australian Human Rights Commission recognises self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in alignment with the UN declaration of the rights of Indigenous people. The Australian Local Government Association is a signatory to the closing the gap national agreement. This agreement seeks to transform the way governments work with Aboriginal communities to overcome entrenched inequality and strengthen resilience. The Productivity Commission identified inaction by governments to put into practice principles of self-determination as a key factor undermining progress on closing the gap.
In times of crisis and change, decision-making processes are often curtailed. This means that people have little control over major decisions that affect their lives. As a society we continue to struggle to reconcile our collective past and respect the peoples who have been custodians of this place, now known as Sydney, for thousands of generations. Truth-telling is a principle of dignity. Truth-telling in Sydney offers opportunities for greater resilience through shared connection to the place where we live and to each other.
National Indigenous Disaster Resilience
Resilient Sydney attended the NSW Policy Roundtable on Aboriginal Disaster Resilience, held at the Australian Hall, the birthplace of the Aboriginal civil rights movement.
There is a shared ambition from government and emergency services to do more to support Aboriginal communities in difficult times. Yet any effort to address gaps will fail without fundamental shifts. Across the presentations and discussions, two structural shifts were identified. These are:
- Valuing Aboriginal values, so that planning and responses are also guided by what is important to Aboriginal communities, and
- Embedding accountability mechanisms within the structures of government agencies
Without these two structural shifts, any effort to support Aboriginal communities before, during and after disasters will be unequal, ad-hoc, and risk reproducing inequities. If these structural shifts can be realised, targeted actions can follow. During the Roundtable, delegates identified four priority action areas under which efforts to support building the resilience of Aboriginal groups should be organised.
The Roundtable provided an opportunity to raise the collective understanding of both emergency management arrangements in NSW, and of the ways in which Aboriginal communities govern and organise.
Recent efforts to engage Local Aboriginal Land Councils were welcomed, however delegates discussed the need for emergency services to be formally responsible for engaging and integrating the full diversity of Aboriginal organisations and governance structures into emergency management arrangements. Aboriginal delegates also called on emergency services to develop doctrine that respects and upholds Aboriginal community and land governance, and for inter-agency collaboration to improve engagement with Aboriginal communities. There was a clear call to make emergency services accountable for engaging with Aboriginal communities and upholding rights so that Aboriginal communities and organisations have greater involvement in emergency management arrangements and in decisions that impact them most.
The priority action areas identified at the Roundtable will inform a new approach to working with Aboriginal communities before, during and after disasters. This Communique (attached) provides guidance for everyone involved in supporting disaster resilience and fosters necessary capability for government and Aboriginal communities to work together, so that Aboriginal groups can exercise their right to self-determination.
Leading with Dignity
Throughout Resilient Sydney’s consultation, we heard that dignity was not always respected in the delivery of essential services and during emergency response and recovery. Honouring people’s dignity means we recognise everyone’s inherent value – that everybody is somebody and has the right to be treated as such. By embedding dignity in leadership and service delivery, we can reduce the harm caused when people’s dignity is violated. We address situations where someone’s dignity has been violated. When people feel that they are seen, heard, understood, included, and given the benefit of the doubt they are more likely to trust and feel trusted. Communities that have their voices heard and can influence decisions and hold government to account are more resilient.
Resilient Sydney held a day-long workshop on Leading with Dignity on 9 December 2024. The session was facilitated by Jason Ardler from Thirriwirri. It was attended by staff from councils across Greater Sydney and the NSW Reconstruction Authority. The workshop explored the proposed action area – Embed dignity principles in leadership and engagement – from the Resilient Sydney Strategy 2025 – 2030. The workshop was informed by the dignity framework developed by Donna Hicks. The presentation slides are attached. We considered the notion of dignity and what it means to treat someone with dignity. We looked at dignity as the inherent worth that we are all born with. We reflected on the dignity framework developed by Donna Hicks and how this approach is helpful in the work we do to build resilience in the face of shocks and stresses in local communities. The framework gives us the “language to understand that violations to our sense of value and worth that inevitably give rise to conflict” (Hicks 2010).
Dignity is an inherent value that everyone possesses from birth, making us all equal in our dignity. When dignity is violated, often through abuse of power, or when people view themselves as superior, another person’s worth is devalued. The brain reacts to dignity violations in the same way as it does to threats of physical harm. A toxic cycle can develop when individuals who are focused on their own pain hurt each other, perpetuating the violation of dignity. This undermines community resilience and social cohesion. There are 10 essential elements of dignity:
- Acceptance of identity.
- Inclusion: ensuring people feel included and valued.
- Safety: providing an environment free of the threat of physical or psychological harm.
- Fairness: ensuring fairness in all interactions.
- Independence: respecting others’ independence and autonomy.
- Understanding: giving people the opportunity to be heard. However, opinions do not need to be accepted, particularly if they violate the dignity of others.
- Benefit of the doubt: extending trust to others, assuming they are coming from a good place.
- Accountability: being willing to apologise and engage in truth telling and committing to changing harmful behaviours.
- Recognition: validating others’ contributions and worth.
- Acknowledgement: hearing, validating and responding to the concerns and experiences of others.