Engaging with Aboriginal communities in their own languages is a key factor in improving emergency responses during natural disasters, according to experts in the Northern Territory.
Road damage following flooding in the Northern Territory. Photo: Manuj Sharma
Their calls come after recent flooding in the Barkly region, an area of about 6300 people, including more than 4200 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders.
An academic study conducted by Professor Kamaljit Sangha and her team at Charles Darwin University highlights that natural disasters in the NT cause an average of $156 million in damage every year, including damage to infrastructure, roads and livelihoods.
Barkly Regional Council Deputy Mayor Valda Napurrurla Shannon Warntaparri said government support during the floods could have been inmproved.
“We’re not prepared, we’re not being informed. We’re not being prepared, we’re not being consulted, nothing at all,” she said.
“We’re from the Barkly region; we are the biggest region in the Northern Territory. And yet, we are the forgotten region.”
Cr Shannon, an important figure for the First Nations people in the area, said there was a need for understanding indigenous culture and language.
“We have to find our energy. We have to find that spark. Within communities to empower people,” she said.
“Let us bring out everything that needs to be addressed, that needs to be fixed up for us, the way we want to be supported.”
Dr Sangha, a professor of ecological economics at Charles Darwin University also highlighted on the importance of actively involving the people of the NT in disaster response.
“I think that the language barrier is the big issue that emergency management services have been planning to work with people on, but there is a lot more to do in terms of engaging people from local communities,” she said.
She said it was important to ensure people were informed and had the ability to decide for themselves how to respond.
During this year’s floods, Cr Shannon watched people face disaster and refuse to evacuate. It prompted her to returned to work with the Aboriginal Interpreter Services, interpreting Warlpiri and Warumungu, which are the second and third most spoken aboriginal languages in Barkly, according to the ABS.
“I walked away from interpreting but, looking at the faces of my family in the Barkly, I thought ‘I’ve got to go back. I’ve got a lot more work to do here’,” she said.
She is currently leading a push to get more Warlpiri and Warumungu interpreters in the Barkly through the Aboriginal Interpreter Service, as well as interpreters from all indigenous language groups.
