Development and indigenous knowledge in Australia: an uneasy relationship

Abstract

As a community/management development practitioner with many years experience working with Indigenous people in Australia, it has often occurred to me that the saying ‘two steps forward and one step back’ is very apt. This paper considers the development of remote Indigenous communities in Australia and the concept of Indigenous Knowledge in relation to development, and briefly examines some of the issues of development and some of the opportunities afforded by Indigenous Knowledge. It argues that Indigenous Knowledge is essential to a healthy development process, but that this is not acknowledged by most development agencies