It covers 1-million square kilometres, or roughly 14 per cent of Australia’s landmass, around 2.4 million of us call it home, and it is a story with its geological beginnings some 60-million years ago. It is Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin (the Basin).
However, annual community sentiment research commissioned by the Inspector-General of Water Compliance (IGWC) shows 72 per cent of people surveyed who live in the Basin don’t know they are in it. This is a real concern, according to the Inspector-General of Water Compliance, Troy Grant.
To assist with closing the information gap and improve Basin awareness, the Inspector-General has produced an eight-chapter education series titled, Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin. The online series explains what the Murray-Darling Basin is, how it works, why it is so important to Australia, and ‘who does what’ regarding overseeing the management of water. It also breaks down some of complexities around the Basin’s structure, rules and compliance, and explains how the independent role of the Inspector-General of Water Compliance came about.
“Several Senate Committees over recent years have asked Commonwealth water management agencies to improve and place a greater importance on communicating with and educating the community about the Murray-Darling Basin,” said Mr Grant.
“These recommendations, along with my own observations and ongoing face-to-face meetings with Basin communities show that is not happening effectively, or more simply – not happening. Basin education is an important issue I have raised with the heads of responsible agencies, and the Australian Government.”
The Inspector-General’s latest community sentiment survey will be published in mid-November. Among the findings, 72 per cent of community respondents who live in the Basin were not aware they lived in the Basin. Also recorded by researchers, 25 per cent of water licence-holder respondents were unaware they lived in the Basin. It is not the core role or the responsibility of the Inspector-General to educate communities about the Basin.
However, the Inspector-General felt an obligation to act after seeing a decrease in Basin knowledge and increasing low community awareness of ‘who does what’ across consecutive years’ annual community sentiment surveys.
Water, by its very nature as a finite natural and national resource, has a complex and challenging history.
“Add an absence of education beyond ‘Basin basics’ provided to primary school students, that’s when you start to see big knowledge gaps in the community regarding the geography, history, issues and awareness of ‘who does what’ to ensure a successful outcome for the Basin,” said Mr Grant. “This education series that we have produced is the right step in addressing this very clear shortfall in Basin knowledge.”
Australia’s Murray Darling-Basin is hosted by Marlee Silva – broadcaster, author, and storyteller – and was produced by the Inspector-General of Water Compliance.
The series is made up of 8 individual chapters with a combined total running time of around 67 minutes and is aimed at a general audience. Watch now and discover more by visiting www.igwc.gov.au.
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