Genuine, sustained First Nations involvement in natural hazards research and how it is embedded across the sector – these are just some of the objectives of Natural Hazards Research Australia’s (the Centre) First Nations Pathways Working Group.
Launched in May last year, members have been discussing and drafting a submission to the Centre’s upcoming 10-year Strategic Research Plan.
Late last year, co-chairpersons Kylie Jacky and David Windsor were appointed, bringing strong expertise and passion to their roles in the group.
Kylie Jacky is a proud Nyangbul woman from the Bundjalung nation and is the Lead of Aboriginal Initiatives at the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (NSW EPA) and current chairperson of the Jali Local Aboriginal Land Council.
Ms Jacky said there were two main pathways that led her to joining the Working Group.
“The first pathway is, professionally, I joined the NSW EPA in establishing its very first statewide Aboriginal team to bring Aboriginal cultural values and integrate Aboriginal cultural values and the engagement of Aboriginal peoples into the EPA as the primary regulator for the environment and human health,” Ms Jacky said.
“Where we were really able to make some real tangible shifts and change for the EPA was through some unfortunate events around the Menindee mass fish deaths along the Darling-Baaka River – and, of course, the Baaka is quite a significant river to the Barkindji people. In fact, Baaka means mother for the Barkindji people,” she said.
“It was through the work that my team did around really amplifying and highlighting how important it is to have traditional owners and Aboriginal peoples engaged around emergency disaster response and recovery around these particular events – in not only for human health needs and environmental needs, but also broadly the cultural landscape and the significance that these places have to Aboriginal peoples.”
After this, Ms Jacky said she then negotiated with the NSW state government to mitigate these events and help protect Country in the affected area.
“That was one of the catalysts professionally, really building up the profile and the importance that Aboriginal people have around natural hazards,” she said.
Ms Jacky said another path leading her to the group relates to personal and community experiences with floods.
“In my community here on Nyangbul country, which is in the Bundjalung Nation, I'm fortunate to live on my father's country in Ballina – and our community of Cabbage Tree Island, which is our Country, is very familiar with flooding,” she said.
“It's something that we've grown up with intergenerationally, and we just expect that to be a part of Country. Cabbage Tree Island is situated in the lower Richmond River. It's an island where our community has been living there as a permanent settlement homeland for around about 160 years, and it was largely because of pretty oppressive Aboriginal policies.”
Ms Jacky has led advocacy with other community members towards returning to Cabbage Tree Island to rebuild the after the community was displaced following significant flooding in 2022 – and the “importance of talking to Aboriginal peoples” in relation to events like this.
“As I've mentioned, my father's people have lived with floods for generations, yet nobody's come to ask us what we know about floods and how we've managed to live 160 years right in the smack bang middle of the Richmond River and never had one injury or death from that.”
Ms Jacky said she was honoured to be asked to co-chair the Working Group.
“One of the things that I see across all of us is that we're all very much anchored in our cultural identity. And so that kind of evens the playing field and I'm really quite honoured that we're able to use that as our strong foundation as a Pathways Working Group and then bring our additional expertise and specialist knowledge on top of that,” she said.
“Aboriginal cultures and knowledges and how we work with that is critically important – and how we support the research community to work with that particular knowledge source, whether it be having Natural Hazards Research Australia build on more of what it already has around very targeted approaches to onboarding researchers around relationships and effective engagement and partnerships with Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander people, ensuring free prior informed consent, data sovereignty.”
David Windsor is the Cultural Fire and Partnerships Coordinator for the Bushfire Centre of Excellence at the Western Australia Department of Fire and Emergency Service, whose cultural background stems from both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, being from the Kaurareg people of Kirriri Island in the Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait).
Mr Windsor said it is “genuinely an honour” to co-chair the First Nations Pathways Working Group.
“The role comes with a strong sense of responsibility, not only to represent the voices and interests of First Nations people, but to help ensure those voices are meaningfully embedded in how research is shaped, delivered and applied across the natural hazards space,” Mr Windsor said.
“What I’m most looking forward to is seeing strong, respectful partnerships grow between First Nations communities, researchers and practitioners. This group creates a rare and important space where cultural knowledge, lived experience and scientific research are valued equally,” he said.
“If we get that balance right, it has the potential to deliver better outcomes for communities and stronger, more applicable research for the sector as a whole”.
Mr Windsor said his path into the Working Group has been shaped by both his professional role and his cultural responsibilities.
“I work at the intersection of culture, capability and partnerships, particularly in the area of cultural fire and community-led approaches to disaster risk reduction. Through this work, I’ve seen first-hand how deeply connected First Nations people are to Country, and how that knowledge can strengthen how we understand and manage natural hazards,” he said.
“My involvement with Natural Hazards Research Australia and the First Nations Pathways Working Group came from a shared recognition that First Nations perspectives have historically been underrepresented in research and policy, despite being highly relevant. Being part of the group allows me to support a shift toward research that is grounded in Country, culture and community priorities, rather than being imposed from outside.”
He said one of the key things he’s hoping to work toward is ensuring First Nations involvement in research is “not tokenistic, but genuine and sustained”.
“That means First Nations people being involved from the very beginning helping set research priorities, shaping methodologies, and guiding how outcomes are shared and applied,” he said.
“Another important focus is improving pathways for First Nations people into research, leadership and decision-making roles in the natural hazards sector. This includes supporting emerging leaders, valuing cultural expertise as legitimate knowledge, and creating culturally safe environments within research institutions”.
He said that ultimately, the goal is for research to deliver tangible benefits back to communities, whether that’s reducing disaster risk, supporting cultural practices like cultural burning, or strengthening community resilience on Country.
In relation to the Working Group’s contribution to the Centre’s 10-year Strategic Research Plan, Mr Windsor said it is about making sure First Nations priorities are “not an add-on but are embedded across the life of the Strategy.”
“This includes influencing how research questions are framed, how success is measured, and how partnerships with communities are established and maintained,” Mr Windsor said.
“I hope this work leads to a long-term shift in how natural hazards research is done across Australia – one that recognises First Nations knowledge systems as critical to understanding risk, resilience and adaptation,” he said.
“If the strategy helps create research that is more inclusive, community-led and useful on the ground, then it will have achieved something truly meaningful”.