Indigenous Communities, Peri-urbanism and Bushfire Issues in Northern Australia

The Bushfire CRC Understanding Communities Project is primarily focused on peri-urban regions in areas where intensive bushfires are possible. However, in the course of exploring peri-urbanism and its complexity, Indigenous communities arose as a special case deserving some attention. Therefore, this briefing paper aims to identify key issues for possible future research for bushfire issues and Indigenous communities in Australia. While this paper concentrates on bushfires they should not be seen as a stand alone issue but part of an overall natural disaster management plan for communities.

This briefing paper consists of two main facets:

1. Review of existing literature

• Review of themes in existing academic literature
• Peri-urbanism and Indigenous communities
• Possible future research for bushfire issues and Indigenous communities in Australia 

2. Summary of work undertaken by Tropical Savannas CRC in an appendix