Teacher background information

This elaboration focuses on practical, technical and ethical aspects of providing access to basic services in remote communities. These remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are often at the forefront of adopting new and innovative technologies. This elaboration provides opportunities for students to explore a number of innovative and sustainable technologies currently being utilised to address the unique challenges faced by remote communities. It also enables students to examine the numerous benefits to quality of life resulting from the implementation of these sustainable technologies by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in remote communities. 

A great number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities remain located, as they have done for thousands of years, in remote areas of Australia. Upon European contact many groups were forced to abandon aspects of their traditional lifestyles and adhere to the assimilation pressures of the new dominant culture. This had a profound effect on Australia’s First Nations’ cultures and ways of life. However, some groups of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, despite the cultural shift, still live on their land and in some cases live a semi-traditional lifestyle incorporating an amalgamation of both cultures.  

The issues faced by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities as a result of their remoteness are multi-faceted. They involve the logistical, environmental and ethical considerations of providing infrastructure and access to basic services that people living in larger cities and regional centres perceive as their right as Australian citizens.  

For example, access to a reliable, secure electricity supply is deemed an essential for modern life. However, Australia’s complex network of transmission and distribution infrastructure principally services the needs of people living in a broad arc stretching along the coast from approximately Cairns to Adelaide, and in the south-west corner of Western Australia. In contrast, those Australians living in areas of low population density are ‘off-the-grid’ and have historically been dependent on less effective and non-sustainable methods, such as large, noisy and non-environmentally friendly diesel generators, for their electricity. 

It has been argued that providing and maintaining essential services, whether they be adequate water supplies, electricity, housing or telecommunications infrastructure to remote communities are too great a cost burden on taxpayers. Further, it has been suggested that many remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are not viable in the long term and that they should be abandoned, with the occupants relocated to areas that do not require basic utility assistance.  

In order to maintain their culture and remain on country, while simultaneously meeting their needs, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are now at the forefront of developing and embracing innovative technological solutions to living in remote parts of Australia. 

One example is the increasing utilisation of renewable energy technologies, such as the use of solar thermal collectors for hot water, or photovoltaic cell arrays (solar panels) in combination with long-lasting and low-maintenance battery banks to ensure an uninterrupted electrical power supply system. The use of these technologies, supported by careful analysis of demand requirements and effective energy conservation practices, has led to increasing self-sufficiency and sustainability of many remote communities. The adoption of these technologies by numerous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities has resulted in better access to basic services and more reliable and cost-effective energy supplies, as well as reductions in carbon emissions and noise pollution. 

Another contemporary challenge being faced by remote communities is access to mobile telephone reception and internet services. Such services are not only essential for personal communication and access to information, but are also critical for educational purposes and the implementation of telehealth solutions, enabling patients in remote communities to connect with online healthcare professionals. Typically, mobile phone towers provide coverage within a 10-15-kilometre radius, the distance being dependent on terrain and obstructions in the line of sight path between the tower and the phone. By installing an unpowered passive parabolic dish antenna directed at the most suitable tower, mobile phone coverage can be boosted well beyond the existing footprint. Parabolic antennas use a curved surface made of sheet metal or wire grill with the cross-sectional shape of a parabola to direct the radio waves into a single focal point, thus achieving high signal gains. This technology is being used in a number of outdoor situations where the provision of electricity and the costs associated with securely housing and maintaining a powered antenna would be prohibitive. This makes the passive parabolic dish antenna an ideal solution for some smaller remote settlements, roadside stops and remote tourism locations. 

By engaging with this elaboration, students can explore how the range of technological solutions being adopted by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities has a markedly positive impact on quality of life, provides cost savings and makes remote communities more viable in the longer term. Students can also examine how adopting these technological solutions can be of further benefit to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by providing training and employment opportunities to community members and enhancing economic sustainability through tourism.