The socio-technical sustainability of shelter systems and hardware in remote indigenous Australian communities

Kurt Walter Seemann BSc(Ind.Arts).Dip.Ed (Hons 2/1)

THESIS Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Architecture, the University of New South Wales.

Sydney, NSW, Australia

[Conferred 13 May, 1997]

The socio-technical sustainability of shelter systems and hardware in remote indigenous Australian communities

Declaration

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no matter previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement is made in the text.

......

Declaration page: i The socio-technical sustainability of shelter systems and hardware in remote indigenous Australian communities

ABSTRACT

This study examines the sustainability of introduced shelter systems and hardware in remote indigenous Australian communities. European colonisation has substantially influenced the lifestyles of indigenous Australians through introduced technologies, training and development policies. Previous studies have focused on specialist approaches in health, economics and education. Little Australian research exists which integrates the underlying social, technical and contextual factors affecting the sustainability of introduced technologies. This study examines the thesis that to improve the sustainability of introduced technologies there is a need to develop a holistic understanding of technological activity. It will be argued that this holistic understanding begins with developing knowledge of how the abovementioned factors singularly and collectively influence the capacity of communities to manage introduced technologies.

Cross-discipline research in small and remote settlements has been constrained by a dearth of appropriate theoretical frameworks. This thesis develops and proposes a framework that integrates selective aspects of Ekistic classification theory with socio-technical systems theory. The model emphasises research at the level of community functions. It defines these functions as socio-technical systems that are influenced by their greater settlement environment.

The integrated framework of this study helped to identify new knowledge and data patterns while also confirming existing knowledge of shelter and training in indigenous Australian communities. Most communities struggled to learn from their technology choice and maintenance experiences. Many indigenous Australians

Abstract page: ii adopted incompatible social organization patterns to that needed to sustain introduced technologies. These communities were organisationally and technically ill-equipped and poorly supported to manage their shelter systems and hardware.

Several communities had difficulty reconciling traditional social organisation with introduced shelter management needs and vocational training policies. Many communities were attempting to function substantially below their critical minimum of occupational skills.

As a result of the research it was recommended that communities and government develop principles of indigenous technological empowerment. These principles included a greater emphasis on skills development in technacy (holistic technological problem solving) and organisational (project) management as well as processes that foster innovations and local innovators rather than perpetuating specialist technical skills training alone. A case was found for government to develop policies and programs that supported local independent technology services similar to those in community health and education.

Abstract page: iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There are a number of people and organisations that I wish to acknowledge for their support over the years especially my wife Jane who has had much to endure. Jane has been unstinting in her encouragement and support while attending to her own professional demands and those of our daughter Freya, born during the course of this study. The moral support from my mother, sisters, niece and friends are also acknowledged and will not be forgotten. Appreciation is extended to Andre Burgess for being a reader and the staff at the Centralian College library, Alice Springs, for extending their professional services.

This thesis could not have been written without the wisdom, guidance and encouragement of my supervisor and friend, Dr William Lawson. To Bill I owe many of my learning experiences. He has been a steady and reliable mentor from my undergraduate years through to the present not only in his capacity as supervisor and teacher but also as a personal friend and colleague.

The opportunity to make a useful contribution within the development context that many remote indigenous Australian communities exist would not have been possible without my co-supervisor Dr Bruce Walker. Bruce not only provided me with invaluable fieldwork experience and insights on the tangible issues that confront indigenous Australians, but has always maintained the ethic where the outcome of theoretical research should be practical. He demonstrated that equal to the need to develop research competencies are the needs to develop professional skills and flexible work practices essential for affecting actual change beyond one’s research.

I wish to thank James Bray and fellow staff at the Centre for Appropriate Technology, Alice Springs. The challenge before this research, development and training organisation is considerable and for them to maintain a leading profile in the field of indigenous development in remote locations with minimal resources is

Acknowledgements page: iv testimony to their commitment and innovations. No doubt the collective wisdom of the organisation has influenced my thinking and interpretations in this thesis.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge the assistance of the many Community Councils and Northern Territory Open College network for participating in the design, development, distribution and return of the survey questionnaire early in the study. To all the remote communities participating in the study and the many others in similar circumstances, I wish to extend my appreciation once again. Aspects of this study have provided the background research and basis for the Aboriginal Technical Worker (ATWORK) program that is gaining popularity among indigenous Australians in central Australia and recently in far north Queensland. It is my hope that the overall contribution of this study proves to be of some benefit to the abovementioned and other remote communities experiencing similar challenges to those discussed in this thesis.

Acknowledgements page: v TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapters Page

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

PART ONE: SCOPE OF STUDY 1

1.1. Background 2

1.2. Development precedents 4

1.3. The utility of systems theories 6

1.4. Need for this study 8

PART TWO: THESIS AIMS AND PROPOSAL 12

2.1. Field of study 13

2.2. Context of study 14

2.3. Research ethics 16

2.4. Main research question 17

PART THREE: DEFINITION OF TERMS 19

3.1. Terminology and concepts 19

3.2. Defining ‘technology’ 19

3.2.1. The Mechanistic interpretation of technology 22 3.2.2. Technology as economics 23 3.2.3. Technology: description and definition 24 3.2.4. Holistic technological competence: technacy 25

3.3. Defining context or enduser’s environments 26

3.4. Defining ‘development’ and ‘sustainability’ 28

Table of Contents page: vi CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY 32

PART ONE: BRIEF EVOLUTION OF DEVELOPMENT THEORY AND PRACTICE 32

1.1. First World development 33

1.1.1. Science and technology 34 1.1.2. Education 43

1.2. Third World development 51

PART TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 60

2.1. Ekistic theory 62

2.1.1. Ekistic classification theory 66 2.1.2. Ekistic functions 70

2.2. Systems theory 72

2.2.1. General systems theory 74 2.2.2. Socio-technical systems 76

2.3. Integrating Ekistic and socio-technical systems theory 80

2.3.1. Modelling human settlements as systems 80 2.3.2. Modelling community functions as socio-technical systems 83

2.4. Theoretical framework for a study of socio-technical systems in remote indigenous Australian communities 86

2.4.1. Classification of system level and goals 86

PART THREE: METHODOLOGY 88

3.1. Survey and fieldwork 90

3.1.1. Survey administration 90 3.1.2. Synthesis and observer bias 93

3.2. Data management 93

3.2.1. Selection and organisation 93 3.2.2. Reliability and validity 101 3.2.3. Survey respondent bias 101 3.2.4 Acquiescent responses 101 3.2.5. Missing data and data manipulation 103

Table of Contents page: vii CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS 105

PART ONE: EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY FUNCTIONS - SUSTAINABILITY OF SHELTER SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE: 107

1.1. General development goals underpinning remote indigenous settlements 108

1.1.1. Nomadic and sedentary lifestyles - macro goals 112 1.1.2. Evolutionary forces on indigenous settlements - micro goals 131

1.2. Ekistic context factors 150

1.2.1. Population 150 1.2.2. Location 155 1.2.3. Economy 156

1.3. Socio-technical inputs 162

1.3.1. Education 162 1.3.2. Building materials 167 1.3.3. Tools and equipment 168 1.3.4. Shelter stock 170 1.3.5. Shelter amenities, appliances and accessories 171

1.4. Socio-technical processes 172

1.4.1. Indigenous and non-indigenous participation in technology maintenance 172 1.4.2. Indigenous gender participation in technology maintenance 175

1.5. Socio-technical output 176

1.5.1. State of repair of shelter technologies 176

1.6. Socio-technical feedback 177

1.6.1. Perceived appropriateness of shelter technologies 177 1.6.2. Perceived causes of shelter technology breakdown 179

PART TWO: EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF COMMUNITY FUNCTIONS - SUSTAINABILITY OF SHELTER SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE 181

2.1. Analysis of grouping variables 183

2.1.1. Grouping variable bias and likelihood of acquiescent response sets 185

2.2. Component analysis of socio-technical systems 190

Table of Contents page: viii 2.2.1. Inputs 192 2.2.2. Processes 209 2.2.3. Output 217 2.2.4. Feedback 221

2.3. Ekistic context factors 228

2.3.1. Population 230 2.3.2. Location 233 2.3.3. Economy 237 2.3.4. Respondent bias 241

2.4. Total system analysis 242

CHAPTER FOUR: DISCUSSION 268

1.0. Factors affecting the sustainability of shelter systems and hardware 268

1.1. General goals and development in remote indigenous Australian settlements 268 1.2. Ekistic context factors 273 1.3. Socio-technical inputs 275 1.4. Socio-technical processes 276 1.5. Socio-technical outputs 277 1.6. Socio-technical feedback 277

2.0. Synthesis and proposals 278

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS 282

1.0. Overview 283

2.0. Conclusions 284

3.0. Recommendations and further research. 285

3.1. Recommendations 289 3.2. Further research 291

BIBLIOGRAPHY 293

APPENDICES I

List of acronyms

Survey questionnaire

Table of Contents page: ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

PART ONE: SCOPE OF STUDY

‘The concept of development is essentially a European one, relatively recent in its use and profoundly different from the cultural values of the original inhabitants of the [northern Australia] region1. Where development involves Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people or affects their traditional lands, then their needs and belief systems must be properly accommodated. Failure to do so can prove costly, both in human terms and economically’ (ASTEC, 1993: 4-5).

This study examines the thesis that to improve long term benefits from introduced technologies in small scale community development programs there is a need to develop a holistic understanding of existing technological activity in these communities. As part of the holistic approach the study will explore how key social, technical and contextual factors interact with each other and individually to influence the capacity of communities to manage introduced technologies. To facilitate this study, a theoretical framework will be developed that is inclusive and integrative in design, relevant to the small remote community scale and repeatable for future research verification and improvement purposes.

While the context of the study is small and remote indigenous Australian communities, it will be argued that the utility of the framework and methods developed have application beyond this context2. The need to study physical development strategies in remote indigenous Australian communities are highlighted

1Notations within square parentheses “[]” are the authors qualifiers throughout this thesis. 2The author has noted that while most texts refer to Australia’s first peoples as Aborigines or Aboriginal Australians, there is a contemporary move towards the expression ‘indigenous Australians’. The author has tried 2The author has noted that while most texts refer to Australia’s first peoples as Aborigines or Aboriginal Australians, there is a contemporary move towards the expression ‘indigenous Australians’. The author has tried to use the latter where ever appropriate. However, the reader may infer that indigenous Australian and Aborigine or Aboriginal are essentially interchangeable expressions.

Chapter One: Introduction page: 1 by an almost incessant failure of technology and technical training input to these communities for over 200 years.

European colonisation has substantially and often devastatingly affected indigenous Australians. Much of this affect has been a direct result of inappropriate technologies introduced by essentially Western non-indigenous cultures and lifestyles. The conflicts between indigenous and non-indigenous groups since the first advance of European colonisation in 1788 have been recorded in various general and historical literature (Keeffe, 1992; RCIADIC-vol 2, 1991; Tonkinson and Howard, 1990; Hughes, 1988; Blainey, 1983; Flood, 1983; Hayden, 1979). A recurring theme of failure in remote indigenous community development has been in the area of shelter provision and the maintenance of equipment, amenities and technological possessions that give utility to these shelters (Morel and Ross, 1993a- 1993b; Jones, 1991). This broad theme of unsustained shelter technologies and systems is often coupled in the literature with descriptions of displacement, disempowerment and deteriorating health. Nathan and others reported that, ‘Settlement life has had a major disruptive effect on land usage and Aboriginal religious life, and has caused severe social problems ... These are related to the Aboriginal people’s profound loss of control over the most central aspects of their lives’ (Nathan et.al, 1983: 23).

This thesis will explore issues of technological empowerment relevant to the sustainability of shelters and technologies introduced to remote indigenous Australian communities.

1.1 Background

Until the 1950s and 1960s, paternalistic and assimilation policies and programs of government assumed understanding of what constitutes appropriate technologies and shelter systems for Australia’s indigenous population. Research studies of the size

Chapter One: Introduction page: 2 and nature of the task to provide adequate shelter and related technologies did not manifest themselves in the literature until the late 1960s and early 1970s (CFAR, 1994: 3). This period included the national 1967 referendum on the recognition of indigenous Australians in Australian’s constitution. The study by Jerry Long (1970) ‘Aboriginal Settlements: A Survey Of Institutional Communities In Eastern Australia’ provides one of the few exceptions in the literature that demonstrates an interest in the broad analysis of ‘the Aboriginal problem’ at the level of settlement functions and material development (ibid: 5).

An extensive search of Australian literature suggests that there are few other references that focus on remote indigenous settlement characteristics and development patterns: two of those include the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey 1994 (Madden, 1994) and the yet to be published State of the Environment Report: Chapter on Human Settlements (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995). While not specifically addressing issues of settlement functions, systems and the sustainable development of remote indigenous settlements, the Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody Report (RCIADIC, 1991) and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Report on The Provision of Water and Sanitation in Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities (HREOC, 1994), provide important general case studies relevant to this thesis.

The above reports indicate that the material standard of living of indigenous Australians in the remote regions of central and northern Australia is substantially lower than that of most other indigenous and non-indigenous Australians (Pholeros et.al, 1993). Technical qualifications are also substantially lower (almost non- existent) compared to other qualifications in remote indigenous Australian communities (Coles, 1993: 85). Most remote indigenous communities suffer chronic ‘hardware’ failure problems while also not functioning with a pool of local people appropriately trained and equipped to maintain and develop their material

Chapter One: Introduction page: 3 environment. The problem continues to exist for many communities despite the continual transfer of technologies and technical training programs to them.

1.2 Development precedents

‘Most Aborigines in remote areas of Australia are still living in Third World conditions despite the funding provided for housing and infrastructure over the last ten years’ (AAP, 1994: no.0387).

‘People of the remote Northern Territory ... were forced to live in an ocean of sewage during the wet season making living conditions worse than parts of the Third World’ (ibid: no.1430).

The need to improve appropriate physical development in remote indigenous Australian communities parallels the needs and problems in many remote communities located in Third World countries (Rainow and Pholeros, 1993; Mansell et.al (eds), 1990; Matthew et.al (eds), 1988; UPK, 1987; Foran and Walker, 1985; Walker, 1984). It is generally acknowledged that a common factor underpinning development failures in Third World communities is the donor’s inadequate understanding of the local or regional factors and the organisational and resource requirements for operating and maintaining introduced technologies and training programs (HREOC, 1994: 70).

The critical task can be described as finding effective ways to improve the match between the local social and technical characteristics of community functions and the operational and maintenance requirements of introduced shelters and technologies. There is a need to understand local and regional patterns in the way communities respond to introduced technologies from both a contemporary and historical perspective. The need is relevant both in Third World and remote indigenous Australian communities. Such understanding provides a feedback mechanism for overall improved system performance of development program inputs, processes outcomes and the policy and general settlement context within which they exist.

Chapter One: Introduction page: 4 Technology transfer and development are essentially intervention processes. By definition, the goals of development programs are necessarily to improve the current material and economic status of communities. However, the ideal has often been far from reality. Technical intervention projects have on many occasions displaced local technology and social organisation. The development legacies have not always been positive where such displacement has occurred (IOPS, 1981; McRobie, 1981; Harper and Soon, 1979). There is a constant need to improve the appropriateness of technologies and training programs intended to aid the local and regional development capacities of communities. The idea that technology and development policy needs to ‘fit’ the local situation underpins many of the critiques of First World aid to Third World communities.

There is considerable literature that addresses development in Third World projects. The same level of information is not evident for remote indigenous Australian communities. Indigenous Australian communities represent a special category distinguishing them from Third World communities. Indigenous Australians live in a developed country and unlike indigenous peoples in Third World countries, they represent a minority in their own land having been dispossessed by a rapid process of European colonisation. With this history, indigenous Australians share common settlement experiences with Canadian and American Indians and the New Zealand Maori (Grant, 1971: 4).

The failure of development projects to the Third World have on many occasions, mostly in the longer term, abraded the material standard of living, natural environment and economic base of developing communities rather than improve them (Schumacher, 1973; Bryant and White, 1982; Pacey, 1983; Heller, 1985; Rondinelli, 1985; Brinkerhoff, 1986; Schneider, 1988; Brinkerhoff et.al, 1989; Smillie, 1991; Budget & Meekin, 1993). William Ellis of the Trans-national Network of Appropriate/Alternative Technologies noted that,

Chapter One: Introduction page: 5 ‘Transferring technologies from industrial to developing countries is a form of neo-colonialism we are trying to overcome. People at the local level should participate in the choice, design, construction, ownership and control of technologies meant to help them. Technologies designed for them from the outside even more than technologies transferred to them which they do not understand are destructive of their culture, economies and ecologies, and their dignity’ (Ellis in Heller, 1985: 59).

While the present study reviews development in the remote indigenous Australian context, it seeks to identify generalisations in research method and theoretical models that would assist development and technology management in the broader Third World context.

1.3 The utility of systems theories

The emergence of systems theories during the 1940s was in response to a management need to improve the performance of industries in the First World (Warner and Low, 1947; Angyal, 1941). The need was based on an increasing recognition of the limits to scientific reductionist models and methods in industrial organisation and management. While research into physical processes could be controlled in a closed environment, social organisational behaviour and living organisms maintain open access to their environment for them to function. Research into the latter posed difficulties for methods that required experimental controls or that could not accommodate multi-variable complex interactions.

Fundamental theoretical principles describing the logical behaviours of systems were not initially developed for social organisation and industrial development purposes. ‘General systems theory’ focused on controlled closed systems in physics before open biological systems theory was developed (Bertalanffy, 1950). The utility of systems theory re-emerged with social organisation studies of industries in both First and Third World countries. A new development to systems theory introduced the

Chapter One: Introduction page: 6 notion that social and technical factors influenced the overall performance of functions undertaken in social and industrial organisations. Pioneering research in socio-technical systems by Emery and Trist of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, London, focused on coal mining in Britain and textile industries in India (Emery and Trist, 1960). Emery and Trist and others found that the overall performance of functions within industries depended on a successful interaction between social organisation and values and the choice and design of technologies and spaces in those industries (Herbst, 1974; Emery, 1971; Rice, 1963).

In more recent years, technology development and research in social and physical sciences in First World countries have recognised the utility of general systemic models (Hetzel, 1990; Hetzel, 1978). Metaphysical, physical and empirical methods of analysis that attempt to understand overall patterns and behaviours of naturally occurring and human organisational systems are gaining broad acceptance; they are seen to supplement and sometimes replace reductionist methods, models and theories. This is demonstrated in relatively recent literature attempting to understand complex behaviours and multi variable systems that are partly or wholly defined by their immediate environment. Gleick had written that,

‘To some physicists chaos is a science of process rather than state, of becoming rather than being ... Chaos breaks across the lines of scientific disciplines. Because it is a science of the global nature of systems, it has brought together thinkers from fields that have been widely separated: “Fifteen years ago science was heading for a crisis of increasing specialisation”. [Advocates of chaos] feel that they are turning back a trend in science toward reductionism, the analysis of systems in terms of their constituent parts: quarks, chromosomes, or neurones. They believe that they are looking for the whole’ (Gleick, 1987: 5).

The need for an holistic or systemic understanding of social and technical factors in Third World development projects emerged with an increasing interest to understand local and regional patterns of community capacities and potential, particularly in the

Chapter One: Introduction page: 7 areas of appropriate educational strategies and patterns of response to introduced technologies (Schumacher, 1973). More recently, the utility of socio-technical systems theory has been applied to the management and evaluation of projects donated by the First World to the Third World (Cusworth et.al, 1993: 5&31).

There is recognition of a need to further develop the quantitative and conceptual utility of systems theories in the application of research concerning development programs introduced to small and often rural regions of the Third World. In the analysis of systemic models for development programs Schwartz-Cowan (1983) noted both advantages and constraints to the systemic theory of development having written that, while systemic models do ‘not penetrate deeply into the process of invention, innovation, development and production (the initial stages in the evolution of a technological system), ... [they] can open up the “black box” of diffusion’ (Schwartz-Cowan in Bijker et.al, 1989).

The need for improved qualitative and quantitative models for making practical inroads to sustainable development in communities has been described by Marjoram as an urgent priority (Marjoram in Mansell et.al, 1990: 321). Within the urgent need for improved research and development models and practices in technology development, this thesis will propose a theoretical framework and methodology that incorporates evolutionary as well as socio-technical factors. Particular interest is placed on the social and technical sustainability of technology and technical training strategies relevant to shelter in remote indigenous Australian communities.

1.4 Need for this study

There is a substantial dearth of Australian literature dedicated to the overall qualitative and quantitative analysis of technology and technical training inputs to

Chapter One: Introduction page: 8 remote indigenous Australian communities where the intended outcomes are sustainable shelter strategies and technology development3. In addition to the specific development needs of indigenous Australians, there is a broader need for research that advances the utility of systemic and other related theories and methods that improve understanding of the overall patterns of response to donor technology and training programs for Third World communities (Ahmadun in Mansell et.al, 1990b: 113-116; Mansell in ibid, 1990: 273). The need includes methods for finding useful and relevant generalisations regarding social and technical factors, histories and settlement characteristics and how the complex interaction of settlement variables and factors may be identified and analysed: such information has the potential to improve the general sustainability of technology and training inputs to community development. Marjoram summarised the imperative for development in South Pacific and other developing communities. Marjoram had written that,

‘There is an urgent priority to improve the activities and process of problem and need identification, technology research, design, development, choice and adaptation and the subsequent introduction, innovation, dissemination and adoption of technology in the [Pacific Islands] (and other developing countries). This is because many development projects fail because of an inappropriate choice and the poor management of technology ... One way to improve this situation is the use

3In Volume 3 no 1 of the 1992 Austrom database a cross search* was conducted combining the key terms “develop?” **, “techn?” and “Aborigin?”. In the Australian Education Index (AEI) only 40 items were listed and none were directly relevant to development and technology in Aboriginal society. In the Australian Public Affairs database (APAIS) only 52 items were listed of which 47 formed part of one Workshop Proceeding document organised by the Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT) and the CSIRO , 1 was another CAT item and the remainder were also not dedicated to development and technology in Aboriginal communities. When a further constraint, education (ie ‘educat?’, ‘train?’ or ‘skill?’), was added to the list or substituted for technology, no relevant items were listed. A similar cross search was conducted on the Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN), the Australian Architecture database (ARCH), the Education Database (EDLINE), the CSIRO database (SAGE) and the Aboriginal Studies Resources Database each producing the same dearth of dedicated or related literature on technology in Aboriginal development in Australian holdings. While these databases are not exhaustive, the results strongly suggest that there is minimal (almost non-existent) dedicated research available to Aboriginal communities, development agencies and government that analyses the sustainability of technical development projects in Aboriginal communities. The few items that do exist link to the CAT organisation in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. [* “cross search” means searching across all database fields rather than only in one specific field like ‘Author’, ‘Title’ or ‘Descriptors’; ** “?” is used to search for all and any word that starts with the string preceding the “?” character: thus “techn?” includes “technology” as well as “technical” etc,.]

Chapter One: Introduction page: 9 of an appropriate model to help understand and organise these activities and processes. A potentially useful model is based on the notion of the “technological system”’ (Marjoram in ibid: 321).

While some introduced technologies and techniques have been successfully adapted into remote indigenous communities, the vast majority of introduced shelter and technical training programs have not (Morel and Ross, 1993b). Young had written that, ‘Certain types of equipment ... may demand significant financial investment and degrees of technical skills not present in the Aboriginal community. Their introduction may impose unacceptable pressures on limited cash resources, and will ultimately increase Aboriginal dependency rather than self-sufficiency’ (Young in Foran and Walker, 1985: paper 1.3).

The lack of sustainable technologies and training initiatives introduced to communities suggests minimal participation in many development policies and projects. Housing, technical training and services were largely predetermined and not usually packaged together. They were selected, administered and implemented as essentially independent inputs based on assumptions of needs and settlement characteristics similar to the mainstream urban and rural Australian context. The Human Right and Equal Opportunities Commission (HREOC) in Australia recently reported that, ‘The perception of many Aboriginal people is that too often policies are proposed, programs put forward, and assistance offered in a form which is largely predetermined in the bureaucracies of the government departments concerned’ (HREOC, 1994: 72).

The fragmented organisation of government and other agencies functioning as donors of development projects as well as the demographic characteristics of indigenous Australian communities were identified as major problems by some bureaucrats, technologists and facilitators (Miles et.al in Foran and Walker, 1985: paper 1.6). The need to develop research methods that integrate many factors and

Chapter One: Introduction page: 10 variables continues to be highlighted in indigenous shelter technologies and training programs nine years after Miles et.al raised the issues (ibid, 1985). The HREOC found that, ‘A consistent failure of [government] reports is their analysis of the problem in purely sectorial terms ... The responses have largely been government initiatives, resulting in revised or new government programs ... The reports all identify national programs and policies and rarely place emphasis on community level or regional level responses’ (HREOC, 1994: 70).

Until recently, little was acknowledged of the links between the material environment of remote communities and chronic health problems of inhabitants. In an effort to fill the void, a unique survey was undertaken of communities in central Australia. The Uwankara Palyanyku Kanyintjaku [UPK] Environmental Health Report (1987), found that many chronic indigenous Australian adult health problems could be traced to infections developed from living conditions experienced in the first three to five years of life. The report found that, ‘Children suffer a complex of infectious diseases together with generally mild to moderate growth failure in the first three years of life. This illness profile is similar to that of children in developing countries’ (ibid: 7).

Colonial and assimilation policy and practice was common in Third World development programs as these policies reflected the evolution of technology development theories in most First World countries. Both Third World and indigenous communities located within First World countries therefore share similar technology development experiences due to their common encounter with First World governments and agencies. A review of First World perceptions of technology and development provides an important starting point for understanding technology and vocational training input to Third World and remote indigenous Australian community development programs (Marjoram, 1990: 317).

Chapter One: Introduction page: 11 PART TWO: THESIS AIMS AND PROPOSAL

This study examines the thesis that to achieve sustainable benefit from introduced technologies and skills there is a need to develop a holistic understanding of technological activity in beneficiary communities. It will be argued that a holistic understanding constitutes knowledge of how the interaction of the social, technical and contextual aspects of community activities determine their capacity to sustain benefits from introduced technologies.

By way of contrast, the antithesis model approaches development from a specialised rather than an integrated and cross-disciplinary framework. It will be shown that specialist approaches, while maintaining usefulness in controlled contexts, are not well placed to detect interactions and response patterns to introduced technology and training programs in remote communities. The specialist approach on its own has contributed to misjudgements about why introduced technologies have often failed to sustain benefits in remote indigenous Australian communities. There is a case for understanding the interactions of factors at play in the end users context not just the aggregate of these factors.

This thesis therefore aims to develop a deeper understanding of the technology- training relationship in development projects for remote central and northern indigenous Australian communities. The technology-training relationship will be examined as social and technical inputs and processes that underpin community functions. The study will focus on how the social and technical aspects of functions in remote communities influence the sustainability of introduced shelter systems and related technologies and vocational skills (Jones, 1991).

Technology will be examined because it forms the main content of community and economic development projects (Schumacher in Budgett & Meekin, 1992: 15). Technical education and training will be examined because its role to sustain introduced technologies has often failed yet its potential to contribute to sustainable

Chapter One: Introduction page: 12 development is substantial (Schumacher, 1973: 99). Community functions will be examined because they form the common point of integration of social and technical inputs and processes in communities (Talbot, 1991; Walker, 1972: 10 & 22).

2.1. Field of study

The thesis will draw upon a variety of fields, however, its main foundation will be in industrial arts in the areas of settlement and socio-technical systems theories (AAS, 1994; Borich, 1982; Walker, 1976; Lawson, 1972; Grant, 1971). The study may be described as cross-disciplinary with an emphasis in systemic theories. It will include development theory in technology aid and educational programs to remote indigenous developing economies and communities. The study will focus on the socio-technical aspects of introduced shelter systems and technologies relevant to remote indigenous communities in the Third World and Australia (Marjoram in Mansell et.al, 1990: 315; Emery, 1969: 285).

The central thesis of this study is that to achieve sustainable benefit from introduced technologies there is a need to develop an holistic understanding of technological activity among the communities examined. The thesis will argue that sustainable benefit from the introduction of technologies in remote communities is more likely where development programs foster technology innovation, selection and socio- technical management skills.

Socio-technical systems and general systems theory have been applied to studies of human settlements due mainly to the complexity of analysing the multivariate and interdependent nature of settlement functions in relation to their immediate environment. Systemic models of the patterned behaviour of human settlements have developed since the 1960s and their re-emergence coincides with recent concerns about the state of the Earth’s natural environment. Models of ‘pressure/state’, ‘natural systems’ and ekistic theory provide relevant precedents for

Chapter One: Introduction page: 13 the use of systemic frameworks for the study of technology development in human settlements (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995; AAS, 1994; Doxiadis, 1968). Specific precedents in the application of ekistic systems theory for studying technology development and technical education in remote indigenous Australian communities may be found in Walker (1976) and Grant (1971).

2.2. Context of study

The context of this study will be remote indigenous Australian communities. The majority of these communities are located in the central and northern regions of Australia: Map 1.2.1. These communities are of particular interest as they represent a sector of settlements with strong traditional Aboriginal cultural values and lifestyle while also adopting and adapting many elements of Australia’s broader economic, social and cultural characteristics. Young and Fisk had written that, ‘Such communities ... offer a picture of the distinctive character of Aboriginal culture and values. In these isolated areas we can actually observe Aboriginal society adapting to the monetised economy and, through such observations, one hopes, to come to a better understanding of Aboriginal attitudes and values’ (Young and Fisk, 1982: v).

Chapter One: Introduction page: 14

Map 1.2.1: Map of Australia: hatched area indicates general location of most remote indigenous Australian communities

The small and remote population and location characteristics of many indigenous Australian communities are important factors influencing sustainable development strategies and shelter technologies. Settlement location, population and economy usually affect the pattern of responses remote indigenous communities display to introduced technologies and shelter systems. These general settlement factors are also relevant to remote indigenous communities of other countries. Marjoram had written that,

‘Smallness and isolation are more than just interesting descriptions of faraway places. These characteristics have important consequences regarding issues of technology and development. Smallness and isolation produce problems including the choice and procurement, adaptation or development, operation, maintenance and repair of technology suitable for

Chapter One: Introduction page: 15 [Pacific] island conditions. Whilst [these] characteristics ... should be obvious to anyone ... it is surprising how many people who should know better seem oblivious to many of the realities of the islands and island life’ (Marjoram in Mansell et.al, 1990a: 316).

Understanding how remote indigenous Australian settlements respond to introduced technology and education programs for community development may produce understanding of development in similar settlement contexts of indigenous people outside Australia (Watkins, 1985; Randell, 1984).

2.3. Research ethics

The conduct of research on human settlements, particularly the context of indigenous Australian settlements has produced sufficient numbers of experiences to raise much concern about the practice and ethics of such research (Craig in Cobbin and Barlow, 1993: 139; Bishop, 1992; Shaw, 1990).

Many of the ethical codes of professions do not specifically address socio-cultural issues concerning their clients. Engineers play an important and often central role in technology for community development research or project management. The code of ethics of the Australian Institute of Engineers, however, have been challenged by some of their members on the issue of conduct in indigenous Australian communities. Moran had written that,

‘Rule one of the Code of Ethics of the Institution of Engineers Australia states that the responsibility of engineers for the welfare, health and safety of the community shall at all times come before their responsibility to the profession, to sectional or private interests, or to other engineers. It is therefore ironic that the Institution has no technical guidelines for engineering practice in socially or culturally differentiated communities such as Aboriginal communities. By disregarding the social bias of their training and technology, engineers (usually in good faith), are often guilty

Chapter One: Introduction page: 16 of contravening this most fundamental professional ethic’ (Moran, 1993: 5).

Ethical research issues have related to unacceptable research intrusion, publication of socially and culturally sensitive information, minimal returned benefit, minimal participation in decision process, inconvenient timing of field visits and so on. The effect of these insensitivities relate to some research methods disempowering the subjects of the research (Koori Centre, 1993: 2).

The Koori Centre (1993), of the University of Sydney, has provided a number of guiding principles and procedures for the conduct of research. In recognition of the diversity of research that can be undertaken and the mutual needs of the subject and researcher, they have proposed that above all, the fundamental guiding principle for the ethical conduct of research should demonstrate ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander empowerment and self-determination’ (ibid).

This study has adopted the Koori Centre’s proposed fundamental ethic. Care will be demonstrated in the conduct of research to ensure the empowerment ethic is genuine and that appropriate consent and feedback benefits are made apparent to participating communities.

2.4. Main research question

This study acknowledges that development and technological training problems in remote indigenous Australian communities incorporate a wide range of factors and variables that could each be separately addressed in research. It is also acknowledged that, ‘The way in which the problem [to be researched] is conceived decides what specific suggestions are entertained and which are dismissed, what data are selected and which rejected; it is the criterion for relevancy and irrelevancy of hypotheses and conceptual structures’ (Dewey in Grant, 1971: 29).

Chapter One: Introduction page: 17 This study will develop an integrated understanding of the social and technological responses of remote communities to introduced technologies and shelters. The study will investigate the main research question and three sub questions stated below:

Main research question

‘What are the relevant social and technical factors that, in themselves and in combination with each other, substantially influence the sustainability of introduced shelter systems and relevant shelter hardware items in small and remote indigenous Australian communities?’

The research question may be broken into three parts to aid analysis.

Three sub questions

1.1 What are the main historical and contemporary factors influencing socio-technical functions in remote indigenous Australian communities?

1.2 What is the comparative standing of socio-technical functions operating in different remote indigenous Australian community contexts in regard to settlement population, location and economy?

1.3 Which indigenous Australian community context factors, system components of socio-technical functions, or combinations of these most explain the general sustainability of introduced shelters and shelter hardware in these communities?

The sub questions will be further developed in chapter two section 3.2 of this thesis. Detail will be given to specific descriptions of context factors and the selection of relevant indicator variables for describing system components.

Chapter One: Introduction page: 18 PART THREE: DEFINITION OF TERMS

3.1. Terminology and concepts

The concepts and terminology used in technology transfer and development literature require some clarification. Terms such as ‘technology’, ‘Third World communities’ and ‘development’ have been interpreted with different emphasis throughout the literature and in practice in international aid projects. An analysis of some of the underlying issues of technological semantics can therefore provide useful insights to the interpretations some authors and aid agencies give to the terms they use and the course of actions they take.

The study of technological semantics belongs to the analytical philosophy of technology field (Rapp, 1981: 23-33; Willoughby, 1990). While many aspects of this field are theoretically relevant to the current study its main purpose is to examine the practical aspects of technology transfer and development in remote indigenous Australian communities. Technological semantics has therefore been restricted to interpreting the three most relevant terms and concepts to this thesis. They are: ‘technology’ as it relates to the essential content of the study; ‘Third World and indigenous Australian communities’ as these relate to the essential contexts of the study; and ‘development’ as it relates to the essential problem addressed in this study.

3.2. Defining ‘technology’

The literature on development and technology transfer is varied in the interpretation of the term ‘technology’. Often technology is described rather than defined. In the course of defining technology the study has attempted to avoid jargon except where

Chapter One: Introduction page: 19 common terms and expressions inadequately or awkwardly convey the intended meaning of themes and patterns of technical practice. However, as Willoughby noted, ‘“Technology” is employed in the English language to denote and connote a mixture of phenomena and concepts; it is therefore impossible to provide a precise and universal definition of the term without it becoming specialised jargon’ (ibid: 26).

The general value of developing and stipulating a convention in technological semantics is seen to be twofold: it provides a consistent language for reviewing the problems and issues raised in the study, and if appropriately interpreted, it provides a means for describing different forms of technology education and technology practice in remote indigenous Australian communities.

The need to identify consistent meaning of the term technology is reflected in the difficulties that arise when casual language is used to define it. Friedrich Rapp, a German analytical philosopher in technology at the Technische Universität Berlin, concluded that one of the difficulties of technological semantics is that it is highly generalised in casual conversation. Rapp concluded that,

‘As soon ... as we are called upon to supply a clear and unequivocal definition of the concept of technology, difficulties arise. The situation here is that of familiar concepts which are also of a highly generalised character. Whereas each of us thinks he knows what is meant by “science”, “politics”, or “society”, agreement on a precise definition is difficult to obtain. In fact, given the manifold determinants of technology, it is unreasonable to expect universal agreement upon any one definition’ (Rapp, 1981: 23).

Despite the difficulties of defining technology, Rapp was optimistic that if the universal or phenomenological rather than purely historical characteristics of technology were identified and developed, many of the difficulties related to the semantics of technological discourse would be resolved. Increased consistency in

Chapter One: Introduction page: 20 technological semantics would lead to an increased clarity of understanding of technology and so the quality and modes of technical activity. Rapp, however, qualifies his optimism by acknowledging that the subjective relationship formed by individuals with technologies can influence their opinions and perceptions and that this subjective association with technologies cannot be dismissed. He proposed that,

‘While granting that a degree of imprecision is inherent in the subject [technology], it is nevertheless possible, through juxtaposition and comparison of various proposed definitions, to make mere intuitive understanding more explicit and to render it accessible to scrutiny. Because of the elements of ambiguity and vagueness inherently connected with “technology”, one is forced in order to arrive at a precise demarcation, to make certain assumptions within the range of subjective opinions’ (ibid: 23).

Rapp’s concerns for the general interpretation of technology and therefore the confusion and inconsistency that often develops in technology policy and programs were shared by Arnold Pacey (1983). Pacey rejected the pure definition of technology as being a value-neutral phenomenon. In his analysis of the relationship between human values, technology development and technical activity he wrote, ‘The problem ... is that technology has become a catch word with a confusion of different meanings. Correct usage of the word in its original sense seems almost beyond recovery, but consistent distinctions between different levels of meaning are both possible and necessary’ (Pacey, 1983: 3).

The difficulties of maintaining a consistent interpretation of technology is a theme that persists in the literature. Kelvin Willoughby, in his critique of the Appropriate Technology movement wrote,

‘the meaning and use of the word “technology” has changed over time, it is used differently by different schools of thought and between different languages, its common use is haphazard, and the definition does not

Chapter One: Introduction page: 21 convey much of the complexity of meaning attributed to the term in the literature’ (Willoughby, 1990: 25).

Willoughby’s observation described the inadequacy of relying on popular reference text, such as dictionaries, for appropriate interpretations of technology. He advocated that if analysis is to proceed in technology studies, a reliance on common usage expressions and terms could produce misleading interpretations.

3.2.1. The Mechanistic interpretation of technology

The opportunities to develop contradictory interpretations of technology are many. A popular interpretation in the literature is that technology is the physical manifestation of knowledge. An object such as a computer is classed as an example of technology because the computer represents knowledge that had to be initially in place in the form of the physical sciences and manufacturing strategies (Mansfield, 1968: 167).

Technology has also been defined as ‘applied science or knowledge’. Francis and Mansell, engineers at the Development Technologies Unit, Melbourne University, suggested that ‘technology can be defined as the application of scientific fact or principle for some useful purpose’ (Francis and Mansell, 1988: 1). Francis and Mansell further define technology as representing the manipulation of tools and instruments in order to achieve more energy efficient means of completing a task (ibid).

It is significant that Francis and Mansell represent technology as applied knowledge, usually manifested in a mechanical form. Their mechanistic interpretation is consistent with their vocation as engineers. In a review of technology transfer processes between First World and Third World countries, Peter Heller from Manhattan College also demonstrates his alliance with the engineering or mechanistic perspective of technology. Heller had written that, ‘The term

Chapter One: Introduction page: 22 technology has no all-embracing definition. It usually refers to the organisation of all scientific empirical knowledge required for producing and distributing any goods or services’ (Heller, 1985: 1).

3.2.2. Technology as economics

Technology is also defined by some economists as capital input or infrastructure. Technology is interpreted as a unit of wealth measured not in terms of scientific knowledge or mechanical objects requiring maintenance, but as units of cost and investment. In a review of technology transfer from America to Japan, Charles Stewart, Professor of economics from the George Washington University and Yasumitsu Nihei, Professor of economics at the Institute of Management and Labour Studies, Keio University, Tokyo, define technology as, ‘new and better ways of achieving economic ends that contribute to economic development and growth ... [it includes] labour and managerial skills’ (Stewart and Nihei, 1987: 1).

The perception that technology is a value neutral commodity allows it to be categorised as units of capital and infrastructure expenditure. The value-neutral perception often excludes the human-technology and environment-technology relationships. Little attention is given to the design of technologies beyond their engineering, scientific or economic constraints.

The high profile and usually inflexible expectation that aid funding is lawfully accounted for, may place sufficient pressure on many development projects to acquit their funds rather than to ensure that technologies are appropriately selected, designed, maintained, modified, transferred or generally sustained in the end-users' local environment. Where such pressures exist it may often be easier to implement conventional donor oriented innovations than to sponsor the development of local innovations; local solutions can often take more time than a financial year or than

Chapter One: Introduction page: 23 planned in a grant submission (UPK, 1987). Smillie summarises the trend in development aid as being,

‘unlike any other period in history; for today in addition to artisans and artists, farmers, machinists and dreamers, the direction of technology is influenced and fashioned by bureaucrats, economists, far away corporate planners, aid agencies and charities. Never before in history have so many non-technical people exerted so much influence on the advancement, retardation and movement of technology’ (Smillie, 1991: 3).

3.2.3. Technology: description and definition

There is sufficient evidence to suggest that an all embracing definition of technology is difficult to maintain. What technology is appears to relate to the context in which it is to be used. The contexts of this study are Third World and remote indigenous Australian communities. These contexts include a broader range of factors beyond the hardware or economic characteristics of technology. Accordingly, this study will adopt Smillie’s interpretation of technology which is inclusive of social, technical and contextual or environment themes. Smillie proposed that,

‘Technology is more than jets and computers; it is a combination of knowledge, techniques and concepts; it is tools and machines, farms and factories. It is organisation, processes and people. The cultural, historical and organisational context in which technology is developed and applied is the key to its success or failure. In short technology is the science and art of getting things done - through the application of skills and knowledge’ (ibid).

From time to time the qualifiers high- or sophisticated technology will be used to describe processes and devices that are usually computer driven. The qualifiers low- or simple technology will be used to describe processes and devices that are usually non-computer reliant in theory operation or who are mechanically designed.

Chapter One: Introduction page: 24 3.2.4. Holistic technological competence: technacy

Smillie’s description of technology may be rationalised into a few common components: a social component (inclusive of organisation, people and culture); a technical component (inclusive of hardware and techniques such as computers, jets, tools, machines, and processes); a contextual or environment component (inclusive of farms, factories, communities and the resource characteristics of these contexts); and an evolutionary or time influence component (inclusive of historical information and influences to technical activity).

Similar inclusive descriptions of technology have been made by Willoughby (1990). A recent term relevant to this study has been developed to represent the more interrelated characteristics of the social, technical and environmental components to technological activity, particularly from a holistic viewpoint. The term technacy (and its adjective technate), will be used to represent technology and technology development or maintenance as the product of an interaction between social, technical and environmental or contextual factors where these factors are often influenced by the passing of time. Thus technacy competence is the ability to solve technological problems holistically: solutions are inclusive of relevant social, technical and contextual considerations. This inclusive paradigm of technology distinguishes technacy from expressions such as “technological literacy” and “technical skill”. These latter expressions are derived from an essentially exclusive, mechanistic and instrumental paradigm that focuses on the “technicity” (Willoughby, 1990: 44) of technologies.

Technacy is the holistic interpretation of technological activity. It has been described and defined in an educational setting by Walker (1989), Delbridge et.al (1991: 1796) and Seemann and Talbot (1995). As an educational or skills development concept, technacy has been compared with literacy and numeracy (ibid; Delbridge et.al, op.cit). The term technacy will be used in this study as the inclusive

Chapter One: Introduction page: 25 interpretation of technological activity, particularly where that activity seeks to be relevant and sustainable to enduser environments or contexts. Technology has been interpreted in this study as the product of technacy processes.

3.3. Defining context or enduser’s environments

The contexts which technology is transferred from and to, or within which development aid is implemented, requires some clarification. No single convention exists in the literature to generally describe or define the donors or intended beneficiaries of development. However, Budgett and Meekin’s (1992) description of development donors and intended beneficiaries is useful. They note that,

‘Over the last century there have been massive technological advances, but the beneficiaries have largely been in the “rich” world - or as I prefer to call it, the “Minority World”. Use of the term “Majority World” to describe the 70% of the world’s population who live in what is commonly called the Third World, is accurate in numerical terms and in landmass terms. And it is useful to realise that we in the “rich” world are indeed in a minority’ (Budgett and Meekin, 1992: 16-17).

Smillie describes the different contexts of donor and intended beneficiaries by interchanging Third World with ‘South’, and First World with ‘North’. Smillie extends his definitions to discern bilateral from multilateral development donors. He offers the following interpretations:

‘Although I prefer “South” to “Third World” or “developing countries”, I have used the first two more or less interchangeably for the sake of variety. “Developing countries” has been used more sparingly, mostly in direct quotations from other publications such as those from the World Bank. That all countries are “developing” is an old chestnut, but one worth remembering. “Bilateral donors” refers to the official aid agencies of Northern governments, such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), or the British Overseas Development

Chapter One: Introduction page: 26 Administration (ODA). “Multilateral organisations” are membership institutions comprised of more than one national government. Examples are the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and United Nations (UN) agencies such as UNICEF or UNIFEM.’ (Smillie, 1991: ix)

A difficulty with the ‘North/South’ terminology, popular among other contemporary writers including Willoughby (1990), is that in the Australian context, both as an international development agency and for ‘development aid’ directed internally to remote indigenous communities, the terms are misleading. While the Australian government responds to Third World countries it is misleading to describe Australia as a country of the North or the South. While many remote indigenous Australians live in what has been described as Third World conditions, they are nevertheless located in a First World or ‘rich’ nation compared to most other countries. Equally, Budgett and Meekin’s ‘Minority/First World’ and ‘Majority/Third World’ terms are inappropriate. Australia’s non-indigenous population outnumbers the indigenous population by a ratio of approximately 64:1 (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995: 29).

Clearly, but often overlooked, there is a third context: indigenous peoples who are a minority in population, occupy a minority of landmass, live a Third World lifestyle, but who are located in, receive ‘development aid’ from and are governed by a First World nation. The people in this situation include indigenous Australians and New Zealand Maoris south of the equator and North and South American Indians and Canadian Eskimos (Inuits) north of the equator. The study has therefore adopted the convention that Third World and South describes a context where communities live in non-Australian and usually poor material living conditions. The study adopts First World and North to mean communities that live in nations such as Australia, that have a generally higher material standard of living than most other nations.

In the context of the current study Third World communities will usually mean poor communities outside Australia. Unless specified otherwise, remote indigenous Australian communities will mean those located in the central and northern regions

Chapter One: Introduction page: 27 of Australia, many of which are in the Northern Territory and endure poor material living conditions (ibid: 28). They may therefore be described by extension to the above, as Fourth World communities. On occasions the term ‘Western’ will be used to describe the North or First World. The term ‘Western’ is used in the literature to imply a materialistic, sedentary (settled) lifestyle founded on a nuclear family capitalistic economy.

3.4. Defining ‘development’ and ‘sustainability’

The general literature on technology transfer and development suggests that the meaning of ‘development’, in the Third World, is as diverse as the meaning of technology. It is often described by means of exemplars rather than defined. The interpretation of development, both in practice and in the literature, varies. Goulet‘s (1992) examination of development theory and practice suggests that values in development literature are the fundamental reasons why development can present itself to mean whatever authors, and usually the donors in development projects, intend it to mean.

‘Development is both an ambiguous term and an ambiguous practice. The term is used descriptively or normatively : to depict a present condition or to project a desirable alternative. Descriptive usage prevails in the growing body of testimonial writing on development, in statistical and policy reports issued by such international financing agencies as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and in the voluminous academic literature now appearing in myriad disciplines. Normative usage of the term is found in works of criticism and alternative advocacy whose authors employ value laden language to criticise development as now conducted or to advocate a different vision deemed ethically or politically superior. Moreover, “development” refers either to the end or to the means of social change. Development is simultaneously the vision of a better life - a life materially richer, institutionally more “modern”, and technologically more efficient - and an array of means to achieve that vision ...

Chapter One: Introduction page: 28 It is not only the terminology of development which is fraught with ambivalence, but also its practice.’ (ibid: 467)

The criticisms and interpretations of development can be grouped into three main ideologies: firstly, development as fast tracking economic growth that often includes a top down autocratic management style, short term goals and time frames and a preference for sophisticated technology input (Stewart et.al, 1987; Podder in Tisdell, 1988); secondly, development as change and oriented to local empowerment processes, a bottom up democratic/participative management style, long term goals and time frames and a preference for local or intermediate technology input; and thirdly, development as both economic growth and social empowerment which proceeds as a mix of bottom up and top down management styles depending on the circumstances that develop during the project (Brinkerhoff et.al, 1989; Smillie, 1991). The latter interpretation of development generally has a preference for both local and introduced technologies and skills (ie. appropriate technology input) depending on the circumstances of the project and its progress. This view of development is also perceived as goal oriented, but flexible to changing situations. The above three interpretations of development practice are categories advocated by Brinkerhoff and Ingle (1989).

Brinkerhoff and Ingle (ibid) define the three forms of development practice as the ‘blue print model’ for the top down ideology, the ‘process model’ for the local empowerment ideology, and the ‘structured flexibility model’ perceived as a mix of the process and blueprint models for development programs. Brinkerhoff and Ingle suggest that development is about taking actions that solve complex problems with both immediate and long term success in mind. They suggest that development means solving ‘the complex problems facing developing countries [particularly]: economic stagnation and poor productivity, resource gaps and debt burdens, population pressures, food shortages, environmental degradation [and] technological and skill deficiencies’ (ibid: 487).

Chapter One: Introduction page: 29 Craig and Porter propose that development is an ongoing struggle for people to master their own destiny - the process of humanisation and empowerment through meaningful local involvement (Craig and Porter, 1995: 1). Given the above issues, the study has defined development to mean actions (often involving technology transfer) that empower intended beneficiaries of these actions to improve their material, economic and social situation in both immediate and long term.

Throughout this study, the expression ‘sustainable development’ will also be used. The adopted interpretation of this expression concurs with the general definition suggested in the Brundtland Report (1987) titled ‘Our Common Future’ by the United Nation’s World Commission on Environment and Development. The Report defines ‘sustainable development’ as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (Brundtland in Budgett and Meekin, 1992: 15).

The definition does not indicate what constitutes ‘good’ or ‘bad’ development theory, practice or outcomes in regard to empowerment. Similarly, the general definition of sustainable development has been interpreted in practice in very different ways, including the prevailing notion that it means sustainable economic growth and consumption rather than sustainable regeneration and conservation (Trainer, 1990; AIDAB, 1991: 14).

There is a case for sustainable development to be both socially and environmentally defined. It is possible, for example, for an indigenous Australian community to obtain land rights and ownership of a mine; it may be developed by that community and yet only last 10 years. In this example, it could be argued that the community was empowered to follow through their development initiative and yet what they did was not environmentally or economically sustainable. Alternatively, a community may be earmarked for a reforestation or housing maintenance program yet collapse when the program facilitators leave. The development initiative may have been

Chapter One: Introduction page: 30 environmentally or economically sustainable, but the community was not socially or managerially empowered to sustain their reforestation development program (Lawson, 1995; Walker, 1995; Toyne, 1996).

The meaning of sustainable development may extend beyond economic and ecological criteria to include social organisation, educational and cultural values criteria in regard to their role in technical processes, operations and maintenance (Brinkerhoff and Goldsmith, 1992).

This study will examine the social and technical issues underpinning sustainable development. The specific social component of this study will include social organisation, vocational education and general living patterns and values in terms of the influence those social factors and issues have had on the capacity for communities to sustain introduced technologies in aid programs. The specific technical component of this study will include tools, materials, equipment and shelter systems also introduced to communities in aid programs. While the above social and technical components will be reviewed independently where appropriate, the study also seeks to understand their combined effect on the sustainability of introduced technologies and shelter systems in the context of remote indigenous Australian communities.

Chapter One: Introduction page: 31

CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY

This chapter is presented in three parts. Part one broadly outlines the relevant social and cultural origins to the technological and educational inputs of development projects and programs in Third World and indigenous communities. It provides historical background for systemic theories in science and technology, and education and development programs. Part two constructs the theoretical framework to this study. It develops the systemic concepts necessary for selecting, organising and interpreting information to be gathered in the course of the current research. Part three presents the field methodology as the link between the theoretical framework and field data collection and manipulation.

PART ONE: BRIEF EVOLUTION OF DEVELOPMENT THEORY AND PRACTICE

‘[Knowing what to do about poverty, aid and technology is] a search that has been going on, officially in the developing world for over thirty years, and less officially for most countries since the beginning of time. It is a search that is driven today by more hard core poverty than has ever before been known and by a realisation that the technology we have applied to solving the problem has severe limitations’ (Smillie, 1991: 1).

The starting point in history for examining the basis to contemporary development programs is generally regarded as arbitrary (ibid: 3). However, during the 1960s to early 1970s influential critical literature emerged that was dedicated to examining the transfer of technology and industrial systems from the First World to the Third World. Much of the literature criticised post World War Two development models, particularly the doctrine of economic growth and rigid project management and evaluation research (Brinkerhoff and Ingle, 1989). The concern was whether national economic growth (example, Gross National Product: GNP) was effective in

Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework and Methodology page: 32

reaching, or ‘trickling down to’, the mass of very poor usually small communities in Third World countries. Schumacher estimated that the scale of the problem during the 1960s and early 1970s meant that development aid ‘needed to reach two million villages across the globe’ (Schumacher, 1973: 186-188).

It soon became apparent that growth models in either First World or Third World countries not only failed to assist the world’s destitute, but also at times destroyed local ecosystems and what little local cottage industries and employment opportunities already existed in communities. Growth was not seen to be linked to other problems including the long term impact it had on the natural environment and the migration of the unemployed from the rural sector to the cities (AIDAB, 1990; Willoughby, 1990: 72). A number of different development models emerged for Third World projects after the mid 1970s. These models include a partial shift from a national infrastructure and large scale industry development approach to specific community scale projects using the broad brush policy of ‘Integrated Rural Development’ (Smillie, 1991: 42).

1.1. First World development

‘Technology is shaped by the society in which it originates in the “image” of that society, and in turn has a large input to the physical, social and mental shaping of society. Most [modern] technology derives in western- style countries and cultures, and is therefore an image of the West and Western ways of organising and doing things. It should be appreciated that when Western technology is transferred to non-Western countries and cultures, particularly such different countries as the small Pacific islands, the technology has a significant potential for unintended effects and impacts’ (Marjoram in Mansell et.al, 1990a: 317).

Technology and development in the First World can be shown to have substantially influenced development in the Third World. Understanding the evolution and rudiments of technology and vocational education in First World development

Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework and Methodology page: 33

provides a basis for understanding the same in Third World development projects involving First World donors. The analogy can be extended to understanding technology and vocational education in development programs for remote indigenous Australian communities. Australia has been substantially influenced by First World development models in technology and education since colonisation (Hughes, 1988; Blanchard, 1987; Miller, 1985). The First World influence remains despite recent popular interest for Australia to be recognised as an independent republic geographically placed to trade and identify with many Third World less developed countries in the Asiatic and South Pacific region (Mansell et.al, 1990)1.

The modern history of First World development can be seen to relate to changes in science and technology values and the subsequent influence those values have had on economics and education values. The predominant issues in Third World development literature are economics and the impact of introduced technologies on local social systems. It is suggested that much of post WWII development in the Third World shares a common values ‘heritage’ with First World science, technology, economics and education development (Moravcsik and Ziman, 1975: 699-724). While these values are difficult to quantify they are nevertheless of sufficient substance to influence many aspects of First and Third World development programs (Capra, 1985; Pacey, 1983).

1.1.1. Science and technology

Development in the First World was essentially influenced by changes to its scientific theories and practices. Some aspects of First World development were influenced by Western theology including work values, economics and regular technical maintenance (Mumford, 1934: 42-43). The values underpinning First World science and technology are particularly important to understanding technology

1There is also a contemporary (post 1990) emphasis in the broad Australian economy in service industries, a

Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework and Methodology page: 34

transfer sustainability problems in Third World development projects. In the transition period from the eighteenth to nineteenth century the fundamental shift towards contemporary science, technology, education and economics occurred. Epistemology up until about the eighteenth century was based on essentially religious traditions. These traditions were then challenged by scientific discoveries which in turn influenced development in a variety of other fields. Bowen had written that,

‘At the threshold of the nineteenth century the religious-classical tradition in the West was confronted by the growing scientific challenge. The strength of the classical position was that it offered a secure basis for the continuity of social life; by contrast, science lacked any necessary grounding in faith and appeared to provide nothing more than mechanistic explanations and the continuing fragmentation of knowledge: it is not surprising that the churches resisted demands for a scientific foundation to the curriculum ... However, as science became associated with material productivity in the consolidating capitalist economy, so it became more acceptable’ (Bowen, 1981: 328).

The conflict between the Christian church and science revealed the social aspect of scientific and technological activity. Science was initially perceived as a threat to the previous social order which was embedded in Western religion. The contrasting social contexts made science much more than a heated academic debate in the community. Science to many was heresy (Davies, 1984: 1-9). Accordingly, some scientists aligned themselves with the Church while others rejected it or chose to take a neutral position to avoid controversy.

‘By the late eighteenth century science was divided into two major positions on the religious issue - between the supporters of natural theology who believed that science would confirm the idea of the designed earth as an expression of divine order, and their opponents who rejected such theological explanation and in general chose to interpret the earth in materialist and mechanistic terms. This period saw the emergence of a third significant view-point, the concept of the earth as an organic whole,

Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework and Methodology page: 35

and this position developed two separate emphases: on the one hand there were those such as Pestolozzi [a student of Kant] and Froebel, who saw the organic world as divinely ordained; on the other were those, such as Alexander von Humboldt and Charles Darwin, who avoided any reference to divine links, seeking to avoid religious controversy’ (Bowen, 1981: 329).

Science projected a set of values and beliefs of sufficient substance to concern the Church (Davies, 1984: 58). Scientific and technological activity were thus value laden both in method and outcome and not as neutral in the prevailing social context as many science advocates then and now have argued (ibid: 12; Dawkins, 1986).

Up until the eighteenth century attaining greater knowledge about the world essentially meant attaining a higher form of morality. This complemented the religious view of the world as a structured whole with divine order: for some understanding the whole meant understanding the Creator (Davies, 1991). Despite the conflict of values that did occur between science and religion, some social and organisational aspects of the Church matched well with the social organisation and values required for maintaining technologies and production systems. Mumford (1934) believed that the regulated lifestyle that accompanied mass production industries during the Industrial Revolution may have its roots in monastic life. He proposed that the time keeping technology extensively used by monasteries was a fundamental basis to modern industrial and social organisation, economics and science. Mumford proposed that,

‘If the mechanical clock did not appear until the cities of the thirteenth century demanded an orderly routine, the habit of order itself and the earnest regulation of time sequences had become almost second nature in the monastery. Coulton [1928] agrees with Sombart [1929] in looking upon the Benedictines, the great working order, as perhaps the original founders of modern capitalism ... So one is not straining the facts when one suggests that the monasteries ... helped to give human enterprise the regular collective beat and rhythm of the machine; for the clock is not

Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework and Methodology page: 36

merely a means of keeping track of the hours, but of synchronising the actions of men . The clock ... is a piece of power-machinery whose “product” is seconds and minutes: by its essential nature it disassociated time from human events and helped create the belief in an independent world of mathematically measurable sequences: the special world of science’ (ibid: 13-15).

In addition to the clock helping to regulate life and the Church, Mumford suggested that it served to introduce a new values system that changed the collective perception of time: which later also affected the perception of work and nature. He described the change as being one from an ‘organic’ and cyclical perception to a mechanical and fragmented perception of time. Mumford noted that this change had a significant impact on industrial and social organisation and the natural environment. He had written that,

‘The bells of the clock tower almost defined urban existence. Time keeping passed into time serving and time accounting and time rationing. As this took place, eternity ceased gradually to serve as the measure and focus of human actions ... The clock, not the steam engine is the key- machine of the modern industrial age. Time [used to be] measured not by the calendar but by the events that [occupied] it. The shepherd measures from the time the ewes lambed; the farmer measures back to the day of sowing or forward to the harvest. ... While mechanical time is strung out in a succession of mathematically isolated instants, organic time ... is cumulative in its effects. Though mechanical time can be, in a sense, speeded up or run backwards ... like the images of a moving picture, organic time ... moves through the cycle of birth, growth, development, decay, and death - and the past that is already dead remains present in the future that has still to be born’ (ibid: 15-16).

The perception of time and its use were recognised as essential and fundamental characteristics to Western industrial development. This perception and management of time seems to contrast greatly with non-Western cultures. Much of Mumford’s

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insight appears to have been overlooked in post World War Two development projects to the Third World. His awareness of the socio-cultural aspect underpinning successful industrial development is relevant today sixty years on (ibid).

The nineteenth century marked the start of reductionism, where each part had its own structure of sub-parts and so on. Science was the method of making the world reveal its parts and sub-parts. Capra had written that,

‘For two and a half centuries physicists ... have based their ideas on the mathematical theory of Isaac Newton, the philosophy of René Descartes, and the scientific methodology of Francis Bacon and developed them in accordance with the general conception of reality prevalent during the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Matter was thought to be the basis of all existence and the material world was seen as a multitude of separate objects assembled into a huge machine. Like human-made machines, the cosmic machine was thought to consist of elementary parts’ (Capra, 1982: 32).

The link between reductionism and development was demonstrated when the scientific method was introduced to First World industry and economics. Whole processes were reduced to their constituent parts which enabled capitalists greater control over industrial production and social organisation (Braverman, 1974). With increased production, the material wealth of many Western societies grew at an unprecedented rate. Economic growth was established as the main indicator of how well a country was developing. Successful economic development was based on mass production which in turn was based on specialised industrial technology and social organisation. Bowen had written that,

‘The continuing growth of manufacturing industry throughout the first half of the nineteenth century stimulated an increasing interrelationship between science and industry in the interest of technology and led from holism to positivism as the industrial revolution triggered irreversible processes that accelerated production, leading to an economy that required continuing market growth’ (Bowen, 1981: 343).

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Mass production industries relied on resource exploitation and corresponding new forms of social organisation and equipment modernisation. The mass production process was underpinned by a reductionist/mechanistic doctrine that gained increasing credibility in science and in other fields including economics. While it was impacting on the environment at the time, the impact of resource exploitation industries was not perceived as critical; probably because the apparent abundance of natural resources, such as forests in the case of England, was relatively large in proportion to the population when compared to the present day. Science and reductionism, as well as the organisational structures and social organisation values of the Church, were key contributors to the Industrial Revolution and therefore to the concept and expectation of growth in Western economic development and theory. The legacy of reductionism was not only technological and economic development, but also a values system that perceived the world as made of parts, including time: the parts were there to be analysed and exploited. Mumford and Schumacher advanced the production/resource depletion characteristics of the First World further by suggesting that the ‘dream of conquering nature is one of the oldest that has flowed and ebbed in man’s mind’ (Mumford, 1934, 37). Schumacher also advocated that the spread of Western notions of technology development to the Third World was,

‘closely connected with the philosophical, not to say religious, changes during the last three to four centuries in man’s attitude to nature ... We find, therefore, that the idea of unlimited economic growth, more and more, until everybody is saturated with wealth, needs to be seriously questioned on at least two counts: the availability of basic resources and, alternatively or additionally, the capacity of the environment to cope with the degree of interference implied’ (Schumacher, 1973: 11 and 28).

Fritjof Capra, physicist at the University of California at Berkeley, also examined the relationship between economics and development and concluded that,

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‘There are three closely interrelated dimensions of growth in most industrial societies - economic, technological and institutional. Continuing economic growth is accepted as a dogma by virtually all economists, who assume, with Keynes, that it is the only way to ensure that material wealth will trickle down to the poor. This “trickle-down” model of growth has long been shown to be unrealistic. High rates of growth not only do little to ease urgent social and human problems but in many countries have been accompanied by increasing unemployment and a general deterioration of social conditions. Yet economists and politicians still insist on the importance of economic growth. Thus Nelson Rockerfeller asserted as late as 1976, at a meeting of the Club of Rome: “More growth is essential if all the millions of Americans are to have the opportunity to improve their quality of life”’ (Capra, 1981: 225).

Despite the many concerns about the effectiveness of growth on poverty alleviation as well as on environmental resources, the growth dogma is well entrenched in First World development. The expectation to develop according to the principles of economic growth is so resilient that it is, paradoxically, argued by some development economists that more growth is essential if environmental degradation and rapid resource depletion is to be slowed down (Korten, 1991: 161). The Brundtland Commission set up by the United Nations in 1983 examined the basis for ‘long term environmental strategies for achieving sustainable development by the year 2000 and beyond’ (WCOEAD, 1987: ix). While the Commission’s report, ‘Our Common Future’ (1987), helped raise significantly the global awareness of environmental problems derived from growth economics, it nevertheless maintained that more growth was necessary to overcome the problem. Korten’s analysis of the Brundtland Commission’s report to the United Nations outlines the paradox well. He argued that,

‘The report’s key recommendations - a call for the world’s economic growth to rise to a level 5 to 10 times the current output and for accelerated growth in the industrial countries to stimulate demand for the products of poor countries - fundamentally contradicted its own analysis that growth and over consumption are root causes to the problem. Where

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ecological reality conflicted with perceived political feasibility, the latter prevailed. Thus the world’s ruling elites were reassured that the best way to resolve our environmental crisis is for the rich to increase their consumption to prime the growth engine. What the commission’s own analysis had demonstrated to be the problem suddenly became the solution’ (Korten, 1991: 161).

In recognition of the limitations of growth economics, contemporary development policies have added peripheral or secondary projects to many development programs. A report from the World Bank stated that,

‘The first element of the strategy is the pursuit of a pattern of growth that ensures productive use of the poor’s most abundant assets - labor. The second element is wide spread provision to the poor of basic social services, especially primary education, primary health care, and family planning’ (World Bank, 1990: iii).

The Australian International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB), currently known as the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), also endorsed the World Bank Report for its policies into the 1990s declaring that,

‘International thinking on poverty alleviation strategies for the 1990s basically follows the same broad approach as the 1980s. Donor strategies are likely to support both economic growth and more direct poverty alleviation measures. However, in reports looking forward into the 1990s, there is also an emphasis on four additional themes: sustainable development, “policy dialogue”, consistency between development cooperation and other policies (particularly trade policies) in industrialised countries, and ‘participatory development’ (AIDAB, 1991: 14-15).

The post second World War history of First World development seems to be a repeat of the formula: development means implementing growth based economic strategies with some experimental policies and specific projects. Development policies, economic growth and the environmental issues appear to have turned a full circle where earlier Schumacher had written,

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‘If a high growth economy is needed to fight the battle against pollution, which itself appears to be the result of high growth, what hope is there of ever breaking out of this extraordinary circle? In any case the question needs to be asked whether the earth’s resources are likely to be adequate for the further development of an industrial system that consumes so much and accomplishes so little. If [for example] the United States’ economy cannot conceivably be successful without further rapid growth, and if that growth depends on being able to draw ever-increasing resources from the rest of the world, what about the other 94.4% of mankind which are so far “behind” America?’ (Schumacher, 1973: 117).

Where Korten referred to development reaching an environmental crisis and Schumacher described the self-fulfilling pattern of growth policies, Capra argued that these issues represent a decline of one value and the birth of another in our underlying epistemology. Capra had written that,

‘At the beginning of the last two decades of our century, we find ourselves in a state of profound world crisis. It is a ... crisis ... of our lives - our health and livelihood, the quality of our environment and our social relationships, our economy, technology and politics. It is a crisis of intellectual, moral, and spiritual dimensions; a crisis of a scale and urgency unprecedented in recorded human history. For the first time we have to face the very real threat of extinction of the human race and of all life on this planet’ (Capra, 1982: 1).

Davies and Gribbin (1991), Gleick (1987) and Medawar (1985) suggest that the underlying theoretical framework of contemporary Western science and technology is reaching its limits. The suggestion is that new values are emerging that revisit ‘holism’ and systemic theories, but that this time round they have the backing of mathematics, metaphysics and with equal importance, changing community values and awareness (Gleick, 1987: 5). It is not a case of discarding specialisation for holism, but rather of integrating specialisation with holism. However, the importance of reductionism and materialism in contemporary science and technology

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appears to be decreasing relative to the re-emergence of systemic theories or theories of ‘holistic’ integration.

‘Many people have rejected scientific values because they regard materialism as a sterile and bleak philosophy ... These people can take heart: materialism is dead. It is fitting that physics - the science that gave rise to materialism - should also signal the demise of materialism ... [and that] ... The paradigm shift that we are now living through is a shift away from reductionism and towards holism; it is as profound as any paradigm shift in the history of science’ (Davies and Gribbin, 1991: 7 and 23).

Contemporary development theory and practice is largely the product of a values system that began with early religious and scientific dogmas. Contemporary science, technology, education and economic development theories owe much of their theoretical framework to traditions born from scientism and positivism. These traditions are being increasingly challenged not only theoretically and technically but also socially. The trend is towards balance between systemic and reductionist methodologies. If the fundamental reforms of contemporary science and technology repeat the pattern of events similar to those during the eighteenth and nineteenth century, it is likely that contemporary science reforms will influence fundamental changes in other fields. A field traditionally influenced by science and technology values is education.

1.1.2. Education

The legacy of reductionism and growth economics continue to underpin much of contemporary First World education theory and practice particularly in adult vocational and technical education. Vocational courses are increasingly being broken up into specific skill components and less oriented to the development of integrated and coherent skills and knowledge. The move towards disintegrated education and training has been substantially influenced by economic trends and

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accountability of education output to national investment input (Smyth, 1991: 224; Hirst, 1967). Market legacies of economic growth tend to push vocational technical training in the direction of capital intensive sophisticated technology skills and knowledge, not only in the content of courses, but also in the mode of their delivery, particularly to isolated areas (Sweet, 1992; Johnstone, 1993; Dawkins, 1991; Smith and Macindoe, 1991). It is suggested that the positivist view of First World education underpins technical and vocational education programs introduced to the Third World and remote indigenous Australian communities.

Where the scientific method at the turn of the twentieth century helped increase industrial development through the application of scientific management theory so it also helped reform the structure, purpose and routine of education (Taylor, 1911; Person, 1929). Similar influences reformed economics. The outcome was an education system that prepared society for the routine of industrial mass production, consumerism and the economic imperative of growth. Similarities in social organisation between mass public education and mass production occurred. The similarities were not only in the division of knowledge and teaching labour into disciplines (Hirst, 1965; Hirst, 1967; Hirst, 1974), but also in the social organisation and work values portrayed in schools (Wartofsky, 1979: 338-9). Toffler (1970) suggested that,

‘The solution was an education system that, in its very structure, simulated this new world ... the whole idea of assembling masses of students (raw material) to be processed by teachers (workers) in a centrally located school (factory) was a stroke of industrial genius. The whole administrative hierarchy of education, as it grew up, followed the model of industrial bureaucracy. The very organisation of knowledge into permanent disciplines was grounded on industrial assumptions. Children marched from place to place and sat in assigned stations. Bells rang to announce changes of time ... [these things] made mass public education so effective an instrument of adaptation for its place and time’ (ibid: 354-6).

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Despite the dominant influence of industrialism in education, the doctrine of ‘holism’ was also apparent, though it was generally given a lower profile during and for a considerable time after the Industrial Revolution. There were probably two fundamental reasons for this low profile of ‘holism’. First, ‘holism’ failed to demonstrate its basis in science. It appeared to oppose the tenets of reductionism and materialism which already proved themselves in science, technology and increasingly in medicine and medical education (Mumford, 1934: 137-8; Capra, 1982: 333). In economics, profit was increased by the division and mechanisation of labour: the very opposite organisation structures implied by ‘holism’. Second, ‘holism’ to some suggested a values system which worked against the doctrine of economic growth and resource consumption. It was said to imply ‘organic’, democratic, anti-capitalist and socialist values (Bowen, 1981: 346).

‘In an age of political repression after the revolutions of 1848, neither industries nor governments wanted holistic, socially responsible science: industrialists wanted profits; governments wanted conformity; scientists, mechanics and technologists accepted these conditions in return for employment and research facilities’ (ibid: 345).

The resistance to ‘holism’ in education was sufficient for the issue to be raised in the British House of Commons by Robert Lowe in 1862. Oxford educated, Lowe advocated that education should be based entirely on competitive and meritocratic themes. He believed that functional literacy and numeracy was sufficient for the poor sector of society, but that for the leaders of society, their education should be grounded in science and positivist themes (ibid: 346).

Before mass education systems were created to serve the emerging industrial society, the Church was the main provider of community learning. Reading, writing and simple numeracy were the fundamental skills that assisted the Church to teach the community about religion. However, it was not until improved paper print and book technology developed to mass production levels that the teaching of literacy and

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numeracy dominated so strongly the curriculum of the Church and later, public schools.

With improved book and print production technology land, property, debts and deeds in local development were increasingly regulated by a paper bureaucracy. The skills needed to learn from books became basic curriculum content (Mumford, 1934: 137). Peasants who previously organised property under the local feudal system for generations on the basis of memory and custom, were now subject to proving that the land they had customary use of was documented as land they owned: a situation not unlike the land rights struggles of indigenous Australians (CFAR, 1994; Mumford, 1934: 136):

In the paper world, literacy and numeracy skills quickly gained status while technical skills lost status. Public schooling functioned to ensure that the community received basic skills in the written word and number. Where growth economies sponsored industrialisation and modernisation, literacy and numeracy education ensured that the paper society itemised and accounted for capital development. Technical skills and technologies became items to account in an emerging world where accountability related more to economics than the social and environmental responsibility of development. Responsible technological development was a paper process of economic accountability.

‘Capitalism, by committing its transactions to paper, could at last make and preserve a strict accountancy of time and money; the new education for the merchant classes and their helpers consisted essentially in a mastery of the three R’s.’ (Mumford, 1934: 137)

With the growth economy emphasising literacy and numeracy, the inclusion of formal technical education in England and France did not occur until about the mid nineteenth century. The introduction of technical education in primary schools was essentially vocationally driven. First World countries needed to compete more

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successfully in international markets to sustain or increase their current rate of economic growth. On the other side of the globe, American educators noted that Russian education systems had their primary students engaged in industrial skills at a performance level above their American counterparts (Woodward, 1890). Accordingly, both England and America took steps to improve the overall public skill and knowledge in technology and industrial process education.

Australia and many Third World countries have a history of British colonisation (Ramanathan, 1962). It was probable that some aspects of the general and technical education values in these countries were direct descendants of those that dominated British education and training. American education and training has also influenced Australian and Third World countries due mainly to the historical relationship England had with America (Mandelson, 1971: 2).

A division developed between technical and vocational education and training and literacy and numeracy oriented education. The division was essentially a perception of value but was also demonstrated in divisions of social standing. The following commentary provides some insight to community perceptions of technical and vocational education in Australia at the turn of the century.

‘On a class that might otherwise tend to snobbishness ... the boy who had acquired a fair education in the elementary school naturally drifted into the office, and was inclined to regard his hard-handed comrade, who laboured with his coat off, and got his bread by the sweat of his brow, as something inferior to him, and to be secretly if not openly despised. But a proper training in the school workshop should tend to make him respect rather than despise the manual labourer, and appraise at a proper value the worth of productive work. To have inspired this feeling is no mean thing from a social point of view, for it would tend to remove many false ideas that are current in the world’ (NSW Public Instructions Gazette, 1910: 4).

Eventually, both America and Britain reduced their emphasis on social values in technical education to increase their emphasis on industrial processes, power tools,

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engineering and so on. During the first part of the twentieth century, manual and technical training was moved from primary to post primary schooling in Australia. Primary education became the province of general education essentially devoid of technical skills and knowledge. The inclusion of technology as a core skill in primary education had not re-entered the curriculum until the 1990s in Australia (AEC, 1992).

For essentially economic reasons First World Australian education demonstrated an increasing enrolment in tertiary education and higher degrees at the expense of practical technical vocations (Dawkins, 1992). In America, as elsewhere in the First World, progress was based on economic growth in a climate where scientific management advocated that labour was the most expensive and manipulable variable of most enterprises.

To maintain a competitive edge in the world market three general strategies were employed for First World economic growth. Firstly, to relocate operations to where the least expensive labour and lease arrangement existed (usually in a Third World country). Secondly, replace as much labour cost as possible with sophisticated technology/equipment (replace labour with capital). Thirdly, to expand operations to increase production and turn over (increase the consumption of natural resources). Where labour was replaced with capital, full trade qualifications were less necessary because sophisticated technology was able to automate many trade based tasks. Specialist trades were further reduced to modular competency units in the process of modernisation through capitalisation. By the late 1980s Competency Based Training (CBT) principles were introduced which quickly divided even the most specialised trades into training modules of highly specific task skills. Where once trade training meant understanding the art, knowledge and skills involved not only in the whole craft but also in context to the community benefiting from that craft, now it meant learning modularised competencies relevant to a particular process and enterprise.

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While technical skill and specific units of modules were well organised and promoted, the social and community cohesive qualities of the craft or trade tradition had been all but removed.

The current wave of technological development in Australia and most First World countries is a move towards global information networks (Goldsworthy, 1984). The access and utilisation of the network is entirely computer hardware and software driven. Much of the technology, particularly the software aspect of its development, has raised substantial issues for First World educational content, delivery and development, particularly for massive global monopolisation of the carriage of information and access (Elmer-Dewitt, 1995: 48-56).

The introduction of technology and education programs and the development direction they take in Third World communities are substantially influenced by First World donors. First World development inputs while initially introduced to aid Third World development, have been a major vehicle for trade agreement (Karunaratne, 1984: 2-12). There is a potential for First World development problems and priorities to be transposed to Third World community development. The delivery, content and sophisticated technology of the information age has yet to prove its effectiveness for education and development priorities in remote indigenous and Third World communities. The First World aspiration for sophisticated technology relies for its utility on an economic base and infrastructure substantially beyond most remote communities. The sophisticated technology push has been apparent for some time in the technical aspect of technology transfer, such as with waste management technologies and policies in the First World (Hubick, 1991; O’Gallagher, 1990). However, the social implications for development education via potential transfer of information technology to developing communities is substantial. There is the potential for information technology, particularly database and educational software seeking to manage and convey mass global information, to

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be emphasised in development projects in disproportion to achieving material improvement in the basic needs and quality of life of many communities. For the First World, the ability to manage and interpret mass information suggests a new skill not adequately contained in many specialised training programs. The capacity to identify and understand patterns and systems from mass information is likely to gain new emphasis in education given the constraints of specialist, reductionist training (Spender, 1995; Walker, 1995b). There is therefore a historical basis for concern for the possibility of sophisticated information technology (a high imperative in much of First World trade) to be packaged as part of a solution to Third World development aid in situations where far more fundamental material needs are still to be satisfied and sustained.

In summary, First World education generally responded to modernisation and economic growth. A division developed between academic (book learning) and practical skills. The factory leading hand represented the latter while the manager and engineer represented the former in post war industrial development, even though many managers in Australia came up through the rank and file of traditional organisational structures. Contemporary vocational education methods in First World development helped increase the alienation of theoretical skills from practical skills. Technology, until very recently was not a core subject in most First World schooling including Australian schooling. Where technology education and training was introduced, it was presented as essentially a functionary skill, certainly not carrying the social standing of literacy and numeracy. The emphasis of technical drawing and engineering science during the 1970s in Australia helped raise the social status of technology curriculum and teachers. These vocations, however, were generally office based rather than on the workshop floor. The recent (1990s) renewed interest in technology studies and holistic/systemic education has further enhanced the social status of technical studies in Australia. Design education and processes have entered the technology curriculum with new expectations to build an

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education in technology processes and systems that integrate a variety of factors, including social and environmental factors2.

1.2. Third World development

Much has been written on development and technology in the Third World (Craig and Porter, 1995; Fforde and Porter, 1994; Cusworth and Franks, 1993; Budgett and Meekin, 1992; Smillie, 1991; Porter et.al, 1991; Schneider, 1988; Heller, 1985; Schumacher, 1973). This section limits its review to an outline of the socio-technical dynamic of development aid to Third World communities from First World donors. A recurring theme in evaluations of Third World development successes and failures has been the need to incorporate local and regional factors and to view technology development programs as both a social and technical activity or as a software/hardware system (Cusworth and Franks, 1993: 31).

The importance of appropriate education and training in technology transfer has long been recognised (Jones, 1965: 192-200). The transfer process has often included a range of educational inputs: sometimes as educational infrastructure such as schools and sometimes as actual training and public awareness education. Schumacher had written that,

‘All history - as well as current experience - points to the fact that it is man, not nature, who provides the primary resource: that the key factor of all economic development comes out of the mind of man. Suddenly, there is an outburst of daring, initiative, invention, constructive activity, not in one field alone, but in many fields all at once. No-one may be able to say where it came from in the first place; but we can see how it maintains and strengthens itself: through various kinds of schools, in other words, through education. In a very real sense, therefore, we can say education is the most vital of all resources’ (Schumacher, 1973: 77).

2Design in Education Council Australia, 1993 biennial conference in Alice Springs 5-7th July, Northern Territory, Australia, host: Centre for Appropriate Technology.

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Schumacher believed that education was a resource to develop rather than a project component to development in Third World aid programs.. Technical and vocational education may be regarded as a resource that is directly relevant to the local community context and to the technologies used to enhance and extend community functions. Without the resource of appropriately skilled local people available for development programs, many indigenous and Third World communities are placed in a situation where success is unlikely. They often do not have the local expertise to make informed selection or management decisions in regard to introduced technologies. Consequently, they rely on external expertise to make these decisions for them. Their contribution is by default related to translating to developers and experts local perceptions of social expectations rather than appropriate technical information and evaluation. Marjoram observed that in regard to development in the South Pacific there were,

‘very few local qualified or professional scientists and engineers in the region, with most living in the towns of larger countries. Most development funding ... derives from aid donors, and many development projects use outside consultants and experts. A “Catch 22” therefore arises of Islanders needing outside technical experts, who may be ignorant of Island conditions, consequently needing local inputs and appraisal that requires local technical knowledge.’ (Marjoram, 1990, 129)

It is the technology, rather than the education and training, that is usually the imperative content of economic development in the politics of aid programs. Education and training are perceived as the inputs to sustain and modify the technology content of economic development. Schumacher had written that, ‘The main content of politics is economics and the main content of economics is technology’ (Schumacher in Budgett and Meekin, 1992: 15).

Given the primacy of the politics and economics of technology and of education as a human resource to this primacy, Schumacher argued that the aim of development

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projects must be, ‘to develop appropriate technologies and economic structures which empower people at a local level to become more productive and to earn a living which will be sustainable’ (ibid).

Improvements to the selection and choice of appropriate technologies often fell short of addressing the social organisational and values aspects of their improvements (Marjoram, 1990: 128). Appropriate technologies are characterised by design modifications, material choices, equipment choices, energy source choices, energy efficiencies and on occasions the use of local materials. However, strategies that focus on technical improvements alone, both in the indigenous Australian and Third World contexts, are generally recognised to have limited efficacy. The Director of the Brace Research Institute in Quebec, in evaluating his company’s engineering practices with Third World development projects, described such limitations to technical development as follows:

‘enthusiasm accompanied by good engineering design is not always sufficient. We had reached a critical crossroads in moving from research and experimentation to the application of technology in developing areas. This required a move beyond the narrow confines of purely technical solutions to an approach based on a much broader range of inputs: cultural, social, political and economic. Although we did not recognise it at the time, this led us to the adoption of what is now called the appropriate technology approach’ (Loaned et.al in Jéquier, 1976: 127).

Loaned’s observation that technology existed in a social context occurred because technologies were transferred between different socio-cultural and environmental contexts - from the First World into the Third World. Technology and technical activity were context sensitive. Technology was subject to both social and technical factors that were interrelated. The probability of a mismatch of development was highest in cross-cultural and urban/remote projects. Technology aid generally reflected a technical rather than technate understanding of technologies and technical

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processes transferred into Third World communities. Smillie (1991), Willoughby (1990), Pacey (1983), Jéquier (1976) and Schumacher (1973) argued that while improvements in ‘hardware’ are essential, the sustainability of technical development projects is equally dependent on improvements in the social and cultural or ‘software’ aspects of technology transfer which includes the instruments of education and training.

‘The term “technology” invariably suggests the idea of hardware, be it in the form of factories, machines, products or infrastructures (roads, water distribution systems, storage facilities, etc.). Hardware is something visible, and even if it is not understandable, it stands out very conspicuously. Technology, however, goes much beyond the hardware, and also comprises what can be called, by an analogy taken from the computer industry, the software. This includes such immaterial things as knowledge, know-how, experience, education and organisational forms. This distinction between hardware and software is just as important in the case of appropriate technology as in that of modern large scale technology’ (Jéquier, 1976, 21).

Technical education and training inputs to development projects serve not only to provide technical maintenance and industrial organisational skills, but also to foster local innovation and empowerment if appropriately developed and implemented, and if relevant to the needs and context of the community. Appropriate technical education and training provides an instrument with which communities can attain sustainable technical development. The contribution of appropriate technical education and training is therefore essential to sustainable development initiatives.

Despite the apparently necessary role of education and training in development aid, its success and quality is far from consistent and well developed in many aid programs. Benninger’s (1988) Ekistic study of ‘Human Resource Development For The Improvement Of Human Settlements’ found little had changed in post war development aid programs incorporating technical training. Donor technical training

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of some Third World communities was thirty years behind contemporary development policies and programs: these being entrenched in old First World vocational traditions (ibid: 13-14). Appropriate technical training inputs have been slow to adapt to policy changes in development aid projects and to customising curriculum and training delivery to directly support local community functions, social organisation and circumstance. A fundamental criticism of vocation training input to development programs has been directed at the institutions of experts from the First World. Benninger’s solution is to consider re-orienting vocational and technical training to local settlement functions he calls ‘functional activities/project training’ (ibid: 18). Benninger’s analysis of vocational training input to developing communities is extensive. Key aspects of his findings are presented below. He found that,

‘The staff and management of [First World donor] training institutions usually have no experience in the planning, finance, management or implementation of development projects and are outside the mainstream of [development] policy formulation and change. They are dependent on what they themselves have learned when they were students. Thus, outdated materials are used and old approaches are passed on to present practitioners. Courses ... are viewed as stemming from an uncritical transfer of basic concepts and approaches from industrialised countries with little applicability to situations that are inherently different and which require new approaches Courses ... are designed without the use of training needs assessments and are offered to local authorities and development institutions on a take it or leave it basis. There is an overemphasis on academic formal learning wherein concepts, techniques and methods are derived from text books. Courses lack an interdisciplinary approach ... and evaluations of live projects’ (ibid: 14).

Perhaps the most general and relevant overview offered by Benninger is that much of the problems of technical and vocational training input to development programs

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reflect a tendency of national governments to utilise specialists perceived as ‘experts’ rather than autonomous training agencies such as non-government organisations (NGOs). These organisations are often broad based, integrating multi-disciplinary competencies among their staff. Benninger indicates that NGOs typically include research and consultancy personnel and are often nationally organised and dispersed. This characteristic allows NGOs to establish close contact with local authorities and community groups. Innovation success and updated understanding of development policies and methods are part of their perception of reward (ibid). Their are few dedicated organisations serving remote indigenous Australian communities other than the Centre for Appropriate Technology, in Alice Springs and Cairns.

Bajuri (1989) approached development training from a different perspective but which complements Benninger in many ways. Bajuri believed that a missing skill in much development training was the capacity for local village technicians to creatively assess, modify or develop new technologies and human scale hardware inputs in development programs. His argument was to consider a shift from technical maintenance training to a training program that produced local people with skills similar in nature to those of industrial designers (Bajuri, 1989: 38-42).

During the 1950s and early 1960s development aid emphasised large scale, capital intensive industrial and rural projects. Technology and training input plans were generalised which tended to reduce the local and human scale approach to needs analysis and planning. The aim was to assist poor countries in reducing their debt by having international aid absorb some of the costs of large development projects (AIDAB, 1991: 14). These projects were sponsored in the belief that they would provide the necessary infrastructure to substantially raise the nation’s rate of economic growth. The nation’s Gross National Product (GNP) was perceived as the main indicator of the countries ‘economic health’. However, Schumacher noted that,

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‘All important insights are missed if we continue to think of development in quantitative terms and in those vast abstractions - like GNP, investment, savings, etc. - which have their usefulness in the study of developed countries but have virtually no relevance to development problems as such. ... The common criterion of success, namely the growth of GNP, is utterly misleading, and in fact, must of necessity lead to phenomena which can only be described as neo-colonialism [and that] Unintentional neo- colonialism is far more insidious and infinitely more difficult to combat than neo-colonialism intentionally pursued’ (Schumacher, 1973: 188).

1980s critiques of development programs questioned not only what kind of development was appropriate, but also what management or implementation method was appropriate. Brinkerhoff and others had written that,

‘In the field of development management, that branch of public administration dealing with the promotion of socio-economic progress in the developing world, prescriptions and proscriptions abound. Various approaches to improving development programme and project performance have been tried over the past 30 years.’ (Brinkerhoff and Ingle, 1989: 487)

Brinkerhoff concluded that,:

‘managing socio-economic development according to highly detailed pre- implementation plans rigidly applied has not had a high degree of success in generating sustained progress in the world’s poorer nations ... [while] at the other end of the scale ... the process approach is limited by its lack of fit with agency procedures and incentives’ (ibid).

The general questions to be answered, then as now, were who benefited most from development projects and whether those projects were locally sustained several years after their establishment?

Trainer (1990), an advocate of the ‘Limits to Growth’ theory, was much more critical of the performance of development in Third World countries. Like Smillie (op.cit:

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43), Trainer suggested that too often technological development assistance from First World donors created more harm to local economies than good.

‘In the last decade it has become increasingly apparent that development theory and practice are fundamentally flawed. In general the problems experienced by the poor majority of the world’s people appear to be worsening. Conventional or modernisation theory attempts little or no justification for the assumption that the approach to development it advocates is likely to solve the problems. However, radical theory is also in disarray, being divided and for the most part unable to give satisfactory accounts of the development impasse or the way out’ (Trainer, 1990: 1).

Despite these criticisms, there are several development projects from First World donors to Third World communities that may be regarded as successful. Many small scale integrated development projects have been assessed to have achieved their goals and maintained themselves for several years (more than five years) after foreign expertise was no longer available (Smillie, op.cit). However, small projects considered successful in alleviating poverty were often undermined by a high desire of governments and aid agencies to formalise and extend the methods and processes used. There was a tendency for small successful projects to be ‘scaled up’ and then they were neither sustainable nor achieved their goals. The failure was evaluated by Smillie to be caused by the sufficient diversity of community contexts that a uniform or autocratic approach to project implementation often failed to account for individual project situations (Smillie, 1991: 43). Appropriate equipment also required empowerment and often these two aspects of development projects failed where regional or government policies were antagonistic to democratic and participative processes (Porter, 1995).

Strategies for participative methodology and environmental impact assessment began to appear in First World development policies for Third World aid after the late 1980s and early 1990s (AIDAB, 1990; AIDAB, 1991: 15). The carriage of participatory development was more effective through small and independent NGOs

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than many First World government and large commercial agencies. The Australian and United Nations aid agencies had written that, ‘Encouraging community participation in development activities for official agencies can be problematic. Non-government organisations ... are strong supporters of the move towards participatory development’ (AIDAB, 1991: 18) and that, ‘NGOs are generally small, flexible and cost effective, and most of them aim at building self-reliant development’ (UNDP, 1990: 6).

The complexity of researching and evaluating development has raised the possibility of using systemic models for those tasks.

‘The information available to help design and implement complex development projects is often very poor ... Systems theory shows that projects can be so complicated structurally that they are unlikely to reach their goals except with built-in monitoring and adjustment ... system ... monitoring and modelling may then become a useful tool for helping to identify appropriate policies’ (Beer and Hills, 1982: iii).

While Beer and Hills highlight the monitoring value of systems theory, this thesis proposes a more active application: the use of systems theory as a tool to research and analyse the inter-relationships of a problem. Such a research framework will emphasis a more holistic integration of the components that contribute to the problem researched and ensure that important parts such as social and cultural factors are not overlooked. Systems theory and an appropriate systemic framework will be developed and elaborated upon in Part Two of this chapter.

A review of the evolution of Third World development has indicated a trend away from large scale economic growth programs. The more recent approaches seek to engage local non-government agencies in participatory programs at the community level. Technology and education programs have long been recognised as fundamental to community development. What has changed has been the general awareness of what kind of education and training is appropriate and that the goals of

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development have substantially altered their direction towards sustainability and empowerment. The interpretation of successful development in this study will therefore mean sustainable development that is based on local innovation and local empowerment in all levels of technology development.

PART TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This study concurs with Grant (1971) on the purpose and importance of developing a theoretical framework in applied research. Grant argued that,

‘a conceptual framework or system should aid in the identification of important problems. It should (a) aid in the finding of necessary relationships between various problems in order that the organisation of the framework may be intrinsic to the problems involved, [and] (b) help suggest data sources’ (ibid: 27).

The objective of this section is to construct a theoretical framework that guides a methodology for answering the main research question (or problem to be addressed) of this study. A difficulty with satisfying this objective is the lack of models which guide applied research and analysis of the inter-relationship between the social and technical components of community functions, the sustainability of shelter systems and the broad settlement contexts within which those functions and shelter systems exist. The theoretical framework has a design requirement to clarify means for data organisation and integration given that the social and technical dynamic of settlement functions tend to include a variety of factors and possible indicators. Evans added that, ‘conceptual frameworks are needed to help see the entire complex of decisions in order to assure that certain considerations are not under emphasised and others over emphasised’ (Evans, 1966: 327).

The point where inputs, processes and outputs of development programs culminate in settlements is at the person-technology interface. For the purpose of this study, the person-technology interface occurs in that aspect of settlement activity generally known as community functions. In understanding the main factors that influence the

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sustainability of introduced shelter systems and hardware, the socio-technical study of functions in communities is fundamentally important (Mansell in Mansell et.al, 1990: 273; Shim in Mansell et.al, 1990: 107; Walker, 1972. p22; Doxiadis, 1968: 303). The theoretical framework requires recognition not only of the social and technical inputs and processes of community functions but also of the general environmental and evolutionary context to these functions. Such a framework has the potential to provide a useful model of what would otherwise be a complex set of unlimited factors and interactions.

This thesis asserts that settlement functions display the essential behavioural characteristics of socio-technical systems and as such are subject to the principles of general systems theory. However, general systems theory contains limitations as a framework for data collection and for classifying the overall type of settlement being studied. The need for a universal settlement framework has been extensively trialled through Ekistics. The relevance of Ekistic theory as a framework for studying development and education in remote indigenous Australian communities has precedence in the doctoral work of Walker (1976) ‘Ekistics As A Framework For An Aboriginal Settlement Study’ and Grant (1971) ‘Cross-Cultural Curriculum Development With Particular Reference To Socio-cultural Foundations And To

Industrial Arts’3. However, there appears to have been minimal comprehensive extension to Walker’s and Grant’s research into the relationship between people, technology and their settlement environment: that is, of the level of technacy in a settlement or among an Ekistic settlement group. The extensive literature review, noted in chapter one of this thesis, did not identify other examples of research methods for studying technology and education in indigenous Australian community development programs in Australian holdings.

3Both doctoral theses were conducted in the Department of Industrial Arts, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia. Grant’s and Walker’s theses refer to Ekistic and general systems as a possible framework for further research in education input to remote indigenous Australian communities (see Grant, op. cit: iii & 392-399).

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This chapter articulates relevant aspects of Ekistic theory and socio-technical systems theory as a framework for the response to the study’s main research question (see chapter one, section 2.4). Ekistic and socio-technical systems theory are assessed for their strengths and weaknesses. The chapter concludes with an integrated model that combines the relevant aspects of the two theories to guide the research methodology. The integrated model will provide a theoretical basis to literature and field data selection, collection, organisation and interpretation.

2.1. Ekistic theory

Ekistics is the art and science of studying human settlements. It presents a holistic (or syn-disciplinary) framework for integrating relevant aspects of ‘economics, social, political, administrative and technical sciences and the disciplines related to art’ (Walker, 1972: 1). Its major strengths are its established classification system of human settlements and its theoretical model of the elements, development characteristics and dynamics of settlements. Ekistics may be summarised as a framework of overview. It facilitates research that classifies the components and internal dynamics of human settlements.

Extensive documentation exists that demonstrates the application of Ekistic theory (Benninger, 1988; Nash, 1987; Mann, 1986; Jain and Christakis, 1980; Tetteh, 1980; Zetter, 1980; Hall and Klumb, 1973). While numerous articles have been published elaborating the utility of Ekistics, the original text by Doxiadis (1968) is the most comprehensive. The most recent uses of Ekistics pertinent to this study are contained in Walker (1976) and Grant (1972). Ekistic theory has usually been referred to rather than developed. Consequently, minimal literature is available that develops the theory. Walker noted that, ‘Upon observing the literature it seems the work of presenting Ekistic theory has been left in the hands of Dr Doxiadis with others elaborating or expanding his initial ideas’ (Walker, 1976: 17).

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Walker elaborated that Ekistic theory has found utility in research and settlement studies at two levels. At one level, Ekistics was used as a framework to guide research into a particular problem or aspect of human settlements. The other level was to utilise Ekistic theory to advance the overall analysis of human settlements. The first level was the most common of the two. The main research question of this thesis is specific to the problem of shelter hardware and the social and technical sustainability of shelter systems. The thesis is representative of the first of the above mentioned two levels in its use of Ekistic theory. This study will utilise those aspects of Ekistic theory relevant to newly formed small and remote indigenous human settlements with a predominantly nomadic rather than sedentary or agricultural heritage.

A fundamental Ekistic concept is the tendency for all human settlements to proceed to ‘death’ or transformation. The prognosis depends on the settlement’s internal processes and metabolism in relation to its environment and the organisational structures developed in the course of its existence. In relation to shelter hardware and sustainability, Doxiadis had written that,

‘unlike plants and animals, human settlements have no predetermined life. Their elements, however, may have a predetermined life. A house has a certain lifespan which can be prolonged or shortened depending on its maintenance, as is the case with plants and animals; but this cannot go beyond certain limits unless maintenance is interpreted to mean a gradual replacement of all its parts, in which case it can theoretically live forever ... as long as it is considered useful for them to be maintained’ (Doxiadis, 1968: 219).

Human settlements establish themselves, develop and decline or transform. Sustainability is related to internal adaptations to environmental change (ibid: 222- 235). The capacity for internal settlement functions to adapt to changing external factors is therefore critical to settlement sustainability. Underpinning much of settlement development processes is the subjective aspect of goals expressed by the

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inhabitants, or aspiring inhabitants, of settlements. According to Doxiadis, the main motivation for settlement development is a perceived sense of happiness and security/safety (ibid: 6). The goal to satisfy needs of happiness and security is expressed through five development criteria (Walker, 1972: 46; Walker, 1976: 94). Settlements develop in order to:

1. maximise potential contacts

2. minimise effort

3. optimise protective space

4. optimise the quality of the environment, and

5. achieve an optimum synthesis of needs - optimising the overall quality of life.

Happiness and security are difficult to define for settlement inhabitants as these concepts have relative value. However, they are concepts that most people understand. Walker argued that in relation to development practices,

‘Happiness and safety depend largely on cultural factors. That which makes a European happy and an Aborigine happy are likely to be two widely different things. It has been the attempt to achieve standards of happiness and safety that are alien to a particular group which has led to poor quality and over designed environments for many of the world’s developing nations and peoples’ (ibid: 64).

To help understand different components of settlements, Ekistic theory proposes a set of five ‘elements’ or ‘sub-systems’ common and essential for the functioning of all human settlements. These are Nature, Anthropos (humans), Society, Shells and Networks. The synthesis of these elements constitute human settlements (Doxiadis, 1968: 35).

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Nature represents the sub-system of the natural resource and geography of settlements. The sub-system includes such components as climate, land, atmosphere, water, flora and fauna (ibid: 85).

Anthropos represents the individual human being. The sub-system of Anthropos includes physiological and psychological characteristics and general behaviour characteristics including time allocations and personal income generation and expenditure. The element may also include aspects of biological and psychosocial needs of settlement residents (ibid: 85-86).

Society represents the socio-cultural, organisational and socio-economic characteristics of human settlements. The element may include demography, educational systems or institutions, administration, social relations, cosmology or belief systems and law (ibid: 86)

Shells represent one of the most visual elements of settlements. It not only includes physical structures such as clothing and domestic, commercial, public services and cultural buildings, but equally spaces with conceptual boundaries such as hunting areas, cooking spaces and recreation areas (ibid: 86-87).

According to Walker, networks represent a mostly physical oriented element even though they may be established to facilitate and maximise social networking functions. Networks include land, sea, air transportation systems and pathways, water, electrical and disposal systems and communication systems including languages (ibid).

According to Ekistic theory, the five development criteria for achieving happiness and safety are proposed to be common to most settlements. However, development goals are subject to change and viewpoint over time, the element they most relate to and the aspect of knowledge they most refer to. Table 2.2.1 provides a matrix of settlement development goals classified by the aspects of knowledge they emphasise

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and the five elements or sub-systems of settlements for which they have dominant application.

Table 2.2.1: Matrix of goals (ibid: 100)

The matrix of goals provides a simple classification for describing the general focus of this research thesis. Section 2.4.3 of this chapter will elaborate the matrix of goals for organising the information to be gathered to respond to the main research question of this study.

2.1.1. Ekistic classification theory

The Ekistic classification system provides a method for consistency in the selection and organisation of information about a broad range of settlement characteristics. The system of classification provides a useful framework for contextualising settlement functions and the variety of qualitative and quantitative data derived from studying those functions. Ekistics also provides a consistent framework for further research or analysis to verify current research.

The most fundamental classification system in Ekistics is the Ekistic Logarithmic Scale (ELS). The ELS is a model for categorising settlements with different populations. It is often used as a common axis in Ekistic matrices to maintain comparative interpretation and consistent data organisation. Table 2.2.2 shows the

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relationship between the model population estimates of settlements and the Ekistic classification assigned to those estimates. The ELS is based on the single person as the unit of measure. The classification cut-off values and some of the names assigned to those values have been revised since Doxiadis’ original text: compare Doxiadis (1968: 88), Walker (1972: 18) and Ekistics (no.303, 1983: 499). The Ekistic Logarithmic Scales used since 1983 have been adopted for the ELS scales used in this study. Established permanent settlements commence at level ‘I -House Group’ with usually a minimum of 40 residents. Communities under this scale are still classified as settlements, however, the need to be inclusive of single dwellings, rooms and individuals required recognition of their distinctive characteristics. The Ekistic units are indicative and inclusive rather than exclusive descriptions; a Room could refer to a single functional space while a Small Neighbourhood could mean a small village and so on. The divisions and descriptions are essentially arbitrary. What is important is that, as one moves through the ELS scale, they are reasonably consistent and useful for classifying human settlements displaying different development characteristics.

Ekistic Units Ekistic Unit Community population Scale scale Anthropos 1 1 i Room 2 2 ii House 5 5 iii House group 40 4 I Small neighbourhood 250 5 II Neighbourhood 1,500 6 III Small polis 10,000 7 IV Polis 75,000 8 V Small Metropolis 500,000 9 VI Metropolis 4 million 10 VII Small megalopolis 25 million 11 VIII Megalopolis 150 million 12 IX Small eperopolis 1,000 million 13 X Eperopolis 7,500 million 14 XI Ecumenopolis 50,000 million 15 XII

Table 2.2.2: Ekistic Logarithmic Scale and classification of human settlements by population (Ekistics, n303, 1983: 499)

The Ekistic Logarithmic Scale is used as a guide to human settlement development. The distribution of human settlements corresponds to an exponential rate of decline in the number of settlements to the relative age of these settlements and their average

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population. The pattern indicates that the vast majority and older types of human settlements exist under the community scale III (Doxiadis, 1968: 81-83).

The permanence of the settlement is primarily determined by evidence of its continued use after the first year of establishment and by the major function it performs. Settlements may thus be considered ‘permanent’ rather than ‘temporary’ not by the design or use of materials in dwelling construction but by evidence that they are in the first phase of their establishment. A small settlement constructed of humpies and windbreaks may show evidence of permanency due to occupation over a year: a tendency motived by the relationship between residents and the perceived function of the settlement (ibid: 87). Settlements where the inhabitants are essentially nomadic, rural or include agricultural purposes have a tendency to be small and isolated. The ELS can be used as an axis to approximate a size measure against settlements of different types: Diagram 2.2.1.

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Diagram 2.2.1: Classification of settlements as to their type and population (ibid: 88)

Diagram 2.2.1. shows that settlements whose type has a nomadic orientation fall within the range that tend to be physically separated from other settlements (ibid: 85&314). This pattern concurs with more recent analysis by Kirk (1983: 41) of the population density and settlement distribution of inland and northern indigenous Australian communities. Doxiadis estimated that a typical population of many nomadic oriented settlements was approximately 50 to 100 persons (Doxiadis, 1968: 88). This estimate also concurs with a recent census figure indicating that the average population in remote indigenous Australian communities is 106 (SOERHS- draft 4, 1995: 28). However, many traditional nomadic settlements have followed the tendency to establish permanence consequently raising their overall populations. Few human settlements have developed in the reverse way from permanent and sedentary to nomadic lifestyles. Similarly, most settlements move from isolation to

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urbanisation rather than the other way around. Ekistic theory suggests that the move to dispersed and nomadic oriented settlements from permanent sedentary settlements requires, ‘a pressing situation in order to take place and great skill to be successful’ (Doxiadis, 1968: 222). The development pattern for the creation of settlements typically followed several paths.

‘When the [development] pattern was rural, it meant a continuous system of rural settlements gradually covering the entire plain. When the entire pattern was urban, this meant first the creation of an initial urban settlement, then its growth and development, and finally the creation of other urban settlements at distances imposed by their functions and relation to the initial one ... This was what happened when colonisation was organised and carried out on the basis of a pre-conceived plan’ (ibid).

It is important to note that very few human settlements of the total created on Earth have their features and development planned, most being classified as natural settlements in their design and location. However, planned settlements eventually display the development characteristics of disorder without concerted effort to control the long term course of the settlement’s development (ibid: 87).

2.1.2. Ekistic functions

Ekistic theory interprets the term functions at two levels. At one level it describes the overall function of a settlement or group of settlements and this relates to settlement goals. Settlements created for rural production may be described as having an agricultural function. At this level, function may be interchanged with goal or purpose. Describing the overall purpose, goal or function of settlements is important for contextualising studies of human settlements. The other level is to describe functions that occur within settlements. The classification of settlement functions provides a focal point for analysing a particular dynamic within a single settlement or common to a range of human settlements (ibid: 24). Thus, for example,

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we may study shelter maintenance as a function common to a range of human settlements.

It is important to place settlement functions in context within the overall goal or purpose of settlements. Settlement functions such as the provision of education, material resources and shelter are likely to have different emphasis within the context of mining settlements compared to, say, tourism settlements. The overall and essential function of settlements shape the characteristics of internal settlement functions. To reduce possible confusion, this study will adopt the convention that ‘settlement functions’ will mean the functions that occur within settlements whereas ‘settlement goals’ or purpose will mean the overall function of the entire settlement or settlement group. Settlement functions may be generally described as the human activities undertaken in communities. The functions of maintaining potable water supply and reticulation methods for example, are important for the survival of residents and the community. Some functions may represent inputs to other functions such as water supply training for water supply maintenance.

Settlement functions are the primary point or locus where settlement metabolism occurs. This characteristic makes them important starting points for most research methodologies concerning settlement development. Settlement functions also:

• represent the interface between inputs and human amenity and so may be considered as sub-systems within the overall system of the settlement

• contain the essential components of human and physical resource organisation, and

• are organisational systems with social and technical components that are influenced by their overall settlement context (Walker, 1976: 87).

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Settlement functions have therefore been described as sub-systems to the overall settlement system.

2.2. Systems theory

Systems theory seeks to explain the relationship between parts and the whole. Systems theories complement reductionist theories rather than replace them (Argyle in Emery, 1969: 21-24). Reductionist research builds knowledge from system parts and their sub-parts in terms of a cause-effect relationship between parts. Environmental isolation and controls are usually prerequisites to reductionist or cause-effect research models. Systemic theories such as ‘Gestalt’ theory, seek to explain the general pattern of behaviour of systems as wholes in the context of defined environments. Research into biological systems increasingly include the application of pattern analysis models rather than controlled experimental analysis models (Clarke, 1993). The research goal is typically to identify key factors or response patterns that explain how or why a ‘living system’ behaves in a particular environment or in relation to other living systems in their environment. Angyal proposed that the difference between reductionist and systems research is that the former yields possible relationships between cause and effect pairs whereas the latter yields understanding of several variables in relation to the overall system to which they contribute (op.cit. 1969: 24).

The applicability of systems theory in research and development is broad. It is utilised in a variety of disciplines and fields. In science, similar theoretical models include ‘chaos’ and fractal theory while in education and the social and health sciences holism theory is utilised (Gleick, 1987: 5). In psychology, Gestalt theory of human perception and pattern recognition has been extensively documented while in biology and social psychology systemic models are used to aid explanation of organisms and organisational behaviour (Kast and Rozenzweig, 1979). There are

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few contemporary fields which remain untouched by systemic theories, including engineering. Socio-technical systems theory will be developed later in this chapter.

The broad application of systems theory has led to the development of general systems theory as a model for describing and understanding the behaviour of complex operations and organisation. Complex organisations often incorporate living systems. The eco-system illustrates this theme (Bertalanffy in Emery, 1971: 70). A characteristic of complex systems is that they display patterns of adaptive behaviour to environmental influences. The adaptive behaviour of complex systems is sometimes referred to as self-organising behaviour (Ackoff in Emery, 1971: 330; Ackoff, 1973). Such systems require conceptualisation not adequately accommodated in traditional reductionist analysis models: complex systems generally interact with their environment to maintain themselves. Research methods that require controlled environments, such as experimental analysis procedures, are therefore limited in the extent of understanding they yield about self-organising complex systems.

Self-organising systems require constant dynamic interaction with their immediate environment. ‘Living’ and ‘social organisational’ systems draw energy and resources from their environment to function and maintain themselves. They as a result produce a product back into their environment as either an amenity or waste product. Such systems generally function within environmental constraints (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995). Systems that draw on, are influenced by or produce products back into their environment are classed as open systems. While systems may be classified as open it is important to consider that at the global scale the earth may be classified as closed as the material it exchanges with the universe is regarded as minimal (AAS, 1994).

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2.2.1. General systems theory

General systems theory has been extensively used in social organisation studies and human management models in a variety of enterprises (Borich and Jemelka, 1982). Much of the theoretical development for systems theory occurred between 1950 and 1980 (ibid: 96). The concept of general systems theory includes a number of principles that convey the behaviour of systems. System analysis requires that parameters are set in a hierarchical form as all systems respond to a greater environmental system. The level at which one researches a system is arbitrary. A convenient convention is to select one level above and below that being reviewed. Systems are therefore classified as either open or closed depending on whether they require an exchange of energy and material with their external environment to function: ‘A closed system is self-contained and does not interact with anything outside it. In the real world it is very hard to find closed systems. Most systems are open which implies that they interact with their surroundings’ (AAS, 1994: 13).

Living systems metabolise inputs such as food energy and water to produce outputs such as movement, heat and so on. The efficiency of the metabolism is a measure of the component of the output amenity and by-product or waste against the system input. Storage, however, is not usually elaborated in general systems theory and this would affect efficiency formulas. Storage might be defined as received inputs that await processing; as a processed or transformed input implies the production of an output. Other key concepts in systems theory have been listed in (Kast and Rosenzweig, 1979: 102). Social organisation and living systems display development or evolutionary characteristics towards greater differentiation and order. Closed systems or systems whose internal dynamics are dysfunctioning move towards entropy and disorder or death. The principle of entropy appears to hold true for both organic living systems and social systems (ibid: 101). They suggest that a growing organisation displays a tendency towards greater internal specialisation seen in the creation of departments and management levels. Where resource input or

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internal processing fails, social systems move towards disorder eventually displaying a complete lack of input transformation and maximum random disorganisation.

Open systems have a disposition to reach a condition of homeostasis where the system maintains a ‘dynamic equilibrium through the continuous inflow of materials, energy and information’ (ibid: 102). The mechanism for reaching the condition of homeostasis is through the adequate functioning of its feedback process to regulate the system (AAS, 1994: 14). ‘Information concerning the outputs or the process of the system is fed back as an input to the system perhaps leading to changes in the transformation process and/or future outputs’ (Kast and Rosenzweig, 1979: 102).

Unlike closed systems, open systems are believed to display equifinality characteristics. This concept describes the ability for open systems to have similar outputs while containing inputs and transformation processes that are quite different. ‘Equifinality suggests that certain results may be achieved with different initial conditions and in different ways’ (ibid). This is a particularly important concept because it enables different social systems to achieve common outcomes with different inputs or processes to other systems or to previous inputs and processes that may have been used.

The general model of a system is a sequence of inputs, processes and outputs where the overall dynamic of the system is motivated by certain goals. Complex systems such as human organisations and biological systems include external constraint factors that influence their output (AAS, 1994: 13; Borich and Jemelka, 1982: 175). The constraint factors differ from inputs in that they are usually difficult for the system to regulate and usually come from the greater environmental system (suprasystem) within which the system at issue exists (ibid: 159). Diagram 2.2.2 shows a summary of the general concepts of open systems.

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Diagram 2.2.2: Schematic model of complex open systems

2.2.2. Socio-technical systems

Consistent with the principles of general systems theory, socio-technical systems theory developed during the early 1970s as a research and analysis framework for improving organisational management in work place situations. It was a response motivated by perceived failures of scientific management. Ackoff advocated that, ‘It is in the context of organised man-machine systems ... that we find the most comprehensive demands for departure from the existing content and structure of science and technology’ (Ackoff in Emery, 1971: 331).

The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in England, noted for its contribution to management and systems theory, was among the first to dedicate research into the relationship between social and technical factors in a number of primary and secondary industries after World War Two. It was reported that, ‘The technological component [of production] has been found to play a key mediating role and hence it follows that the open system concept must be referred to the socio-technical system,

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not simply to the social system of an enterprise ... it became apparent that so close is the relationship between the various aspects that the social and the psychological can be understood only in terms of the detailed engineering facts and of the way the technological system as a whole behaves in [its] environment’ (Emery, 1971: 284- 285).

Pioneering studies of socio-technical systems were undertaken both in a First World (coal mining in England) a Third World/developing country context (textile industries in India) (Emery and Trist, 1960). These and other studies suggested that when people use technologies the interaction represents a dynamic ‘socio-technical system’ that is influenced by a variety of contextual factors. The application of socio-technical systems theory have had particular relevance to studying Third World responses to introduced technologies and social programs such as education and training. In the early 1980s there was increased recognition that transferred technologies to the Third World often required new social organisational values to socially sustain those technologies. The option to introduce technologies that might easily be assimilated into existing social systems was rarely evident (Altman, 1987: 225). In certain instances, however, the desired First World technologies and industrial processes required changes to existing social organisation and values that were not well established in the receiving countries.

‘The developing and semi-industrialised countries of the world are gearing their national policies toward increasing industrialism and technical progress. One of the manifestations of this is a convergence of socio- cultural systems. For example, there is an emphasis on education. A basic requirement of modern technology is a high level of literacy and specialised training. The effective utilisation of [sophisticated] technology requires the development of complex organisations that are quite similar, despite different cultures, economic systems, and political ideologies’ (Kast and Rosenzweig, 1982: 178).

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The Tavistock Institute developed the theory that when an established organisational structure adopts a change in technology or technique there is often a correlated social or organisational change required that includes a change in values. On the topic of manufacturing industries Emery had written that, ‘if the primary task shifts from heavy industrial goods to durable consumer goods it would be necessary to ensure that there is a corresponding shift in values that are embodied in such sections as the sales force and design department’ (Emery, 1971: 295)

The concept of socio-technical systems is therefore, a specific application of general systems theory. This application places emphasis on research and analysis that identifies relationships between the social and technical inputs, processes and outputs of technology-human interactions in human organisations and organisational functions (Kast and Rosenzweig, 1982: 106). The general objective is to find an optimum match of social and technical inputs and processes to achieve desired output. This match has been proposed to follow a general hierarchy of development where at the lower end social organisation and technologies are simple compared to the higher end where they are complex and dynamic. Kast and Rosenzweig offer examples where a basic hand-tool-person operation is a simple and stable socio- technical system. Above this would be a craft where multiple tools and basic hand operated equipment would be used by a guild as a more complex and dynamic socio- technical system. The hierarchy would progress to: small batch machinery and workshop operation; mass-production assembly line technology and social organisation; continuous process; and finally, to advanced technology such as aero- space industries where the equipment, knowledge and social organisation base is highly developed and dependent on the lower levels of socio-technical systems (ibid: 183-184).

The above model of development describes levels of greater sophistication in knowledge, materials, technologies and human organisation. The model suggests

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that each level has some dependency on access, technologically and economically, to the outputs of the lower levels: the base level being human labour and raw unprocessed resources from the environment. In small populations or organisations, only a few material resources and minimal human competencies were needed to maintain human-hand-tool operations and crafts. Continuous process technology and aero-space organisations at the higher levels required a greater human resource pool, drawing on vast material resources and a highly developed abstract knowledge and organisational management system. The model suggests that small remote communities are unlikely to sustain much beyond craft based industries without substantial subsidised funding and management services in human and material resources. The prognosis for small and remote indigenous communities would be problematic if policies, programs and community aspirations assume industrial development that was too high for the size and economy of the community. Enhancing and developing local innovations, cottage industries and the capacity for remote communities to better assess the social and technical feasibility of inputs are probably more realistic development principles than attempts to replicate urban social organisation, development characteristics and technologies.

The proposed levels of socio-technical systems is useful as it suggests that if high level technologies are introduced to lower socio-technical contexts then this constitutes a mis-match, and is likely to be unsuccessful. Failure may then be avoided by an appropriate pre-development and co-development program to sustain the higher socio-technical system level. An alternative is to introduce more appropriately matched technologies to the receiver’s socio-technical systems. This latter proposition regards development as lateral and change or transformation oriented rather than as hierarchical and growth oriented. Small communities might then be able to improve their material quality of life through development aid that fosters unconventional technologies, locally produced innovations and management control over imported technologies.

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2.3. Integrating Ekistic and socio-technical systems theory

This section of the thesis proposes a rational integration of Ekistics and socio- technical systems theory for the study of settlement functions. The compatibility of the two theories enables a number of their mutual strengths to be enhanced and weaknesses to be minimal. A major strength of Ekistics is its classification system for human settlements and the general development characteristics of settlements along the Ekistic Logarithmic Scale. A weakness, however, is its lack of framework for how settlement functions may be modelled and the conceptual link between those functions and the overall Ekistic framework. A major strength of socio-technical systems theory is that it provides a model for understanding the qualitative characteristics of how settlement functions generally operate. A weakness, however, is the lack of structure for quantitative analysis and for classifying the context level of settlement functions for analysis purposes.

If human settlements can be modelled as large socio-technical systems and functions can be modelled within the contextual framework of Ekistic theory, then it is feasible to consider their merger as a comprehensive theoretical framework for the study of socio-technical functions in human settlements. As with any model, however, there is a basis for caution in its use. Pfieffer had observed that, ‘A model has an interesting and significant double aspect ... it is an abstraction - a highly simplified version of a fragment of the real world which is too complex for us to deal with directly. At the same time, however, it is one highly effective way of coping with reality’ (Pfieffer in Borich and Jemelka, 1982: 174).

2.3.1. Modelling human settlements as systems

A principle of socio-technical systems theory is that every system exists within the context of a greater system while also providing a context for sub-systems. It is important to establish a model of the greater system or environment that imposes

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constraints on the output of socio-technical systems. In the context of this study, the greater system placing constraints on its subsystem of settlement functions is remote indigenous Australian communities.

Australia has adopted the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) ‘Pressure-State’ model for reporting on the state of the Australian environment; Diagram 2.2.3 (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995: 7; Newman, 1994). The Pressure-State model used in Australia’s State of the Environment report was selected for the specific purpose of monitoring and reporting on the flow of energy and materials through human settlements. This flow is acted upon by pressures of population and consumption, to produce either a social amenity or waste by-product. An interpretation of the pressure-state model is the notion that human settlements function, from the perspective of environmental analysis, similarly to living biological systems and as such display metabolic characteristics. Metabolism is a sufficiently general concept for reporting purposes, however, it is also specifically oriented to biological and ecological concepts. The concept acknowledges a bias in this direction at the expense of more inclusive frameworks that accommodate technological and economic considerations (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995: 7).

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Diagram 2.2.3: The metabolism concept of human settlements. An abstraction of the OECD ‘Pressure-State’ model. (ibid)

A more inclusive model of human settlements was used by Walker (1976) in his Ekistic study of a small and remote indigenous Australian settlement in northern Australia. Diagram 2.2.4 shows that the Ekistic model incorporates all the essential features of general systems theory. The model was developed at the Athens Centre of Ekistics in 1964 and features inputs that represent the Ekistic elements (ibid: 71- 72). It was noted that the model was developed to assist data collection. In addition to the qualitative analysis of settlements, the model provided a basis to explore quantitative measures where appropriate. Another important feature of the model is that it identifies the place of settlement functions within it. Walker (1976) observed that, ‘the inputs basically consist of the Ekistic elements with the functions and values of the community acting as the processors’ (ibid: 71-72).

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Diagram 2.2 4: The community supra-system (context) of settlement functions (community processors) (ibid).

This study will use the supra-system model in Diagram 2.2.4 as the conceptual framework for the contextual factors that impose constraints on settlement functions. Settlement function therefore occur within human settlements as community processors. The model demonstrates consistency in the hierarchy principles of general systems theory while also opening up the contextual principles of Ekistic settlement development theory.

2.3.2. Modelling community functions as socio-technical systems

Section 2.3.1 developed a model and interpretation of human settlements based on a combination of general systems theory and Ekistic theory. The model provided an argument that settlement functions can legitimately be considered a sub-system to the overall Ekistic system that constitutes a human settlement. The community as supra- environment to functions enables settlement functions to be placed in a sub-system

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context still displaying the general principles of systems theory. The theoretical conditions necessary to complete a model of settlement functions are now available: Ekistic theory provides the context factors that constrain settlement functions, while socio-technical systems theory provides a framework for understanding the essential inputs and processes common to those functions.

Settlement function may therefore be described as open socio-technical systems influenced by the general supra-system of the settlements within which they exist. Contained at a level below settlement functions are basic operations. In the context of the main research question for this study, basic operations may be collectively noted as sub-functions. The Ekistic model indicates that social and technical input and process data about settlement functions may be guided by three variable categories :

i) ‘Anthropos’ and Society variables that are inclusive of education and social organisation;

ii) the ‘Built Environment’ or Shell and Network variables that are inclusive of shelter, tools, technologies and amenities; and,

iii) the ‘Natural Environment’ or Nature variables that include material resources.

The context factors of settlement functions are those consistent with the major axis found in the Ekistic framework. They include the influence of settlement population, climatic and geographic location and economic factors. With the above considerations, it is feasible to model settlement functions as socio-technical systems influenced by general Ekistic factors and incorporating a complex corollary of social, technical and material variables. Diagram 2.2.5 offers a summary of the proposed model of settlement functions.

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Diagram 2.2.5: Model of settlement functions: sub-systems to human settlements.

While the above model provides a useful framework for studying settlement functions where a specific outcome and context is being reviewed, the model is essentially static in time. To qualify this ‘snap-shot’ interpretation of functions, Ekistic theory places settlement systems against the axis of time. ‘A review of the history of human settlements, is an attempt to present a theory of their evolution, an important factor in the life and study of human settlements ... It is therefore useful to explore the problems related to the time dimension in order to understand the situation better.’ (Doxiadis, 1968: 219)

A comprehensive understanding of settlements and settlement functions therefore requires an evolutionary analysis of the systems under study. The evolutionary study is essentially a qualitative interpretation of historical records and may be inclusive of the present. At a point in time and location within the evolutionary history of a settlement or class of settlements, a quantitative emphasis may be included.

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2.4. Theoretical framework for a study of socio-technical systems in remote indigenous Australian communities

This section of the study consolidates the above theoretical framework for a proposed study of the social and technical factors that influence the sustainability of shelter hardware and systems in remote indigenous Australian communities. The present interest to study development difficulties in these communities is consistent with that of Young and Fisk (1982) who had written that,

‘[Remote indigenous Australian communities] ... are of particular interest because they offer a picture of the distinctive character of Aboriginal culture and values. In these isolated areas we can actually observe Aboriginal society adapting to the monetised economy and, through such observations, one hopes, come to a better understanding of Aboriginal attitudes and values’ (Young and Fisk, 1982: v).

The community inputs and processes that collectively have influence over the sustainability of community shelter hardware are integrated in a socio-technical systems framework. The framework conforms to relevant aspects of Ekistic theory and general systems theory. Section 2.4 in this chapter will therefore classify the level and goals of the socio-technical and Ekistic systems examined in this study. The theoretical framework offers a basis for data selection, organisation, interpretation and verification should further research be considered.

2.4.1. Classification of system level and goals

Most remote indigenous communities in central and northern Australia have populations ranging from as low as zero (seasonal homeland occupation) to approximately 1,500 with an average (estimate) of 106 (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995: 28; Blanchard, 1987). In 1992 remote indigenous Australian communities represented approximately 60% of Australia’s total number of remote communities. Most of Australia’s remote indigenous communities are located in the central and northern

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regions of the Australian continent with the greater majority of them (53% (430 remote settlements)) being in the Northern Territory (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995: 28). The climatic zones of the central and northern regions of Australia where remote communities reside may be grouped into two: monsoonal climates (median summer rainfall over 599ml) and semi-arid and arid climates (median summer rainfall under 600ml). These general lifestyle and geographic settlement characteristics are consistent with Ekistic units 1 (Anthropos) to 5 (Small Neighbourhood). However, with an average population of 106 and in consideration that many communities tend to have more people visiting and using them, a reasonable classification of remote indigenous settlements would be between the Ekistic Logarithmic Scales (ELS) of House group and Small Neighbourhood or Community Scales I and II. This scale range is indicative of physically separated settlements often in isolated areas and having an orientation or legacy of a nomadic nature or lifestyle. Community Scales I/II are used as a middle ground guide to classify the Ekistic context of this study. However, it is the range from ELS (i ) to (II) that should be considered from an interpretive perspective.

The study of shelter systems, shelter hardware and the associated social and technical factors that influence their sustainability indicates that the study emphasises settlement development goals in the elements of Shells (for shelter systems) and Networks (for the variety of hardware that give utility to shelters). Diagram 2.2.6 presents a schematic summary of settlement development goals and the social and technical aspects emphasised in the present study.

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Diagram 2.2.6: Matrix of goals relevant to the present study

The black filled circles indicate the goal areas most relevant to the main research question. The social aspect includes social organisation and educational considerations while the technical aspect includes materials, equipment and technical process considerations generally noted in the thesis as technological hardware. While the social and technical aspects of settlement development goals are central to the present study, the goals of other aspects to settlement development are also reviewed to provide an evolutionary context to the study. These are represented by empty circles.

PART THREE: METHODOLOGY

This section of the study outlines a methodology that links the theoretical framework to the main research question of the study. The basis for selecting an appropriate methodology for this study will concur with the guidance given by Northrop (1971) and more recently Orton (1994). Northrop suggested that, ‘Since enquiry begins not with a method known a priori, but with a specific problem, it is the problem which determines the method’ (Northrop in Grant, 1971: 29). Orton similarly wrote that the choice of methodology should be, ‘... consonant with the focus of enquiry, [such that it] will enable the researcher to address comprehensively a specific question or problem’ (Orton, 1994: 86).

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The ‘problem’ being addressed is re-stated below in the form of the main research question of this study:

‘What are the relevant social and technical factors that, in themselves and in combination with each other, substantially influence the sustainability of introduced shelter systems and relevant shelter hardware items in small and remote indigenous Australian communities?’

A qualitative/historical and quantitative/empirical methodology will be used incorporating both survey questionnaires and follow-up fieldwork observations and communication to verify questionnaire returns from communities participating in the survey. The methodology concurs with Altman (1987: 225) as a process for gathering both evolutionary and specific data with the view to combining them into a comprehensive set of qualitative and quantitative findings. The methodology has been described by Creswell (1994: 187-189) and Jick (1979: 602-611) as a ‘mixed method’. The mixed methodology has the particular advantage of allowing qualitative and quantitative data to be cross-checked thereby revealing the possible inconsistencies and interesting nuances that many be explored (Creswell, 1994: 189).

The remote characteristics and vast distances to be travelled in the course of the study affected the methodological approach selected. To overcome the distance constraints a survey questionnaire was designed for distribution to participating communities. Appropriate endorsement and consent was obtained from the leaders and advocates of participating communities and relevant technical and educational service agencies and individuals in those communities. The survey was complemented by a series of field visits to these communities as well as a literature review to aid understanding of community functions.

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3.1. Survey and fieldwork

3.1.1. Survey administration

A survey questionnaire was selected as the main instrument to gather essentially quantitative data, although qualitative feedback was also encouraged throughout the survey. Field observations and visits to participating communities were supplemented with background reading. In addition to the constraints of accessing remote communities, significant factors needing consideration included the English literacy and numeracy levels of participants and the administrative network in communities. Many people in communities spoke several traditional languages. Accessing appropriate existing networks would help alleviate such administrative barriers as followup correspondence, survey interpretation difficulties and access to on-site people knowledgeable of community activities.

While employed at the Centre for Appropriate Technology, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, the author was able to access two key networks in remote indigenous communities: local government community councils (including delegated indigenous and non-indigenous council employees) and the Northern Territory Open College network of adult educators4 . The community councils remained the ultimate authority for survey distribution, comment and field visit consent in all aspects of field data collection and reporting. Survey returns were sent to the community administrator for the attention of the community council. The community administrator is the interface between community council activities and the wider world. The community administrator is usually the most informed person in the community on matter such as community resources, housing, welfare income, planning, local social organisation and council correspondence with the wider world.

4The Northern Territory Open College (NTOC) is no longer in operation.

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The position of administrator was selected because typically such positions required skilled and mature age people that were central to all community council financial, human resource and facilities management. From field experiences, these positions were typically occupied by male non-indigenous adults between the ages of 30 and 50 years and were employed by the indigenous council for their administrative expertise and empathy for the employing community.

As a back up strategy, many communities also had a government funded Adult Educator. These positions were based in the community and represented the interface between the community and government on all matters relating to government sponsored education and training services. The Adult Educators required tertiary educational qualification . They were mostly non-indigenous men between the ages of approximately 25 and 45 years.

The position required that constant information exchange was gathered on all aspects of the community for where vocational, lifestyle and educational skills development may need to be arranged for those who sought after it. Like the community council administrator, the Adult Educator was well placed to gather information for the survey and to return the survey through a known network.

While survey questionnaires were also sent to communities in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland, access to community based networks in those States were limited. The majority of remote indigenous communities in Australia are located in the Northern Territory (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995: 28). A sample bias favouring Northern Territory characteristics was anticipated. A mature and qualified male was also expected.

The objectives of the administrative processes for distributing the survey questionnaire were to: 1) demonstrate ethical practices of consent, feedback and empowerment with participants; and, 2) take measures to maximise survey efficiency

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to improve statistical power. The administrative tasks relevant to the present study included:

• organising and conducting a workshop inviting community, technical service and training agencies of predominantly indigenous people to discuss and endorse the research proposal for this study

• designing a survey instrument based on a preliminary design with ‘informants’ from a participating remote indigenous community (DeVaus, 1991: 53)

• compiling an extensive mailing list to remote indigenous community councils seeking interest and consent to participate in the survey with possible follow-up field visits

• distributing and following up by telephone, facsimile and mail the survey questionnaire (the questionnaire included Free-Post return envelopes), and

• collating and entering quantitative data in a statistical computer program file and qualitative survey information in a general file.

The administration of the fieldwork component of the study included:

• obtaining direct community Council consent and where required, access permits, to visit participating communities in order to verify survey returns, and

• compiling notes and images from community discussions and observations.

A feedback report summarising survey results and field observations was sent to all participating communities, agencies and individuals for comment.

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3.1.2. Synthesis and observer bias

Systemic research methodologies offer a framework for examining complexity. The task often includes a search for possible patterns and interrelationships in a broad array of data both in quantity and kind. While the ‘mixed method’ approach and theoretical framework of this study represent measures taken to reduce observer bias, it is acknowledged that a certain degree of subjectivity will enter the research process including the task of synthesising findings (ibid: 30; Walker, 1976: 2).

The task of achieving synthesis in mixed methodologies requires integration of quantitative and qualitative information. The researcher is obliged to demonstrate both scientific and creative ‘problem-solving’ skills in the quest for understanding complex phenomenon. The skills required are similar to those demonstrated in design professions. Problem-solving techniques appropriate for the present study will therefore extend beyond the logical empirical to be inclusive of the creative aspect of holistic integration (DeBono, 1990; Lawson, 1990; Jones, 1970). Every effort will be made to demonstrate, interpret and present findings consistent with the theoretical framework of this study.

3.2. Data management

3.2.1. Selection and organisation

The survey questionnaire was designed to elicit information about the sustainability of introduced shelter systems and the range of hardware items and skills that were likely to give long lived utility to those systems. While the survey instrument was used to collect the majority of quantitative data, the theoretical framework of the study required that other information, including evolutionary data, be collected. DeVaus recommended that, ‘survey research is one method of collecting, organising and analysing data. The relevant data can be collected by a variety of techniques and

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in many studies it may be appropriate to use a variety of research methods’ (DeVaus, 1991: 7).

The methodology for this study included three data collection techniques:

1. a literature review to compile historical/evolutionary data

2. a survey instrument to collect quantitative data, and

3. fieldwork and observations to verify survey returns, and aspects of historical events and to make a direct assessment of general issues relevant to the research question. The fieldwork helped to sensitise the researcher to the human scale of the issues involved.

The organisation and management of data gained by the above three methods was guided by the socio-technical systems framework developed in part two of this chapter. Historical information, survey questions and fieldwork observations were organised into the system components of development goals, Ekistic context, and socio-technical inputs, processes, outputs and feedback components. In addition to system specific survey questions, the survey design incorporated a number of features to reduce response acquiescence. The features included open and closed questions (most being closed), sectional break-up of the booklet to encourage sectional completion, periodic inserts requesting the respondent to rest before continuing, and two specially designed questions for detecting response acquiescence.

The selection of indicators for each of the system components was essentially driven by a pilot phase in the survey design. However, other sources were also used to guide survey and indicator design and selection. These included development literature, programs and policies in remote indigenous Australian communities, and deduction of the technical issues likely to influence the sustainability of introduced

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shelter systems and hardware utilities. The method recommended by DeVaus was adopted whereby the central research question or concept was progressively abstracted to a range of possible indicators (ibid: 52). Diagram 2.3.1 outlines the application of DeVaus’ framework for developing survey questions/indicators for this study.

Diagram 2.3.1: Conceptual framework for developing the survey instrument and specific indicators (abstracted from DeVaus ibid: 52)

Brief descriptions of the dimensions which were quantified in the survey are presented below. The dimension ‘settlement goals’ was qualitatively reviewed in the historical/evolutionary component of the methodology.

3.2.1.1. Input indicators

Input characteristics may be described with indicators of the capacity of communities to resource their community functions both socially and technologically. The socio- technical inputs measured included the provision of skills, qualifications, materials,

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tools and equipment, shelter units and shelter hardware utilities such as amenities, appliances and accessories.

3.2.1.2. Process indicators

Process characteristics may be described with indicators of the capacity of communities to manage (particularly towards self-determination and empowerment) their community functions both socially and technologically. The socio-technical processes measured included the degree of local indigenous participation in technical maintenance and gender distribution for maintenance tasks.

3.2.1.3. Output indicator

The output characteristic may be described with an indicator of the socio-technical resultant of the inputs and processes to community technical functions. The output indicator provides a general repair rating of fully serviced houses with electricity, indoor water flush toilet (septic or reticulated sewerage) and reticulated hot water service. The repair status of fully serviced houses introduced to remote indigenous Australian communities is an appropriate output indicator. It is representative of a range of development issues that include social and technical inputs and processes and the historical legacies they represent.

‘The adverse consequences of the enforced dependency of Aboriginal people on the non-Aboriginal society ... are starkly demonstrated in [the] consideration of housing and the infrastructure which complements housing ... Aboriginal people have lost control over the location, design and functions of their living spaces, with serious adverse effects [including] ... the failed experiment of “transitional housing”, a component of the assimilation policies of earlier decades’ (RCIADIC-vol 2, 1991: 245).

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3.2.1.4. Feedback indicators

Feedback indicators provide general measures of socio-technical changes to the inputs and processes of community functions. The indicators selected included social and technical perceptions of the causes of technology breakdown and the appropriateness of technologies in relation to the difficultly of maintaining their functioning and their perceived importance to the community.

3.2.1.5. Population effects

The effect of community population on the inputs and processes supporting technical community functions was used as a context factor. The Ekistic logarithmic scale indicates that the number and distribution of small communities in relation to large communities is positively skewed. Small communities substantially outnumber large communities and are usually located in remote or rural regions rather than urban regions. The median population of the sampled communities was used as the division between communities classified as ‘small’ and ‘large’ in statistical calculations. The sample median population was 500. The mean population was regarded as inappropriate due to the skewed nature of the population and distribution of the communities surveyed.

3.2.1.6. Location effects

The effect of community geographic location on the inputs and processes supporting technical community functions was also used as a context factor. Ekistic and demographic studies (Doxiadis, 1968; Kirk, 1983: 53) indicate that communities establish themselves in geographic locations according to their primary function and type. Kirk (1983) estimated that remote indigenous Australian communities generally covered geographic areas whose size related to average regional rainfalls. With higher rainfall came higher densities of plant and animal life and so a greater

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variety of nearby natural building materials and food resources compared to communities in arid areas. It would therefore be expected that there would be some effect on the inputs and processes supporting community functions based on the community's geographic/climatic location.

The classification of what constitutes low and high rainfall regions was based on Australian meteorological convention. For the purpose of the study it is more important to identify a repeatable standard measure that implies two extreme categories of rainfall in order to detect any effects. To maintain approximately equal numbers of communities within the two categories, communities have been classified as located in either monsoonal and coastal regions (with an median summer rainfall above 600 millilitres) or in arid to semi-arid inland regions (with a median summer rainfall below 600 millilitres).

3.2.1.7. Economy characteristics

Economic characteristics may be described as the degree to which the inputs and process of community functions are dependent on a cash based economy for their operation. Welfare and special development inputs to remote indigenous communities have been documented as primary income sources for most indigenous Australians in these communities (Altman, 1987). It is unlikely that contemporary indigenous communities exist that do not operate a local economy based on money. However, there is general acknowledgement that many indigenous Australians, particularly in remote communities, operate dual economies as a legacy, in part, of the trade economy that dominated prior to European occupation (Myers, 1986; Meggitt, 1962).

Community survey respondents were asked to classify the predominant kind of ‘payment’ given in exchange for such commodities as technical services or goods. Where respondents classified their local economy as either ‘barter’ or

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‘obligation/gift’ oriented the community was classified as operating a substantial ‘non-cash’ economy in parallel with the general welfare/cash economy. Where respondents classified their local economy as ‘wage’ or ‘wage and barter’ oriented the community was classified as operating a predominantly ‘cash’ economy.

Table 2.3.1 summarises the relationship between the system components of the study and the quantitative variables in the survey instrument.

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SYSTEM EMPIRICAL VARIABLE SURVEY COMPONENTS VARIABLE DESCRIPTION QUESTION: OF SETTLEMENT FOR (PAGE #) FUNCTIONS INDICATORS

1.0 GOALS

1.1 Nomadic and sedentary n/a (qualitative indicator only) general comments 1.2 Evolutionary n/a (qualitative indicator only) general comments

2.0 EKISTIC CONTEXT

2.1 Population factors TWOSIZE$ Population: <500 and ≥500 Identification page: 2 2.2 Location factors TWOZONE$ Rainfall median: <600 and ≥600 ml pa. Bureau of meteorology 2.3 Economy factors ECONOMY$ Substantial gift /obligation emphasis S2J: 29 or cash only economy emphasis

3.0 INPUT

3.1 Education TLOCCQAL Total occupations with qualified people S2G: 26 AVEQUAL Ave no. qualified in any occupation S2G: 26 TLOCCSKL Total occupations with unqualified people S2H: 27 AVESKIL Ave no. unqualified in any occupation S2H: 27

3.2 Materials MATERIAL Range of most used building materials S1D: 9

3.3 Tools and equipment PCACCESS Community accessibility to a tool range S1A: 4-6 INDPOSS Tool range usually used by individuals S1A: 4-6 LOAN_EDN Tool range on loan from education sites S1A: 4-6 SOLDSTOR Tool range sold through local store S1A: 4-6 COUNLWKR Tool range in community workshop S1A: 4-6

3.4 Shelter stock TLSHELTS Total estimated shelters S1C: 9 TLHOUS Total estimate of serviced houses S1C: 9 TLSHED Total estimate of transition shelters S1C: 9 TLHUMP Total estimate of owner-builder humpies S1C: 9 HSE_HUM Ratio of houses to humpies & sheds S1C: 9

3.5 shelter hardware TSHEQUIP Hardware/utility range: all shelter types S1E: 10-11 A_HOUS Hardware/utility range: serviced houses S1E: 10-11 B_SHED Hardware/utility range: transition shelters S1E: 10-11 C_HUMP Hardware/utility range: humpy shelters S1E: 10-11 D_HUTS Hardware/utility range: shade huts S1E: 10-11 4.0 PROCESSES

4.1 Indigenous & non-indigenous AB_NABMI Minor maintenance participation S2C: 23-25 participation in maintenance AB_NABMA Major maintenance participation S2C: 23-25 EXTDEPMI Minor maintenance: done in community S2C: 23-25 EXDEPMA Major maintenance: by external agent S2C: 23-25

4.2 Indigenous gender TECHSEX Proportion of indigenous gender S2I: 28-29 participation in maintenance participation in technical tasks

5.0 OUTPUT

5.1 Repair status of shelters AVSHREPA Ave. repair rating of serviced houses S1F: 11-12 including house hardware/amenities

6.0 FEEDBACK

6.1 Perceived appropriateness AVIMPORT Importance rating of hardware listed S2B: 18-21 of shelter hardware AVTROUBL Repair difficulty rating of hardware listed S2B: 18-21 DIFIM_TR Disparity of importance - repair difficulty S2B: 18-21

6.2 Perceived causes of TLCAUSES Hardware failure: total perceived causes S2A: 15-17 shelter hardware failure S2A_SOCL Hardware failure: social causes S2A: 15-17 S2A_TECH Hardware failure: technical causes S2A: 15-17

Table 2.3.1: System components: indicators and variables

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3.2.2. Reliability and validity

A broad range of items were included in the survey to enhance reliability (DeVaus, 1991: 55). The lack of appropriate precedence in developing socio-technical survey instruments prevented the use of ‘criterion’ methods for assuring survey validity (ibid: 56). In addition to literature and field verification, ‘content’ validity methods were used where a range of items were measured as part of each survey question to reduce the likelihood of questions only being sensitive to one aspect of the concept measured (ibid). Thus, where the central concept of the output indicator requested a scaled rating of houses in communities, several components and hardware/utility items of houses were listed and their average rating was used.

3.2.3. Survey respondent bias

While not directly related to community functions, all survey responses were classified according to the position in the community held by the survey respondent. This classification aided detection of possible respondent bias or inaccuracy based on the function the respondent played in the community. Each community received two copies of the survey. One was sent to the resident adult educator (mostly non- indigenous) and the other to the community council via the indigenous community council president or town clerk. Where the survey return was filled in by the adult educator the classification ‘educator’ was used. Where the survey return was filled in by a nominee of the community council the classification ‘council’ was noted.

3.2.4 Acquiescent responses

DeVaus describes an acquiescent response as ‘the tendency for some people to agree with the statement regardless of the questions content’ (ibid: 101). The tendency is

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often associated with the level of education of the respondent or the level of interest maintained throughout the survey. The general method for detecting whether survey returns contained such tendencies is to include strategically located ‘check questions’ that either contradict eachother or whose answers have a logical solution. Where illogical responses are detected with the latter kind of check questions then there is a possibility that respondents either did not understand or lost interest around that part of the survey.

The survey instrument was designed to include two ‘check questions’ to detect whether respondents maintained interest. The check questions were similar in style and content to most other survey questions. The two check question variables were: PCCOMTEC (question S1B: 7-8) and TLSHELFA (question S2D: 25). PCCOMTEC requested respondents to work down a list of community utilities such as ‘powerstation’ or ‘domestic hot water units’ and indicate on a scale of none, one or more the number of these utilities in their community. This check question was placed near the beginning of the survey. TLSHELFA requested respondents to indicate from a range of seven amenities (such as hot water service, electricity, and so on) whether the shelter types listed had these amenities in their community. This check question was placed near the end of the survey to see whether interest was still being maintained. It was hypothesised that larger populated communities were likely to score high both in the number of community utilities and the range of shelter amenities they used. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to detect the strength of correlation. A low correlation would indicate respondents were having difficulty with the questionnaire for possible reasons such as understanding the question and tiredness.

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3.2.5. Missing data and data manipulation

Missing data was managed with the application of the ‘random assignment within groups’ method where appropriate. This involves locating genuine cases of missing data (where responses were requested but not given) and allocating to that case the value of the case immediately above it in the data matrix. DeVaus argued that, ‘This method means that missing values are replaced by a variety of different values. The method does not effect sample or group variability and has no effect on the strength of correlations and avoids any loss of cases. Despite being somewhat more complex to execute, it is a highly desirable way of handling missing data’ (ibid: 285).

A variety of statistical tests and descriptive techniques were used to describe and test strengths of data patterns and relationships. The first sub-question of the study required descriptive presentation of the data that helped to reveal patterns in survey responses. Graphical, descriptive statistics and multi-variate factor analysis plots were used to visually identify and display data patterns. The second sub-question of the study required essentially bi-variate analysis techniques to test the effects of Ekistic contexts factors. The Mann-Whitney U statistic was used as not all variables were certain to satisfy parametric criteria: many were non-interval or rank-order. The Mann-Whitney U statistic is weaker than its parametric counterpart (the student t-test), but it was adopted because it could be used confidently for all variables and because the objective was to detect possible relationships rather than disprove a theoretical proposition. The third sub-question used Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Analysis of Co-Variance (ANCOVA) methods to project an integrated analysis and model of the data. While the ANCOVA assisted the task of modelling the data in an integrated way its limitations are acknowledged. It assumes parametric and linear relationships and reduces in power as more covariates and factors are added to the model. Finally, all reporting of statistical tests conformed to the convention whereby the level of significance (α) was first stated, followed by the test statistic

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and the probability value (p). Where (p) was less than or equal to (α) the statistic was said to be significant (Siegel, 1956: 9)

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CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS

This chapter is written in two parts. Part one presents the ‘evolution’ (Doxiadis, 1968: 200) of community functions relevant to the use and maintenance of domestic shelter technology in remote indigenous Australian communities. Community functions were analysed as socio-technical systems subject to evolutionary forces (Cusworth and Franks, 1993: 31; Emery and Trist, 1960: 83-97). Part two presents an empirical analysis of community functions relevant to the use and maintenance of domestic shelter technology in remote indigenous Australian communities. The empirical analysis presents a relatively recent and specific moment in the evolution of the said functions. Part one is therefore oriented to the past rather than the present providing historical context to the data analysed in part two. Together the parts provide a basis for analysing, with a more holistic approach, the sustainability of domestic shelter technologies and the socio-technical systems that define their utility in remote communities. An integrated interpretation of the historical and empirical findings is reserved for chapter four.

Substantial social and technical changes to shelter and relevant support technologies (also described as settlement infrastructure (RCIADIC, 1991: 425)) have occurred in indigenous Australian communities since European arrival. Historical and empirical analyses of these changes are presented against the headings listed below. The headings conform to the theoretical framework developed in chapter two of this study:

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1.0 Goals Underpinning Remote Indigenous Settlement Development 1.1 Nomadic and sedentary lifestyles - macro goals 1.2 Evolutionary forces on indigenous settlements - micro goals

2.0 Ekistic Context Factors 2.1 Population factors 2.2 Location factors 2.3 Economy factors

3.0 Socio-Technical Inputs 3.1 Education 3.2 Materials for shelter construction 3.3 Tools and equipment 3.4 Shelter stock 3.5 Shelter hardware: amenities, appliances and accessories

4.0 Socio-Technical Processes 4.1 Indigenous and non-indigenous participation in technology maintenance 4.2 Indigenous gender participation in technology maintenance

5.0 Socio-Technical Outputs 5.1 State of repair of shelter technologies

6.0 Socio-Technical Feedback 6.1 Perceived appropriateness of shelter technologies 6.2 Perceived causes of shelter technology breakdown

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PART ONE: EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY FUNCTIONS - SUSTAINABILITY OF SHELTER SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE:

This section of the study responds to the first of the three sub-questions presented in chapter one, section 2.4 of this thesis. It reviews the historical/evolutionary aspect of the first sub-question and presents essentially qualitative information on indigenous organisation and response to introduced technologies and changes to their shelter environments. With the arrival of non-indigenous Australians, many aspects of indigenous culture have changed. This study concurs with Flood (1983) that,

‘Culture is the distinctive and complex system developed by a group of human beings to adapt to their environment. It includes ways of getting food, social organisation, religion, artefacts, dwellings and the like. And because the environment is always changing, in small or large ways, so too culture is continually adapting and changing ... Australian Aboriginal culture is no exception, but because the changes are less obvious, even as late as the 1920s aborigines were categorised as unchanging man in an unchanging environment’ (Flood, 1983: 15).

A deal of literature already exists that reviews the general history of indigenous Australians since European arrival (Altman, 1991; Hughes, 1988; Flood, 1983; Clark, 1981; Reynolds, 1981; Isaacs, 1980; Walker, 1976; Seddon, 1976). Part one of this chapter extracts those elements of indigenous Australian history which illustrate how community functions have responded to the prolonged influence of non-indigenous predominantly European settlement development, particularly in regard to indigenous Australian shelter systems, maintenance and support technologies.

The state of repair of existing shelter technologies in remote indigenous Australian communities is a long standing concern with indigenous Australians, national and international groups (Walker, 1994; AAP, 1994: no.8034, 9390; RCIADIC, 1991). The concern for why there remains substantial and recurring housing maintenance

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problems in many remote communities indicates insufficient knowledge and possibly misleading perceptions of the factors relevant to the problem.

The historical review presented in this chapter provides some reconstruction of precontact and early contact indigenous settlement events involving European colonisation in Australia. This reconstruction of the technological aspect of indigenous history is necessary as an integrated presentation of socio-technical systems in remote communities is limited in Australian literature. While historical reconstruction is by its very nature speculative, it is nonetheless important to estimate what transformations are likely to have occurred to the socio-technical dynamics of shelter technologies in communities, in order to better understand later events.

1.1. General development goals underpinning remote indigenous settlements

Socio-technical systems in remote indigenous communities are in part defined by community goals. These goals determine the essential purpose of the birth and death (or transformation) of settlements (Walker, 1972: 21; Doxiadis, 1968 p200). Understanding the general goals of human settlements is useful for analysis purposes as they provide a framework for interpreting the appropriateness of introduced technologies in relation to the socio-technical characteristics of community functions.

The original goals underpinning the establishment and development of indigenous Australian settlements may be approached from two historical perspectives: the goals of the Australian/European government, as reflected in government policies and programs and the goals of indigenous Australians as reflected in their push to reclaim traditional land (Nathan et.al, 1987: 191). The indigenous Australian push back to their ‘homelands’ was generally driven by cultural affiliations to land marks and regions rather than by such technical factors as water supply and transport access, though these were relevant. Education and technology were perceived by many

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indigenous Australians as fundamental inputs to the successful recolonisation of homelands (ibid: 161 and 179).

From the viewpoint of the Federal Australian government, the goals for establishing remote indigenous communities generally conformed to the evolution of government policies and programs. The chronology of government goals with indigenous policy and programs have been described in Australian literature as evolving through a sequence of three main phases (RCIADIC, 1991: 510-516): Table 3.1.1.

Macro-scale phases Evolution of government goals for indigenous of goals Australian settlements1

Phase 1: The frontier and protection years (1788 to 1936)

Phase 2: The assimilation and integration years incorporating the ‘right-to-vote’ years (1937 to 1971)

Phase 3: The self-determination years (since 1972)

Table 3.1.1: Macro-scale evolution of government goals for indigenous Australian settlements

Themes of conflict, resistance and dispossession of indigenous Australians persist throughout Australian history wherever contact with non-indigenous colonisation occurred (Ross, 1987: 13). In recent years, since about 1991 with the advent of the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), a new fourth phase may be said to have emerged in government policies and programs. This phase promotes indigenous empowerment and reconciliation (CFAR, 1994; O’Donoghue in Anda and Ho, 1994: 3). However, this fourth phase of policy is still in its development stage. Its technological interpretation is considered too recent for it to be specifically reviewed from an historical perspective in this study. Indigenous empowerment and reconciliation are nevertheless the current goals of both government and indigenous

1The dates given are guidelines only.

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Australians. It represents a substantial change from previous policy and practice where the Australian government has tended to dominate the terms and process of inter-race relations.

While government policies and programs regarding indigenous Australians appear to be national and sequential over the years, in practice, culture contact occurred at different periods and with different levels of developed technology and bureaucracy in different regions across Australia. Contact with non-indigenous technologies and settlement systems was relatively recent for remote inland indigenous tribes compared to the east coast where non-indigenous occupation began (Hughes, 1988: 2).

The uneven way culture contact spread across Australia presents some difficulty in reviewing the evolutionary effects of introduced Western technologies and settlements when compared against dates of government policies and programs. Many inland indigenous communities had less than a single generation to become familiar with the goals of education and technology development introduced by the Australian federal government. Often very little involvement or training accompanied these systems. For these reasons the evolution of technological contact organised against government goals has been complemented by a framework based on the influence of different phases of settlement development as they occurred across Australia (Walker, 1972: 22). While this latter framework is not exclusive it does provide a useful basis for reviewing how the creation and development of settlements have generally influenced indigenous settlement functions.

Walker (ibid) suggests that settlement functions may be reviewed against macro and micro scales of their evolution. The macro scale relates to the overall basis for the existence through settlements while the micro scale relates to the particular series of events and factors influencing the characteristics of settlements over a specified period of their evolution. For the purpose of the current study the reviewed period of settlement evolution will be from just prior to European colonisation (pre-1788) to the

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present (1995) in Australia. The micro-scale phases of evolutionary forces influencing the development goals of remote indigenous settlements are listed in Table 3.1.2.

Micro-scale Proposed adaptation of Walker’s (1972) framework for classifying phases of and reviewing micro-phases of settlement evolution settlement evolution

Phase 1: Pre-colonial indigenous settlements2

Phase 2: First colonial settlements3

Phase 3: Second colonial settlements4

Phase 4: First colonial indigenous settlements5

Phase 5: Second indigenous settlements6

Table 3.1.2: Phases of permanent settlement evolution influencing indigenous Australian communities in any given region of Australia

The five phases classifying evolutionary forces on indigenous community functions are essentially arbitrary. However, they provide a useful framework for reviewing the general sequence of the technological influence (conveyed through permanent settlement technology and social organisation systems) of indigenous community functions. While indigenous Australians encountered Macassan and other non- indigenous culture and technology prior to European colonisation, these technological encounters did not result in sedentary lifestyles and settlement systems of permanent occupation (Blainey, 1983: 249; Kirk, 1983: v; Isaac, 1980: 264). There is no

2Mobile settlements of indigenous Australians just prior to European contact in any given area of Australia. 3First sedentary settlements in any given area of Australia created and administered by the Australian Government, individuals or enterprises for the ‘housing’ of predominantly non-indigenous Australians. 4The extended networks of satellite townships in any given area of Australia created and administered by the Australian Government, individuals or enterprises for the ‘housing’ of predominantly non-indigenous Australians. 5First sedentary settlements in any given area of Australia created and administered by the Australian Government, Missions or enterprises for the ‘housing’ of indigenous Australians. 6Sedentary settlements created for and administered by indigenous Australians in any given area of Australia.

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evidence to suggest the Macassans intended to colonise Australia in any other capacity than as a temporary base from which to conduct occasional fishing.

1.1.1. Nomadic and sedentary lifestyles - macro goals

At the macro-scale, most indigenous Australians lived nomadic and semi-nomadic lifestyles. Their motivation to live and move around on a particular area of land was driven by their social goal to maintain spiritual identity with their ancestral lands as well as their technical/survival goal to continually find pockets of water and food. The social and technical/survival aspects of their goals were related. Spiritually significant land forms often marked locations of water, food, material resources and shelter. The desire to maintain mobility within their traditional lands was therefore underpinned by both spiritual and survival goals. In contrast, most European settlements generally lived a sedentary lifestyle. This lifestyle reflected the types of shelter systems and technologies reproduced and imported to the colonial settlements being established throughout Australia. The motivation to live in permanent settlements had little spiritual basis to it. Settlements were based essentially on economic, geographic and social-administration factors (Nathan et.al, 1983: 184). The design and development telos of the tools and technologies as well as social organisation underpinning the production and use of these things were influenced by fundamentally different settlement goals between cultures. The general social and technical goals of non-indigenous Australians were to develop networks of large permanent settlements while those of indigenous Australians were to develop small mobile settlements that travelled a defined network of pathways within their tribal lands (Combs in Kulinma, 1978: 204).

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1.1.1.1 Macro goals of nomadic settlements

Most indigenous Australians living in remote areas developed social organisational systems and technologies which maximised community survival in regions where food and water resources were generally too scarce to sustain permanent settlements (Kirk et.al, 1983: 41; Nathan et.al, 1983: 14). A deal of time each day was dedicated to subsistence functions such as hunting and gathering. These subsistence functions and the lifestyle goals that underpinned them were universal tasks among the many mobile settlements of different tribes across Australia until they were influenced by European settlements.

‘... the Aboriginal “old-time” way of life was disrupted with the arrival of the white man. In the past, Aborigines lived in clearly defined areas, hunting and gathering in small, cohesive family groups, travelling across and camping on their own country. They were bound to the land by strong economic, personal and religious ties. Their form of land use provided a comprehensive and independent economic base’ (ibid: 184).

The lifestyle of most pre-colonial indigenous settlements have been described as nomadic (Flood, 1983). However, where land and climate conditions were amenable, a few indigenous Australians developed more permanent settlement lifestyles constructing more permanent systems of shelters.

‘... aboriginal people in Western Victoria wore fur cloaks and lived in more permanent villages with stone houses. In warmer resource rich areas, Aboriginal people stayed for months at a time, though lighter shelters have weathered away, denying us much ancient evidence’ (RCIADIC, 1991: 6).

While a few indigenous Australian tribes established more permanent settlements, the majority in remote inland regions maintained a nomadic and semi-nomadic lifestyle. The small size and mobility of nomadic settlements was for many arid land tribes difficult to avoid and possibly essential to maintain for their survival. The arid and semi-arid environments could not sustain dense, centralised and permanent human populations (Kirk, 1983: 41). A feature of these mobile settlements was their

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capacity to sustain a subsistence economy rather than a cash or market economy (Altman, 1987). The goal to sustain nomadic subsistence influenced the outcomes and performance of socio-technical systems in settlements. Tools evolved that were essentially lightweight, manufactured from mostly local and renewable resources. They were often multi functional or composite in their design. The adze added to the end of woomeras illustrates this point (Flood, 1983: 19). Heavy or special equipment necessary for survival or ceremonial functions were strategically placed in the bush for future journeys. Water holes were covered with flat large stones to prevent dust and evaporation while grinding stones and shelter construction materials were left behind for future travellers (Vanderwal, 1982: 48).

Materials, tools and techniques were managed through a variety of organisational systems. These were often articulated through traditional lore and a gender-age organisation system of responsibility (RCIADIC, 1991: 9). Survival in the remote arid and semi-arid regions was as much dependent on the social ‘software’ as the technical ‘hardware’ to keep the entire subsistence economy functioning (Sharp, 1952; Jéquier, 1976).

Bands of about 2 to 25 people comprised of one to two families was estimated to constitute a sustainable community in many arid regions (Kirk, 1983: 41-2). The social and technical system sustaining small family hearths determined the style and technology of shelters. These factors contributed to the maintenance of social and technical functions according to gender-age demarcations. Community functions were sustained through common social organisation and lore. All physical and spiritual elements of indigenous Australian communities required a logical place in the ‘Dreaming’ cosmology of each tribe. Nathan had written that in ‘... the past, social order was maintained by the rules of conduct towards kin. These, vested ultimately in the Dreamtime, were known to all and maintained and interpreted by the

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wise elders. The small groups maximised the potential of this form of social control’ (Nathan et.al, 1983: 23).

The knowledge of the Dreaming was essential for group survival, not only for the social unity it provided but also for the direct reference Dreaming lore had to the material reality of the land. The Dreaming linked water, food, materials, tools, techniques and skill development with the relevant social organisational patterns that sustained and procured these physical resources for group survival. There was no room for excessive individualism or consumption of land resources in these small bands of mobile settlements. Those who lived longest and who were not a survival burden to the group clearly accumulated important social and technical survival knowledge valued by all.

‘When a baby was born, she or he immediately had a niche in a complex cosmology defined by Dreaming stories. Identity was secure and the child had a variety of land relationships via its conception Dreaming [sic], as well as its inheritance through its father and mother ... Values which were taught in traditional Aboriginal society included sharing, respecting the wisdom of age, looking out for the young, gentle treatment and close observation of plants and animals, and the fulfilment of kinship obligations ... Dancing and singing, story telling, drawing, painting and sculpture took place all year round, and through such entertaining means, everyone learnt the law of their group’ (RCIADIC, 1991: 7).

Clear and uncompromised boundaries to traditional lifestyles were set by the need to survive in a harsh land especially for those living in the arid regions of inland Australia. Extreme elements of social organisation were sometimes implemented when groups were caught in extreme climatic and endurance situations.

‘Deformed children were smothered or strangled. If a mother died at childbirth, or while nursing a child in arms, the infant would be burned with her after the father crushed its head with a large stone ... This ruthless weeding out of the helpless at one end of life also took place at the other. The Iora respected their old men as repositories of tribal wisdom and

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religious knowledge, but the tribe would not hamper its mobility, essential to nomadic survival, by keeping the old and infirm alive after their teeth had gone and their joints had seized up ... It was a harsh code but it had enabled the Aborigines to survive for millennia without either extending their technology or depleting their resources’ (Hughes, 1988: 17).

All indigenous tools and construction techniques were embedded not only in a tangible reality, but also the Dreaming (Myers, 1986: 47-70). The material benefits derived from the physics of indigenous technologies (such as the leverage of the woomera (spear thrower) or the wind protection of temporary wiltjas (shelters)) were matched by the spiritual rules of social organisation for how these items were to be made, by whom and when and how they were to be maintained. The technical value of indigenous technology was derived from the laws of physics while the social value was derived from the tribe’s metaphysical lore.

There is sufficient historical evidence to suggest that at the macro scale, the general goal of nomadic indigenous Australians was to maintain a socio-technical system appropriate for the survival of small mobile populations. The system produced efficient, light weight, composite and locally renewable tools the use and maintenance of which was vested in the organisational structures which probably had been sustained for thousands of years.

1.1.1.2 Macro goals of permanent settlements

The European goal to develop permanent settlements represents an evolutionary force that has displaced indigenous shelter technologies, technical skills and social organisation systems. The process of developing a lifestyle about permanent settlements involved the clearing of land and development of centralised towns. The economic system of those permanent settlements was based on growth and consumption. The development and choice of technologies and human organisation

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in the production and use of those technologies favoured the growth base economy and permanent settlement lifestyle.

The development pattern of First Fleet colonisation involved setting up networks of centralised permanent settlements and social organisation systems (Hughes, 1988: 88- 91). While for many early convicts, the idea of creating permanent shelter technologies and systems was not desirable, the inevitable spread of permanent settlements was underway when the First Fleet of convicts and settlers established camp in Sydney cove over two hundred years ago. Key technical and organisational tasks included the manufacture of iron implements, bricks, the establishment of large scale, specialist crop farming and animal domestication technology. In 1788 it was observed that,

‘... a party [was] cutting down the woods; a second setting up a blacksmiths forge; a third dragging along a load of stones or provisions ... They had six months rations and were told to start growing crops and retting flax immediately ... [Simple huts] of about 9 by 12 feet with a hipped roof and two windows [were constructed] ... They had no ploughs or draft animals, it was all hack and peck hoe cultivation, and they sowed the first corn on a patch half a mile East of the stream where the Botanical Gardens of Sydney now stand ... [the first permanent structure, made of crudely formed bricks, was government House] ... For mortar the only source of lime was burned oyster shells laboriously gathered by convict women [from the 30,000 years of middens created by indigenous Australians in the area]’ (ibid: 87- 90).

The colonisation process was an attempt to replicate the technology and social organisation of England as this was the only form of survival, development and technology the settlers were familiar with (ibid: 2). The settlement goals of British colonies were to establish settlements based on permanency principles and resulted in a very different technology and social organisation development path than those of most indigenous Australians. The effect of these settlement goals, though perhaps unintended, was the eventual displacement of most of the natural resources, people

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and land icons that held spiritual significance and subsistence value to indigenous Australians.

Settled lifestyle goals introduced by European colonisation conflicted with several important aspects of nomadic settlements. At the outset the goal of colonists was to build permanent settlements and establish agriculture technology to sustain these settlements. The settled lifestyle relied on food and material resources to be brought to a central location rather than the other way around. The technologies used were based on replicating the farming and industrial notions of settlements in England. Vast tracts of land were cleared for roads and monoculture farms.

The cash based economy and tendency towards denser and larger populations of European settlements in Australia influenced the locations of these settlements. Coastal locations with protecting harbours and access to inland Australia via river deltas characterised the macro development goals of many first and second colonial settlements. Australia’s population naturally spread along coastal sites where natural water supplies and water ways supported permanent settlements and the bulk transport of supplies. It took some time for inland Australia to be colonised by permanent European settlements.

Centralised government in established towns regulated public services. As settlement populations grew, so did the demand for more land usage, building materials, water and food production and transport.

‘The first engineering impact on the Australian landscape probably came from the rudimentary roads radiating outwards from Sydney cove, the early water supply works and the crude port facilities developed for the ships from Britain.’ (Green in Seddon and Davis, 1976: 90)

Unlike the spiritual identity that indigenous Australians developed with the natural environment, permanent European settlements excessively exploited the natural environment to ensure input to a growth economy, much of which fed back to the

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United Kingdom. The identity with the land was often described by early settlers as a battle with the Australian landscape that had to be won rather than a nurturing relationship that had to be sustained.

‘Nowhere else ... had technological man lately occupied so fragile an eco system; nowhere else had settlers so utterly failed to identify with their new landscapes; nowhere else was man's environmental impact so patently reprehensible. Yet an outsider is soon aware how closely Australian attitudes and impacts resemble those of new comers to New World shores. If colonial Australians hated trees, ... American colonists chopped them down with a vengeance. Like early Australian pioneers, Americans viewed the wilderness mainly as a hostile encumbrance’ (ibid: 358).

While there are other goals motivating the aspirations of individuals in both nomadic and sedentary/permanent settlements, there appears to be a fundamental difference in the social organisation and technologies that the two settlement forms developed. The socio-technical systems of nomadic settlements generally pursued mobility, portability and a subsistence economy for small populations except at trading or ceremonial occasions. The socio-technical systems of colonial settlements generally pursued permanence and a market cash economy for larger centrally governed populations except at the smaller agriculture and resource sites to those settlements. The general macro goals of mobile and permanent settlements were fundamentally different to each other even though they shared similar functions such as the supply of food, shelter and the development of tracks and networks. What made their methods for performing settlement functions differently was the development and lifestyle goals they pursued.

1.1.1.3 Macro goals of government (1788 to 1937): frontier and protection years

The socio-technical systems that defined the settlement functions of indigenous and non-indigenous settlements pursued fundamentally different development goals for

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their survival. The potential for conflict and competition for valued natural resource and land between European colonists and indigenous Australians could be said to have been inevitable. This was not simply because of differences in the belief systems of these groups but, importantly, because the initial development goals guiding the socio-technical systems of each group were technologically different and entrenched in their respective socio-technical traditions. The perception that European settled lifestyle and technology was better than that of indigenous Australians was often expressed or assumed in historical text reviewing the plight of the latter.

‘Whereas gardening could be grafted onto a semi-nomadic life, the economic activities and energies of England of 1800 would shatter the social and economic customs of the Aboriginals. Tragically, the largest region of nomads in the world was now face to face with the island which had carried to new heights that settled, specialised existence that had arisen from the domesticating of plants and animals. People who could not boil water were confronted by the nation which had recently contrived the steam engine’ (Blainey, 1983: 253-4).

While conflict, resistance and displacement of indigenous Australian culture developed in most regions where permanent settlements were established, including colonial administered indigenous permanent settlements, this was not the alleged goal of the Governor of the First Fleet in 1788. Most of the history of culture contact exhibited little relation to Governor Phillip’s goal. Both disease and conflict between cultures depopulated many indigenous Australian tribes. Hughes had written that,

‘... colonists did not wish to exterminate or enslave [indigenous Australians], and they seemed at first to pose no threat ... Nevertheless ... Cholera and influenza germs from the ships began the work. By 1789 Black corpses were a common sight ... These epidemics were not meant to happen; the days of arsenic and the infected trading-blankets were still far off. Governor Phillip’s instructions as to Blacks were quite clear: He must “conciliate their affections, enjoining all our subjects to live in amity and

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kindness with them”, and punish anyone who harmed them ... why add tribal warfare to the problems of the colony?’ (Hughes, 1988: 91).

Not only had disease begun the work of decimating indigenous Australian tribes, but also the technology of networked centralised permanent settlements. These settlements required food and building resources to be brought to them. The colonists knew only of this form of technology and development and as Australia did not appear to them to have animals and grain appropriate for domestication these things were imported over the unfolding years of British colonisation. Vast areas of land were cleared for farming by the colonists. The technology wiped out the food and material resources as well as the natural land forms of spiritual importance to indigenous Australians. Several indigenous tribes began their local campaign to resist the invaders if for no other reason than to protect their source of spiritual identity and resource base for their subsistence survival (Reynolds, 1987: 46). Farms were raided, pathways through traditional spiritual lands were defended against intruders and inevitable arms were raised in clashes through the bush (RCIADIC, 1991: 17-20 and 22).

It is estimated that over 20,000 indigenous Australians died specifically from skirmishes with frontier colonist (CFAR, 1994: 3; Reynolds, 1987: 53). Indigenous resistance was also effective given the constraints of the less powerful weapons designed to defend against other similarly equipped small tribal bands and for subsistence hunting. Before the end of the frontier years in the late 1800s, approximately 3000 colonists were killed and 3000 wounded by small bands of indigenous Australians (op.cit. 1991: 20). The most significant factors influencing the high degree of loss among indigenous Australians compared to non-indigenous settlers was the technological advantage of early settlers (Blainey, 1983: 252). Many tribal skirmishes with settlers were believed to have been motivated by local tribal laws for situations of unauthorised passage through their territories. However, many early European settlers engaged in skirmishes with indigenous Australians as they

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also believed that the land they had work on to develop was theirs. For these settlers, unauthorised passage or taking of live stock by indigenous Australians was justification for stopping indigenous Australians from accessing their land and livestock without obtaining their permission.

The initial laws of British government largely excluded guidance for relating to skirmishes between settlers and indigenous Australia. While the reality of contact and conflict varied across Australia since colonisation, indigenous Australians were often protected under State laws. On the one hand indigenous Australians were protected by government against settlers while on the other hand convicts and settlers wanted the government to defend their property against theft and raid by indigenous Australians. Law enforcers were often faced with the dilemma of having to act (RCIADIC, 1991: 19). The government’s protection of indigenous Australians was rarely effective. Indigenous Australians were confronted with introduced disease, the intrusion of permanent settlement technologies and the social system and values that underpinned an emerging industrial lifestyle.

‘The conflict between Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people in Australia is not premised only on “race” but on a colonial past. Racial ideas went hand in hand with British imperialism, and hence its anthropologists, who turned such ideas into a sustaining “science”, which was ... applied in both Africa and Australia, have been branded the “handmaidens” of colonialism. Theories like social Darwinism, popularised in the 1870s, predicted that “inferior races” in the wake of “colonial progress” was inevitable ... subsequent government policies took on a short term palliative nature’ (ibid: 16).

By 1901 government was convinced that the traditional race of indigenous Australians was doomed unless they acted to protect the remaining tribes, most of which were located in the central inland and northern regions of Australia (ibid: 23). However, the policy of ‘protection’ often worked against the interests of indigenous Australians. Actions included the removal of ‘half-caste’ indigenous children or sick

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people from tribal camps. The policy produced great distress among indigenous families. Tribes were forced off traditional water holes in arid regions and into station labour at the request of European pastoralists (ibid: 25). This conflicted with the goal of most indigenous Australians to maintain occupation and free movement within their traditional lands.

By the late 1930s and early 1940s, the protectionist role of the police was replaced by welfare officers whose agenda was to enforce government goals of indigenous assimilation and integration. Many indigenous Australians were moved while others were attracted to permanent government and mission settlements; there they were introduced to industrialised lifestyles and work ethics (ibid).

Up until the mid 1970s, little by way of technical training, housing and infrastructure was transferred to most remote indigenous Australian settlements. For the most part training was by way of cheap pastoral, kitchen or domestic labour. Those taken from their families because of their mixed race background were placed in government schools and missions. While many developed their skills in mainstream education and found mainstream employment, this was usually achieved at the expense of enforced removal and isolation from family (CAR, 1994: 133).

1.1.1.4 Macro goals of government (1937 to 1972): assimilation, integration and citizenship years

The government goals of assimilation and integration introduced permanent settlement shelter technology and infrastructure to the semi-nomadic lifestyle of indigenous Australians. The goals were to bring together, de-socialise and re- socialise indigenous Australians, particularly those located in the central and northern regions of Australia, into the lifestyle of mainstream permanent settlements.

‘The policy of assimilation means that all Aborigines and part-Aborigines are expected eventually to attain the same manner of living as other

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Australians and to live as members of a single Australian community enjoying the same rights and privileges, accepting the same responsibilities, observing the same customs and influenced by the same beliefs, as other Australians’ (Rowley, 1970: 399).

The main physical interpretation of the assimilation goal was to place indigenous Australians in transition shelters and predominantly mission schools. The system rewarded those who appeared to have abandoned their tribal nomadic lifestyle. They were issued with Certificates of Native Exemption and often the provision of fully serviced houses closer to the urban centre of established towns (Ross, 1987: 71). Permanent settlement systems, the shelter structures and items used in these settlements and social organisation were the physical manifestations of the governments assimilation policy and represented a form of social engineering.

‘Individual Aboriginal families were to move through a range of accommodation from a single- or two-room dwelling with few facilities to progressively more conventional two- or three-bedroom suburban types of houses. The approach was referred to as “transitional housing” and a number of transitional dwellings, as well as some conventional ones, were built by the Aboriginal welfare authorities on reserves during the 1950s and early 1960s’ (Saunders in RCIADIC, 1991: 437).

The attempt to assimilate indigenous Australians was integral to post WWII7 government programs. However, the strategy to introduce indigenous people to permanent housing as a method of resocialisation can be traced back to colonies of the First Fleet in 1788.

‘Bennelong was an Iora tribesman, the first black to learn English, drink rum, wear clothes and eat the invaders' strange food. He was rewarded for his curiosity with the friendship of Governor Phillip - and a small brick hut, about 12 feet square, in which he lived on the end of what is now Bennelong Point’ (Hughes, 1988: 11).

7Post World War Two: post 1945.

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It was not until the 1950s and 1960s that government began to provide and administer forms of housing (and so permanent settlements generally) for indigenous Australians as part of their official assimilation goals. Rowley had found that, ‘... assimilation policy was no more than a general term for what each government was doing anyway, up till 1961, since it was not until then that a common definition of assimilation was worked out and agreed to’ (Rowley, 1970: 398).

The attempts to assimilate indigenous Australians via their placement into designated ‘instant’ permanent settlements was fundamentally flawed. The development goal, social organisation, lifestyle values and technologies of these settlements conflicted in their site location, population size and economy to the mobile and semi-mobile settlement goals of indigenous Australians. The reaction of many was to abandon the ‘instant’ permanent settlement system of housing. Many people moved to their traditional territories with the view to create smaller population settlements comprised mostly of a homogenous tribal background. Some tribes in central and northern Australia returned to their traditional lands in the hope that this would improve their health and reconnect them with their spiritual heritage (Blanchard, 1987): the options for most other tribes originating from the temperate and coastal regions of Australia were minimal as most prime land was either occupied by non-indigenous Australians or earmarked for public or private use. For remote living indigenous Australians, ‘... protection and maintenance of country and sacred sites is fundamental to the preservation of their cultural, social and physical world’ (Nathan et.al, 1983: 23).

This movement was eventually reflected in a variation to government policy from the goal of assimilation to the goal of integration in 1962. Elkin interpreted the integration policy as one where indigenous Australians could, ‘... remain a group apart, to be integrated with the white or European group of citizens in a plural social and political system. It is a protest against absorption’ (Elkin in Bell, 1964: 69).

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The shift in policy was a response to public concern that assimilation was denying basic human rights to indigenous Australians including the right to lead traditional cultural lifestyles. However, the shift to integration goals was considered by many as cosmetic. The final state was still seen to be assimilation but with government softening its means for indigenous Australians to reach this final state (Barnes in Rowley, 1970: 403).

A major turning point in the evolution of government goals was a national referendum to include indigenous Australians in the national census data and grant full citizenship rights as other Australians across States and Territories. The referendum was held in 1967 and the first national census of the indigenous Australian population was held in 1971 (RCIADIC, 1991: 518). Indigenous Australians obtained the right to vote in all levels of government elections. While the majority of non-indigenous Australians in 1967 endorsed powers to the Commonwealth government to make laws related to indigenous Australians, there is evidence to suggest that many indigenous Australians were not interested in this outcome (Tonkinson, 1974: 112). Their concern was that government law was for non-indigenous Australians and that these laws held no relevance to the traditional indigenous laws still practiced in remote settlements.

‘For their part the [Jigalong] aborigines say that they are not interested in the white mans law-as long as it leaves their law alone- because it belongs to the whites and is for them, not aborigines to follow. In 1963, when visiting officials offered them the opportunity to vote in forth coming statewide elections the aboriginal men had many discussions then decided against accepting the offer’ (ibid).

It would appear that the referendum to include citizenship rights in 1967 was as much suggested by a general expectation of the assimilation of indigenous Australians into the mainstream as it was an expression of ‘good will’ by non-indigenous Australians. The wording in Australia’s constitution changed from, ‘The Parliament shall, subject

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to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:- (xxvi) The people of any race, other than the aboriginal race in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws:’ (Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, Chapter 12, section 51, clause 26, 9th July 1900) to, ‘The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:- (xxvi) The people of any race for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws:’ (Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, Chapter 12, section 51, clause 26, 1967).

Although in practice it was never enacted by government, under the old Act indigenous Australians were theoretically a totally self-governing and so self- determining race of people. The non-indigenous leaders had no Constitutional or legal powers under Commonwealth government law to govern the affairs of indigenous Australians. However, the non-indigenous expectation for the role of the Australian government was that it govern and this was manifested in reality for all Australians, even though the right to do so was not granted by probably most indigenous Australians. The remote and mobile lifestyle of many indigenous Australians limited adequate consultation in any case. The new goals of government brought about by the referendum meant that they were now engaged in a process of formally addressing the needs of indigenous Australians with funding, public services and development programs. Indigenous Australians were keen to re-establish their links with their traditional home lands and soon began a campaign to do so. Their goal was to regain control of their lifestyle and future. The technological and social tasks of many indigenous Australians was the creation, development and upkeep of permanent settlements where most of the occupants of those settlements were committed to traditional social and cultural organisation and a history of high mobility (Nathan et.al, 1983).

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1.1.1.5 Macro goals of government (1972 to present): self-determination and empowerment years

The goal of remote living indigenous Australians to move to their traditional lands and establish settlements related to cultural freedom and empowerment. Important and valued socio-technical functions, such as initiation, death and law ceremonies, were able to be practiced in these remote settlements with little chance of being interfered with or influenced by non-indigenous lifestyle and visitors. However, the Australian government did not initially interpret their goals for self-determination in the same way as many indigenous Australians. The Australian government continued to create indigenous settlements with the intension of a transitional phase of shelter systems before providing full support for serviced houses and infrastructure in remote communities. This approach was perceived several years later as largely unsuccessful. Ross had written that, ‘Transitional houses appear to have given Aboriginal people the worst of both worlds - dislocation of community social life and poor climatic control, without many compensations in household facilities’ (Ross, 1987: 71).

For many remote indigenous communities the majority of introduced technologies corresponded with an unprecedented injection of Federal government funding for housing, education, employment and community infrastructure during the mid to late 1970s (Altman, 1991: 2; Kirk, 1983: 198). However, the 1970s approach by the Federal Government proved to be difficult to translate into practice. Many indigenous Australians in remote regions moved to isolated areas to establish their settlements in traditional lands. Camp location was predominantly determined by socio-cultural rather than technical factors. On occasions, political self-determination was held up by the cost of water, training or housing at desired settlement sites (Nathan et.al, 1983). Programs were mostly directed towards establishing and developing indigenous settlements. The provision of ‘housing’, administrative services, maintenance and support technologies once again featured foremost in the

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physical interpretation of government policies and programs (Long, 1972: 168 and 176). The complementary social and technical services and equipment which made ‘houses’ functional (broadly referred to in this study as the socio-technical systems that define the utility of shelters) was known by government to be fundamental to the notion of ‘housing’. The Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody acknowledged that, ‘All sedentary communities have basic infrastructural requirements, including a reliable supply of fresh water, the removal of waste and access to a supply of goods and services which the community cannot supply for itself ... Most Australians take these services for granted’ (RCIADIC, 1991: 428).

The socio-technical aspects of self-determination have been perhaps the most difficult to translate into practice. Indigenous control of the decision making process with regard to housing, infrastructure technology, maintenance and technical education presupposed that indigenous Australian communities had a pool of informed decision makers in the selection, administration and development of technologies suitable for their settlement situation. This is a particular problem in remote indigenous settlements where local economies were often too small to support a pool of technical specialists (Altman, 1987; Mintzberg, 1979: 229). Remote indigenous communities relied on government, technical contractors and technical training industries to manage their community functions. The Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody found that there was a ‘... severe deficit of the management and technical skills required to administer community facilities. There was no subsequent training, so the communities became heavily dependent on contract employees from outside their communities’ (RCIADIC, 1991: 540).

While the community councils were to make the decisions and the outside employees were to carry them out, the process was inevitably led by the latter. To make an informed technical decision required some technical background in mainstream technology options and processes and this precluded many community council

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members from controlling issues of technology management. Often remote community councils found it easier to let non-indigenous technical specialists control the selection and processes of infrastructure and development. The community council simply became a token gesture in management of facilities (ibid). While socio-cultural development in remote indigenous communities was increasingly self- determined and managed, the same was not usually the case for community shelter and infrastructure technologies.

The next major area of empowerment and control for many remote indigenous settlements appears to be over the socio-technical systems that define the utility of settlement functions. This includes the selection, procurement, development, modification, maintenance and management of shelter, transport and infrastructure technology and the social organisational skills associated with these technologies. The task of managing technologies in remote communities has often be made more complex to achieve given the increasing tendency for companies to trial their technologies in remote locations. Niche technology companies would trial new specialised equipment (such as remote power or water filtration systems) perspectives (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995: 26; op.cit, 1991: 23). The goal of addressing indigenous Australian community development through the policy of self-determination has been regarded by many as a complex one and very difficult to demonstrate in practice because of the type of factors that often compete in remote communities.

‘It is remarkable how a concept so widely recognised as being central to the achievement of the profound change which is required in the area of Aboriginal affairs remains so ephemeral and so difficult to define. governments can genuinely believe that their policies give practical recognition to self-determination, and yet in the eyes of Aboriginal people the policies not only fail to do so but, at times, are regarded as being founded on the concept of assimilation - the very antithesis of self- determination’ (ibid: 503).

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The current fourth phase in the macro evolution of government and indigenous goals emphasises self-determination through reconciliation and empowerment. The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, commissioned by the Federal government for the period 1991 to 2001 has set its vision statement. A central goal of the reconciliation process is to achieve, ‘... a united Australia which respects this land of ours, values the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and provides justice and equity for all’ (CFAR, 1994: iii). However, technological empowerment in the socio-technical systems of permanent indigenous settlements remain unattained for many indigenous Australians.

1.1.2. Evolutionary forces on indigenous settlements - micro goals

The preceding section presented a broad macro-scale evolution of the lifestyle and associated development goals of government settlements and of nomadic lifestyles and development goals of indigenous Australians. This section describes, at the micro-scale, the evolutionary forces that permanent settlement systems have exerted on remote indigenous settlements. Five general phases of technological culture contact with the evolution of permanent settlement systems and technologies are presented. The phases provide a system (micro-scale) rather than a policy (macro- scale) perspective of the evolutionary forces on indigenous Australian settlements.

1.1.2.1. Phase 1: pre-colonial indigenous settlements

Historical Australian literature indicates that,

‘... between the coming of indigenous people over fifty thousand years ago and the coming of Europeans in 1788, the changes in the appearance of Australia were caused probably more by changes in climate than by human activity. For apart from fire, and the implements used for hunting and food gathering, and the rock paintings on which they portrayed their vision of the world, Aboriginal people handed on to prosperity few other memorials

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of their encounter with the harsh land they occupied. The absence of suitable seed bearing plans, and animals for domestication, probably were the main causes of this apparent changelessness, though their cosmology also contributed to it’ (HREOC, 1994: 52).

Before Europeans entered a region new to them in Australia, the lifestyle and form of settlement of indigenous Australians in these regions were essentially unaltered. Other than early explorers such as Dampier sighting indigenous Australians on the coast near Broome in the 15th century, Australia was untouched by Europeans (CFAR, 1994: 3). The greatest influence of non-indigenous people on indigenous Australians before 1788 was the Macassar of South East Asia (Blainey, 1983: 249). The Macassans introduced steel tools and glass, floor, new artwork and fishing techniques. One of their main legacies was to alter aspects of indigenous Australian languages. While the Macassar fishing parties were thought to have interacted with indigenous Australians along the north coast of Australia for approximately 3000 years before European contact, their long term impact on indigenous settlement lifestyle was minimal. This was mainly due their temporary occupation of beach frontage as ports of anchorage while they fished for trepang in local coastal waters. Their visits were short lived and generally meagre through the years (ibid: 249-250). It is plausible that the technological goal of the Macassans was not to develop a system of permanent settlements. The technology they brought was small scaled and specific to small mobile fleets whose purpose was to catch and return trepang to their own land for market.

There was little stimulus for indigenous Australians to dramatically change their technologies or social systems as these things were highly refined for the familiar and much slower changes that occurred in their natural environment (Flood, 1983: 15). The materials, tools, techniques, learning strategies and social organisation which had been appropriate for over 2000 generations were considered equally appropriate for present and future generations (Rose, 1987; Brokensha, 1975). Before European

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colonisation it is quite possible that many indigenous Australians had developed socio-technical systems in equilibrium with their environment.

‘The alienation of European settlers ordering their lives by time and historical precedent, was contrasted with the finely attuned reactions of the Australian Aborigines. “In this land where time was only the unvarying cycle of nature, the seasons like the trees and the animals and the men were born and waxed to their full strength, faded and were eternally replaced”... all modern historians ... have learned ... to recognise the harmony of the pre-settlement Aborigines with their environment’ (Seddon and Davis, 1976: 119).

The need to maintain settlement mobility and small populations was generally dictated by the environment. Gatherings for remote indigenous settlements depended on the availability of food and water. For those indigenous Australians living in traditional or pre-European contact times, it has been estimated that central and northern Australian tribes would set up camps for periods of no longer than about a week as food and water were unlikely to have been available in amounts sufficient to support permanent settlements (Blainey, 1983: 29) and,

‘... none of the regular ceremonial gatherings brought together all the tribe at the one time, for there was no camp site that could provide enough food and water to support a thousand people for more than a day or two. Instead the normal pattern of interaction was such that people who usually lived in localities as widely separated as say the Lander Creek and Vaughan Springs had no contact with eachother for nine or ten months of the year. If food was scarce, as a result of poor seasons, they might not meet for two or three years at a time’ (Meggitt, 1962: 243).

In the mobile settlement, it was likely that temporary shelter technology and maintenance held a lower priority among tribes when compared against the technologies that facilitated mobility. Lightweight, portable tools, the means to produce these tools and so their social management, took precedence in the prioritising of technologies and equipment. Fire became a key technology as it was

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not only used to cook food and provide warmth, but also to extend the days activity into the night. Fire was used as a tool to shape other tools such as spears or to create water shallows in rock through repeated burn and quench techniques (Hercus and Smotton, 1986: 37). For many indigenous Australians, shelter technology was often fire technology as this provided some element of localised climate control. On other occasions, constructed shelter technology was unnecessary as tribes moved into the many known natural shelters when adverse conditions dictated. Hughes had written that,

‘Fire, to the Iora, was shelter ... to survive at all, the small knots of family groups that made up the tribe had to range easily and rapidly over a wide area, feeding as they went; and that made the idea of solid, permanent dwellings inconceivable. To them, the hearth was of far greater significance than the home ... it was not that the Iora lived in caves [and humpies] because they could not build huts, but rather that they chose not to build huts because they had caves.’ (Hughes, 1988: 13)

Technical processes and the management of hunting, gathering and shelter technologies were tied to traditional rules of social organisation. The small populations of each tribe and their mobility goals meant that the production and maintenance of equipment was deeply embedded not only in social traditions, but because social rules and material resources were tied to the land, these things often held their place in the Dreaming cosmology of tribes. Technological practice related to identity, happiness and place (Myers, 1986: 111-113). The Dreaming regulated what materials could be extracted from where and how it was to be done (Tindale, 1974: 18). The items hunted and gathered and the tools to be used defined the social division of labour for these functions (Myers, 1986: 74). Technology practice was a social event linked to the land and the Dreaming and in this way the act of socially performing community functions was mapped out for all to organise their activities. It is possible that when new introduced community functions and technologies could not be accommodated in the Dreaming in some acceptable way, as Christianity has

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been accommodated in many communities, then questions of how these function are to be performed, with what tools and by whom becomes a complex awkward issue. The Dreaming was perceived as the law above mortal question and manipulation. The Dreaming, ‘... is not our idea, it’s a big Law. We have to sit down alongside of that Law like all the dead people who went before us’ (ibid: 47).

As the main variable in the process over time was the coming and going of individuals, the management of settlement functions was more a question of who rather than how: of social relation rather than skill, training or technique. The transfer of knowledge and skills were known in the traditional system leaving personnel selection the main unknown to be resolved. With the introduction of European sedentary technologies and settlement functions, the management aspects of these technologies was likely to be unchartered in the Dreaming.

In summary, the socio-technical systems of precolonial indigenous settlements were shaped by the need for the settlement to maintain mobility. Shelter technology was limited to minor temporary and naturally formed structures. For most indigenous Australians, fire and natural shelters were the limits to which shelter technology and maintenance skills were needed to be extended. The lifestyle did not benefit from or require the construction of permanent systems of shelters and agricultural technologies. The procurement of material resources, mode of production, technology maintenance and social management of settlement functions represented skills and knowledge that were detailed in tribal cosmology. Community functions were defined in a socio-technical system modified mostly by the minimal pace of change imposed upon tribes by the environment: on-indigenous settlement systems, technologies, and economies would not permanently occupy the Australian continent until 1788.

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1.1.2.2. Phase 2: first colonial settlements

The next phase (to effect functions in indigenous Australian communities) in the evolution of permanence was the establishment of colonial townships. The main technological impact of first colonial settlements included destruction, depletion, displacement and dispossession of the sources of input that defined indigenous community functions and so elements of their livelihood. European settlement development often destroyed the building and tool resource base of local tribes. Many of those sites would include ceremonial significance.

Colonial settlements required the building of roads and pathways to extract the materials necessary to create these settlements. Roads implied a form of transport technology that was not designed to move carefully through the natural Australian landscape. Western transport technologies such as animal drawn carts and buggies required the clearing and levelling of the natural environment. This mode of technology practice reflected the values of people socially organised for a network of linked permanent towns with access to rural areas for food, construction material and energy resources. Initially, transport technology was slow and small scale. The First Fleet relied on foot and sail as their main mode of transportation. Before animal power, convicts were used to pull carriages between some of Australia’s early towns (Hughes, 1988).

The assumption underpinning the slow but deliberate spread of permanent settlements was terra nullius: (which has since been accepted as an incorrect assumption in Australian Law in some areas of Australia). Land in Australia was perceived as belonging nobody and therefore it was open to squatting and development (CFAR, 1994: 3). Early settlers knew that indigenous Australians roamed the land they occupied, but because it did not appear to have been transformed by farming or marked by boundaries and fences (the settler’s familiar signs of permanent settlement systems), and because there was a prevailing belief emerging that the race of

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indigenous Australians was inferior, Australia was perceived as untouched and unoccupied (RCIADIC, 1991: 9).

The process of clearing land and building roads, settlements and primary and manufacturing industries represented the only mode of technology-practice that early European society was familiar with and so committed to develop and maintain. The processes of industrial and social organisation, settlement creation and Western technological development in initially primary industries not only significantly altered the natural environment, but in so doing it reduced the subsistence economy base and hunter-gatherer mode of production central to indigenous Australian culture. The actions of colonial settlers were grounded in the notion of permanent settlement development and represented the first known phase of indigenous disempowerment. Their impact on indigenous lifestyle would not have been obvious to many early settlers as the process of exploiting natural resources for developing settlements and networks was the usual practice in Britain and Europe.

1.1.2.3. Phase 3: second colonial settlements

The expansion of a network of settlements and energy, food, water and building resource areas introduced the second evolutionary force to affect indigenous Australians living in inland and rural regions, including ‘unsettled’ coastal regions. The development of technologies to extend networks of townships facilitated the rapid spread of second colonial settlements. The introduction of animal power to Australia made possible the reach of permanent settlements to inland regions. This in turn made possible the rapid spread of second colonial settlements in regions where indigenous Australians had not previously encountered European technology and lifestyles.

Inland and remote indigenous settlements were confronted with a more organised and technologically developed group of European settlers. While east coast indigenous

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Australians initially experienced the spread of settlements constrained by foot and sail transportation technology, inland indigenous settlements were met with communication and transportation technology that had evolved from foot and animal power to mechanical power particular during the latter half of the nineteenth century. The inland spread of permanence across indigenous land and resource was relatively faster and much more organised than the spread of settlements in the First Fleet. Davidson and others noted that,

‘... tractors replaced horses, and large cultivating machinery was developed, which enabled large areas to be cultivated rapidly ... With the introduction of the tractor and more sophisticated cultivating machinery after [1945], machinery began to be housed, and the large open corrugated iron machinery shed was added to the farmers collection of buildings’ (Davidson in Seddon and Davis, 1976: 76).

With transport and communication technology improving, tribal territories were being dissected by tracks and roads linking satellite towns. As roads became highways, several small permanent settlements with economies that relied upon slow inefficient transport technology soon became non-viable. Their function and identity were not defined by the land they occupied but by the economy that was dependent upon slow and limited endurance transport technology. As transport technology improved, the economy and population of many of these roadside settlements declined while others would disappear altogether. Davidson and others found that,

‘until the 1920s, towns were normally located around 30 km apart, with a hotel between each two towns. However, the motor car was to have a serious effect on the country towns. With shorter travelling time fewer towns were needed. The first victim of the motor car was the hotel half way between towns; most of them had vanished by 1930. Faster cars and better roads after the second world war led to the decline and in some cases the virtual disappearance of small country towns, and the increase in the size of larger towns. The census figures indicated that in many country towns with less than 2000 people, population declined between 1966 and

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1971 while in most of those with more than 2000 people, population increased’ (ibid: 79).

The tendency to develop roads that are essentially permanent and aimed at extending and connecting townships is a mode of technology practice characteristic of societies whose shelter systems are based on permanence. The shelter design aspired to by many Australians changed from the country bungalow to replicating townhouses and styling in and near well established and growing cities. It was observed that,

‘... the trend was to make all buildings more like those in the larger cities. The low bungalow with a verandah was replaced by the “verandah-less” suburban bungalow. Weather board was replaced by brick and in imitation of the city hotels country hotels were faced with tiles. (It is curious to find the last country hotels being faced with tiles in the present decade just when they are being removed from most city hotels)’ (ibid).

The initial social and technical contact of indigenous Australians in central and northern Australia with European settlements lagged the coast by up to about 100 years (Ross, 1987: 13). It could be said that these indigenous Australians were exposed to more complex technologies and government structures than would have been the case for indigenous Australians located on the eastern seaboard of Australia (Meggitt, 1962: 16-17). The progress of European settlement development across Australia is illustrated in comparing colonisation in the remote north west Kimberley region and south eastern regions of Australia where dense urban populations and large coastal cities currently function. The Kimberley region is located in the remote north west of the Australian continent while the First Fleet colony was located in the south- east of the continent.

‘The East Kimberley and Northern Territory were opened up for pastoral development long after the eastern States of Australia. Exploration parties crossed the East Kimberley region in 1856 ... Ord River Station was the first established in the East Kimberley in 1884 ... Sturt Creek and Old Flora Valley Stations were established ... in 1887 and 1888 respectively. These were followed by Durham River and Ruby Plains after 1893, Margaret

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River in 1897, Lamboo in 1901 and Louisa Downs in 1903’ (Tsunoda, 1978, Biskup, 1973 and Bolton, 1953 in Ross, 1987: 13).

In summary, second colonial settlements spread more quickly across indigenous Australian territories than first colonial settlements. The technologies borne from permanent settlements made the rapid expansion of settlements possible. Transport and communication technology enabled permanent settlements to not only explore remoter inland regions of Australia, but also establish mass cultivation, mining and pastoral leases (Meggitt, 1962: 16-18 and 26; Bauer, 1977: 149). While improved transportation technology underpinned the rapid intrusion of Europeans into indigenous territories, the style of rural and city European shelters were also changing. For many Europeans the development goal was to construct houses similar to urban centres as this represented a ‘civilised’ lifestyle. The transition from the rural iron roofed bungalow to the three bedroom detached quarter acre block with reticulated power, water and sanitation was symbolic of progress for many European families through the twentieth century.

The progression from basic iron roofed shelters in remote regions to detached serviced houses in or near central towns was to be reflected in government policies of assimilation. The goal was to assimilate indigenous Australians to the ‘civilised’ lifestyle of the city or urban centre. This represented the next evolutionary forces on indigenous lifestyle: the first colonisation of indigenous Australians into permanent indigenous settlements where the lifestyle often became sedentary.

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1.1.2.4. Phase 4: first colonial indigenous settlements

‘In a group where the habit had changed quickly from a nomadic hunting existence to limited movement, facing the new health hazards arising from comparative immobility, this must have caused high infant death rates. With ineffective shelter and waste disposal, change of diet and new disease, as well as alcohol, [these factors] must have formed an important link in the chain of causes which so rapidly obliterated whole groups of people’ (Rowley, 1972: 31).

While first colonial indigenous settlements emerged in some parts of Australia as early as the 1890s they were few in number and more representative of mission rather than government goals (Harris, 1990; Long, 1970: 5). It was not until the 1950s that the Australian government was engaged in the process of creating and administering indigenous permanent settlements, often with the aid of church missions (Harris, 1990). These were the first colonial indigenous settlements in Australia. Most settlements were deliberately located away from non-indigenous centres. Long observed that,

‘... one might conclude that the most important function of [first colonial indigenous] settlements has been to keep many Aborigines and part- Aborigines away from the places where other Australians live. It would, however, be wrong to draw the further conclusion that in serving this function settlements have existed exclusively, or even primarily, for the convenience of non-aboriginal Australians. ... There are today [1970] substantial and increasing numbers of Aborigines in the remoter parts of Australia largely because settlements were established in those areas, ... and if these settlements had not been established the Aboriginal population would certainly be much smaller than it is today’ (Long, 1970: 5).

With indigenous Australians gaining full citizenship rights and access to public services in the 1967 referendum, government was required to find ways of extending their services to remote communities. The establishment of first colonial indigenous settlements aided the government’s administrative obligation. Health, welfare, accounting, education and general infrastructure services were more governable in

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permanent regional settlements than having to provide these services to dispersed small mobile settlements.

The coerced movement of indigenous Australians from small mobile settlements to large government administered permanent settlements often mixed non-local tribes on the traditional territories of other tribes. The social conflict created in these mixed settlements substantially effected the sustainability of settlement functions (Meggitt, 1962: 72). The establishment of these settlements introduced new sedentary tools and technologies to indigenous lifestyle. In the belief that it would be beneficial to indigenous Australians, the Victorian government and missionaries were motivated to create first colonial indigenous settlements. This strategy was proposed as a pathway mechanism to a ‘civilised’ lifestyle for indigenous Australians in that State. Harris believed that the Victorian government was attempting to make amens for past atrocities inflicted upon indigenous Australians.

‘Governor Burke [of Victoria] was anxious to make a fresh start with civilising the Aborigines ... their basic strategy was to provide model villages for the Aborigines. Gifts followed by kind treatment were to be the initial means of attracting them there and all work was to be rewarded by food and clothing’ (Harris, 1990: 123).

Conventional wisdom would suggest that the introduction of small simple technologies and work routines were less likely to impact negatively on indigenous societies than the introduction of complex technologies. But this was not always so in the first instance of technology transfer in Australia. In many situations the initial introduction of tools now used extensively by indigenous Australians dramatically altered the dynamic of key settlement functions. Sharp (Sharp in Spicer, 1952: 69-90) describes a case study where attempts were first made to attract indigenous Australians to the church in a mission settlement in far north Queensland. The reward of a humble short handled steel axe was given for regular church patronage.

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Missions entered the area around Cape York for the specific purpose of subduing local tribes, as pastoralists were constantly attacked due to their uninvited occupation of indigenous territories. The missions administered the material assets of established first colonial indigenous settlements and began a process in 1934 of introducing the Yir Yoront to ‘improved’ work ethics, more tools and social organisation (ibid: 72).

The steel axe was introduced to the Yir Yoront tribe at the mouth of the Coleman River, west coast, Cape York Peninsula in the early 1900s (Kirk, 1983: 26). At the turn of the century, the technology of the Yir Yoront was similar to most other tribes in pre-contact years in that the tools and technologies developed were of the Palaeolithic era. Other than the dog, they had no domesticated plants and animals. The relationship between technology practice and social and cultural development required and defined each other. Kirk had written that while ‘... the stone axe helped relate men and women and often children to nature in technological behaviour, in the transformation of natural into cultural equipment, it also was prominent in that aspect of behaviour which may be called conduct, primarily directed towards persons’ (ibid: 74).

The tribe was in many ways sustaining a subsistence economy to which the short handled stone axe was a critical tool to aid settlement functions such as hunting, gathering, cooking and crafting totems and other tools. However, when missionaries handed out the axes to encourage church patronage, a ripple effect disrupting long standing social structures and developed technical skills was observed.

The axe was traditionally a mens tool procured through craft and trade lines. The prised smooth stone of traditional axes were tradeable items with several other tribes over 400km south of their territory (ibid: 72). For a far north tribes of Queensland (the Yir Yoront) the axe handle had to be traded up as local wood was not as prised for the function. Men held particular status because they developed skilful negotiation skills and worked on established friendships across vast lines of trade.

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The prised local stone was traded for the non-local but equally prised wooden handle and spears. This status in trade gave rights to men to regulate the axe. Women were not denied the axe, it was simply a very important survival tool whose primary responsibility for its care was with men. Women had similar tools that defined their roles.

When missioners indiscriminately distributed the steel axe, the change of skills and the social value of the prised traditional men’s axe was permanently usurped (ibid, 1952). In time a new balance was achieved where most indigenous Australians in remote regions now use the steel axe. However, rather than having a local artisan to sustain local subsistence economies and trade skills, indigenous Australians are now dependent on receiving cash income to buy, repair or sharpen their axes (Altman, 1987). The steel axe was without question technically superior to the stone version, but there were no options open for people to adopt the steel axe into their social system. European colonisation was swift to displace tribes from their traditional lands and resource base as well as the means for performing the social and technical aspects of many of their settlement functions. While the axe was a relatively simple example, it is plausible that the principles of its effects are substantial given the subsequent increased rate and variety of European technologies and technical training programs that have been introduced to indigenous Australian lifestyles without consideration of their associated social and related impact.

The establishment of permanent European settlements attracted indigenous Australians, particularly during times of draught and lack of bush food (Nathan et.al, 1983). The drought situation for many indigenous Australians in central Australia influenced their move to establish camps on the fringes of first and second colonial settlements to the displeasure of many Europeans. It was observed in Alice Springs during the 1920s that many indigenous Australians resorted to begging, prostitution and so on. Officers of Aboriginal protection relocated fringe dwellers to their

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traditional lands when good seasons produced food (Meggitt, 1962: 26). This pattern contributed to future government plans to reserve remote land for first colonial indigenous settlements.

The first move towards regional ‘protection’ of indigenous land was demonstrated in proclamations of Crown land reserves. By 1931 Arnhem Land became Crown land reserve with government permits of entry required. The government control of land and design of indigenous settlement shelter systems and functions soon followed. In 1936 Strehlow was engaged by government to plan and design settlements considered suitable for Indigenous Australians who were not completely detribalised under the assimilation policy of the time (ibid: 27). The process represented further social and technical disempowerment of indigenous Australians. By 1943 the Tanami Native settlement was established with 117 people. However, due to poor water supply they were moved to Yuendumu by 1947 with a Baptist mission. The mission played a central part in staffing and servicing the settlement. Yuendumu land title was not issued to local indigenous Australians until 1978 (Nathan et.al, 1983: 106).

In addition to the forces of economy and population, the establishment of many first colonial indigenous settlements in central Australia during the 1950s and 1960s was motivated by Australia’s rocket weapons development program. The Woomera Weapons Research Establishment was commissioned in November 1946 (ibid: 47). The government rocket range covered an area from Woomera in South Australia Port Hedland in north west Western Australia. The range of possible rocket fall out cut across the south west region of the Northern Territory. In an effort to clear the range, the majority of indigenous Australians in the Western Desert were ‘rounded up’ and relocated to government settlements and administered under the assimilation policy as elsewhere in Australia (ibid: 36).

By the 1950s most indigenous Australians were living in missions, government settlements and pastoral properties rather than in their tribal territories (ibid: 15).

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Settlement location decisions were based on administrative and access criteria not on land affiliation. This higher concentration of people in one place was completely foreign to most tribal groups. The location and population density in many arid and semi-arid regions was too great for the capacity of local natural resources to sustain the settlement (Kirk, 1983: 41). government intervention was and continues to be essential for the provision of food, education and technical services.

By the late 1960s the material living conditions and social structures in government settlements began to show their inappropriateness. Even the faith of many missioners was tested as their attempts to introduce self-sufficient or supplemented farming and education failed to be absorbed into indigenous lifestyles after initial short periods of success and interest (Harris, 1990: 112). Many tribal groups were effected by disease and alcohol. They were often relocated to the territory of other tribes. This raised suspicion among the other tribes often leading to inter-tribal conflict and made the quality of life in many first colonial indigenous settlements intolerable.

‘Liquor consumption has had a significant impact, and this must be understood as a consequence of settlements undermining traditional authority patterns. In addition, the traditional division of labour, largely replaced by Western forms, has been severely weakened. As the country surrounding settlements is large denuded, cleared for camp sites and for firewood, hunting and foraging is often confined to weekends, and is dependent on the availability of vehicles. Child rearing has largely been replaced by schooling and in most cases, children on centralised settlements do not have the opportunity to share the educational experience associated with their country’ (Nathan et.al, 1983: 24).

The government settlements produced the need for more administrative involvement of indigenous Australians to help maintain the viability of their settlement. Local community councils were established as the third tier of government after Federal and State/Territory governments. These councils, however, were perceived by many indigenous Australians to function differently to that expected by mainstream local

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governments. The different expectations made it difficult for settlements to effectively manage technologies, particularly in transport and shelter. The general view of most indigenous Australians was that sedentary lifestyle was unhealthy and unworkable under government or mission rule. The response was a mass rejection across Australia during the 1960s and 1970s of living in first colonial indigenous settlements. Indigenous Australians began their push to return and set up small settlements in their traditional lands.

‘Traditionally, Aboriginal groups were small. In contrast, the settlements and missions have large populations, often composed of different language groups between which there is no traditional basis for unity ... To put it bluntly, the country camp movement represents a complete rejection of the government’s blue-print and this the bureaucracy and others find hard to come to terms with’ (ibid: 23-25).

The final and most recent phase in the evolution of indigenous settlements has been the establishment of second indigenous settlements: permanent shelters located, managed and occupied by indigenous Australians on indigenous Australian land titles.

1.1.2.5. Phase 5: second indigenous settlements

Indigenous Australians began their quest to establish second indigenous settlements because:

1. they wanted to protect and maintain their traditional land and sacred sites fundamental to the preservation of their cultural, social and physical world, and because

2. government administered settlements have had a major disruptive effect on land usage and their religious life causing severe social problems.

(ibid: 23)

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The movement of indigenous Australians from first colonial indigenous settlements to second indigenous settlements began during the late 1950s and 1960s (ibid: 4) in central Australia. The movement became know as the ‘homelands’, ‘return to country’, ‘outstation’ or simply ‘country camp’ movement. Issues included poor material living conditions and intolerable social organisational structures imposed by missions and government during the assimilation years. The provision of water and transport technologies for the emerging homelands settlements was not within the resource capacity of indigenous Australians. The material success of their efforts to establish self-determined communities was reliant on government technical services and funding.

While indigenous Australians rejected permanent systems administered by government and missioners, there was a realisation that returning to tribal lands in small populations was no longer feasible without the input of Western shelter technologies, technical services and education from the mainstream economy.

‘Country camps do vary in terms of their independence from the European culture and economy. For example, there is greater or lesser access to stores, pensions, employment and health services. The people cannot live totally off the land, for the arrival of the prospectors, pastoralists, missions and settlements has meant an unequal competition for scarce resources (good land and water), the upset of the delicate ecological balance, and the depletion of rich game and ecological stores. Aborigines’ nomadic movement across their traditional lands has been curtailed and as a consequence, even in remote areas they have been forced to lead a more or less sedentary form of existence’ (ibid: 5).

The remote second indigenous settlements were perceived at one level as expressions of self-determination, while at another level as still almost entirely reliant on non- indigenous technical expertise and forms of technical training. With government self- determination goals in place by the end of the 1970s, unprecedented funding for housing, infrastructure and education began to flow into settlements (Altman, 1991:

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1). The negative impact of this infrastructure was also unprecedented, because indigenous Australians not only were contending with sedentary social and technical organisation but were also inundated by water, shelter and sanitation technologies that were often poorly constructed or had no sustainable maintenance strategy in place (Myers, 1986: 261). Links between the effect of unsustainable technologies and the health and well-being of many remote communities began to appear in environmental health surveys and reports (UPK, 1987; RCIADIC, 1991; AAP, 1994: no.8034).

The demands placed on the technical performance and social organisational aspects of settlement functions involving new and introduced technologies was often beyond the settlement resources and largely untested. The desire to resolve the problem through increased funding and technical services has led to a complex situation. Many remote communities have over time accumulated an unintegrated range of technologies and technical training programs that too often fail to sustain their designed benefit within the first year of their installation or completion respectively (Talbot, 1991; Walker, 1984). The inappropriateness of introduced technologies and available technical training programs for maintenance has become a growing public concern.

With a need nevertheless, to identify infrastructure for remote communities and for government to expend funding on capital items, many remote communities have become sites for new ‘cutting edge’ technologies and technical systems otherwise unable to enter the mainstream market economy of Australia’s urban and rural regions8(SOERHS-draft 4, 1995: 24). Introduced technologies and shelter systems often created more problems than they were solving in remote indigenous settlements. Part of the government’s response to falling material standards in remote

8The Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT) in Alice Springs Northern Territory, has often been asked by remote indigenous communities and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission to monitor and evaluate the introduction of new and usually small scaled technologies for indigenous communities. These technologies were typically in the areas of hybrid energy/power supply systems, water treatment systems, sanitation systems and housing material and construction systems. The CAT has also been actively involved in researching the flow on effect on appropriate technical training curriculum and delivery systems for remote indigenous Australian communities.

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communities was to allocate supplementary funding to establish a small appropriate technology research, development and training centre in Alice Springs in 1980: the Centre for Appropriate Technology. There has been sufficient demand in the area of appropriate technology needs in communities that the Centre has recently expanded to serve remote indigenous communities throughout Australia and the Torres Straits.

The production, training and installation of appropriate technologies began to attract considerable interest following emerging evidence that maximised local participation in appropriately designed amenities to housing aided the improvement in community health (RCIADIC, 1991). In 1987 further recognition of the need to consider technologies appropriate to remote community situations, rather than transfer of urban used technologies, was demonstrated in the field of environmental health (UPK, 1987). Despite the interest in appropriate technologies, government and commercial technical services have continued to input shelter systems and infrastructure technologies with little success in their longer term maintenance.

1.2. Ekistic context factors

This section of the findings describes the general ekistic contexts factors influencing the social and technical dynamics of many remote indigenous Australian settlements. While there are aspects that link the factors of settlement population, economy and location together, the factors have been reviewed separately to illustrate their specific characteristics.

1.2.1. Population

‘The Achilles heel of hunter gatherer subsistence economies appears to be proximate population concentrations like white townships, mining enclaves and aboriginal towns. Throughout remote Australia there is evidence that population concentrations result in the demise of adjacent hunter gatherer economies’ (Altman, 1987: 234).

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The most noticeable pattern in the evolution of indigenous settlements is the estimated down turn in the overall population of indigenous Australians in the first century of European occupation (Hughes, 1988; Castles, 1988: 97). While estimates vary, the population of indigenous Australians were likely to have been between 250,000 and 750,000 when the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Cove in 1788 (RCIADIC, 1991: 6; Blainey, 1983: 92). These figures compare with a little over 740 convict/settlers in 1788 (Hughes, 1988: 2). Since the down turn in the first century of colonisation, the indigenous Australian population rose to 265,378 in 1991. This compares to approximately 16.85 million non-indigenous Australians in the same year (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995: 2). The population of tribes were estimated to have been as large as 2000 and as small as 100, while the number of tribes at the time of white arrival has been estimated to be between 500 and 900 (Kirk, 1983: 19; Blainey, 1983: 29; Hughes in HREOC, 1994: 53). However, the size of most mobile settlement bands ranged between 2 and 40 adults and children usually comprising of two family clans (Nathan et.al, 1983: 143).

Early colonial observations suggest that the population density of pre-colonial indigenous settlements around Sydney Cove was in the order of less than 3 people per square mile (3 people per 2.6km2): 1500 indigenous Australians spreading out a radius of about 11miles (18km) (Hughes, 1988: 2). Across the Australian continent the density has been estimated at one person to 25 km2 (HREOC, 1994: 52). With an estimated density of less than one person in 38.5 km2 south of the Tropic of Capricorn in 1788, the mobility and communication network of indigenous Australians was demonstrated in trade lines over 1600km in length (ibid).

The above figures contrast with first colonial settlements that until about 1860 could only spread an average 5km radius (approximately 79 km2) (100-200 people per hectare or 0.01km2) (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995: 2) and so tended to be much denser than the mobile settlements of indigenous Australians. While it is generally thought that

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this density of early settlements was due to transport being constrained to walking, it is much more likely that the density was due to the sedentary type of lifestyle and related social and technical systems in first colonial settlements. This is likely because the population of mobile indigenous settlements in the same region was similar and yet their density was vastly different. Nevertheless the development of transportation, communication, water and sanitation technologies after 1860 in permanent settlements allowed non-indigenous population densities to decrease while the overall spread of non-indigenous towns increased across indigenous land. With the arrival of the automobile since 1940, towns have been able to spread beyond 40 km, reducing densities at the time to about 10 to 20 people per hectare or 0.01km2 (ibid).

Up until the 1970s comprehensive population data on remote indigenous settlements has been limited. Government had not undertaken specific data collection on indigenous Australian settlements until the early 1990s (Madden, 1994). The constraints to accuracy related essentially to a perceived lack of need to determine indigenous population numbers as early assimilation policy expected eventual indigenous decimation. Another factor to constrain the accuracy of collecting data was the greatly dispersed and highly mobile distribution of indigenous Australians (Altman, 1987: 78). The inclusion of indigenous Australians in national census counts was demonstrated in 1971 following citizenship recognition in the 1967 national referendum (CFAR, 1994: 3). The most recent factor to effect the accuracy of indigenous Australian populations related to identity. Many urban based indigenous Australians were encouraged to be counted since the late 1970s due to the new pro-active support of government policies for indigenous advancement (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995).

Mobility has continued to be a key theme in indigenous population patterns throughout the different phases of their settlement’s evolution. In 1961 it was

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estimated that only 5% of the total indigenous population was located in cities compared to 28% 30 years later (Long, 1970: 4). However, the possibility that more indigenous Australians in urban areas felt sufficiently encouraged by government policies to be enumerated as indigenous Australians may have been a factor inflating the 28% figure. Since 1991 it has been estimated that 65% of indigenous Australians live in rural and remote areas (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995: 28). While regional enumerations were occasionally taken as early as 1939 (Altman, 1987: 3), it was not until Long (1970) studied indigenous population patterns that data on sedentary indigenous settlements (Table 3.1.3), rather than overall population was compiled .

Aboriginal population*

NSW and Vic Qld SA WA NT Total ACT government 2,885 139 4,357 667 - 4,390 12,438 settlements (14) (1) (5)

Mission - - 3,844 1,310 2,074 5,070 12,298 settlements (11)

Total on 2,885 139 8,201 1,977 2,074 9,460 24,736 settlements (14) (1) (16)

Total 14,859 1,796 19,696 4,884 16,276‡ 17,760‡ 75,271‡ Aboriginal population

Percentage 19.4 7.7 41.6 40.4 12.7‡ 53.6‡ 32.8‡ on settlements * Figures from census of 30 June 1961 and from departmental annual reports, 1961. ‡ An estimated 2,000 full-bloods in WA and 1,944 in the NT were not enumerated at the 1961 census. If these were included in the populations of WA and the NT., the percentages of Aborigines on settlements would be reduced to 11.3 per cent and 48 percent respectively. The numbers on settlements throughout Australia would represent 31.2 percent of the total population, not 32.8 per cent.

Table 3.1.3: Indigenous Settlement Population 1961 (ibid: 4)

The size of remote populations reflected the degree of services and technologies that these settlements could sustain. The provision of innovative shelter and infrastructure technologies along with renewable energy systems contributed to the viability of an increasing migration of Indigenous Australians to settle in their remote tribal territories. Altman found that,

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‘as outstations become more firmly re-established there is evidence that service delivery to them is becoming more streamlined. Today at Momega [1987], ... there is a small shop run by a local man, there are regular deliveries of market goods, and visits by the education and health departments. In the future, without doubt, there will be a generator, video, and with the launching of Aussat probably television and a telephone’ (Altman, 1987: 5).

The trend towards living in less urban areas suggests that the number of infrastructure and shelter systems in remote indigenous settlements are increasing. Many of these settlements contain 40% of people less than 15 years of age and only 4% over 60 years of age (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995: 28). The demand for more shelter and so the maintenance of technologies used with these are likely to be critical in five to ten years (ibid: 29). Tables 3.1.4 and 3.1.5 summarise the current status of indigenous population across different types of settlement and the overall number of discrete different settlements.

Region Name Total Percentage of Total Percentage of Indigenous Australian Population Indigenous Total Population as a Population Living in Each Population Indigenous Percentage of 1991 Census Region 1991 Census Population Total Population of the Region. Metropolitan 10 475 779 62.2 65 767 24.70 0.6 Outer metropolitan 2 031 463 12.1 28 004 10.60 1.4 Rural 3 855 499 22.8 83 595 31.50 2.2 Remote 478 828 2.8 87 935 33.20 18.4 Offshore 8971 0.05 77 0.03 0.9 TOTAL 16 850 540 265 378

Table 3.1.4: Distribution of indigenous Australians (ibid: 28)

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Number of Population of Average Size of Discrete Discrete Discrete Indigenous Centres Indigenous Centres Indigenous Centres * NSW 37 4203 114 SA 88 3861 44 QLD 82 16672 203 WA 182 18602 102 NT 430 29959 70

Total 819 73297 Av. 106

* Only includes those settlements comprised of predominantly indigenous Australians.

Table 3.1.5: Remote indigenous settlements across Australia (ibid)

In summary, key patterns in population factors of precolonial indigenous settlements have maintained themselves in many contemporary second indigenous settlements. Indigenous Australians have maintained their settlement goal and lifestyle characterised with high mobility and a cultural affiliation to rural and remote locations. In contrast, there have been consistent patterns in the population and development of permanent settlements from first colonial to second colonial settlements. Non-indigenous Australians have developed technologies to maintain high density living environments most of which have been located along coastal metropolitan regions.

1.2.2. Location

Geographic and climatic factors have had some effect on the performance of socio- technical systems. Precolonial indigenous settlements near northern and high rainfall regions tended to sustain a greater density of people. This suggests that permanent settlements, characteristically higher in density than mobile settlements, are more viable in higher rainfall than in arid or semi-arid regions (Kirk, 1983). Nathan (1983: 14) concurs with Kirk (op.cit: 243) that people living in arid areas required more land to sustain them. It was estimated that 200 km2 was needed to support one Western Desert Pintubi, while it took 91 km2 to sustain one Walbiri. However, it only

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required 12.6 km2 to sustain one Arrernte due to the higher rainfall in Alice Springs: the country of the Arrernte(Peterson in Hetzel et.al, 1978: 30). Remote locations tend to also have depressed cash economies effecting such things as employment opportunity and education. Most remote communities are almost entirely dependent on a welfare economy seeking short term project and program grants (Altman, 1991: 152).

Long (1970: 1) found that the distribution of indigenous Australians across Australia followed a distinct pattern based on degree of ‘full-blood’ dependency. He found that ‘full-blood’ indigenous Australians were located predominantly in the vast remote central arid to northern monsoonal regions of Australia: ‘part-Aboriginal’ Australians were predominantly located along the rural and urban eastern sea board of Australia, the rural and coastal region around Perth in the south western regions of Australia, and Adelaide in the southern regions of Australia. This pattern coincides with observations approximately 30 years later by Young and Fisk (1982: v) and Altman (1991: 14) that indigenous Australians in remote and isolated regions of central and northern Australia maintain traditional cultural lifestyles and organisational structures.

1.2.3. Economy

Much of the economic development philosophy for first colonial indigenous settlements paralleled programs of growth and transfer to the ‘Third World’ (Altman, 1987: 6). The development process aimed to assimilate people in mainstream technology and ‘modernisation’. The expectation was that indigenous Australians introduced to the technical and social system of permanent settlements would eventually adopt the Western work ethic for a cash economy (ibid).

The introduction of a cash economy challenged many indigenous communities (Meggitt, 1962: 27). Indigenous production and use-value for goods differed between

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non-indigenous and indigenous Australians. Very few non-indigenous items were valued by tribes living in mobile settlements. However, the reverse was also true and dominated the direction of exchange, further reducing the scope for economic activity for many indigenous Australians. Altman concluded that,

‘... unlike Canadian Indians [who could trade fur from traditional hunts] Australian aborigines had no valuable trade items. Furthermore, cultivation and pastoralism were not readily adopted by aborigines for two important reasons. Firstly, Europeans had quickly alienated those parts of the Australian continent most suitable for commercial agriculture. Secondly, the indigenous production system was based on land-extensive hunting and gathering, the very antithesis of commercial farming’ (Altman, 1987: 42).

Many indigenous Australians were motivated to move to government settlements to participate in employment and a cash economy (ibid: 6). However, the economy was inflated by government funding and after the 1945 down turn in Australia’s general economy, government funds dramatically reduced for many first colonial indigenous settlements. The effect was dramatic on indigenous lifestyle. The option to return to small outstation subsistence technology and economy was initially perceived as unattractive compared to living in a high unemployment cash economy (ibid: 3; Rowley, 1970: 399). Meggitt had written that,

‘Even in 1954 only about 25% of the tribe worked casually for Europeans. The significant point is that once the drought of 1924 had forced people to live on cattle stations and near mines, they became too much accustomed to the new foods, warm clothes, steel axes and the like to wish to return to the rigorous life of the bush. Everyone now desired these commodities, which could be regularly obtained only as long as some of the tribe accepted European employment.’ (Meggitt, 1962: 27)

The pattern of high regional mobility among indigenous Australians significantly affected commercial enterprises as much of the traditional ceremonial activity in remote communities was held during key seasons in the year. Some enterprises in

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monsoonal regions, however, were naturally constrained in their operations during the wet season. This provided a convenient time for indigenous employees to temporarily depart from work and attend to cultural obligations. ‘Nowadays seasonal periocity is still an indirect stimulus to ceremonial and other activities because it effects the economic enterprises of European employers; they usually have to suspend pastoral and transport operations in the summer wet season, and this enables Aborigines to gather for rituals’ (ibid: 247).

The post WWII assimilation policy of government provided funds to communities and missions for infrastructure and administration. Some communities including Maningrida became a service centre rather than the intended trading post. People collected from the bush to be near the services and cash goods which typically included a ‘hospital, trade store, administration building, housing for white staff, an airstrip and market gardens’ (Altman, 1987: 4). Altman noted that, ‘... the main economic effect of contact was increased local [Maningrida] access to a limited range of simple market goods that were valued as production equipment (knives, axes and iron spear heads), and ceremonial exchange items (cloth or tobacco)’ (ibid: 3).

A socio-technical characteristic of indigenous economy in remote communities that has survived colonisation was the division of labour and gender in subsistence production (ibid: 42). This has introduced a pattern in many remote and small indigenous communities where a subsistence economy and cash economy coexist (ibid: 5 and 42). Barnes had written that, ‘... it seems reasonable to assume that studies of economic life among Aborigines must be principally studies of a mixed economy, in which choices are made between beef and goanna, flour and wild yam, nylon and bush string’ (Barnes in Rose, 1987: 3).

Many communities still operating dual economies also operated a form of gift economy (Altman, op.cit: 195). The ‘gift’ economy related to systems of social obligations between kin. The division between ‘gift/obligation’ economies and

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personal income from training or welfare was generally blurred. Those earning personal income from employment or welfare payments were immediately expected to share their wealth with others as needs arose. The whole process of income generation was not only an economic activity but also a cultural one. The social relationship would often extend to the non-indigenous employer or trainer in communities. This was because in the view of many indigenous Australians, ‘... the relationship [with their white work boss] was not simply economic. It consisted of an ongoing series of obligations that extended beyond the work domain. Just as they would listen to a father’s advice, Pintupi men will accept criticism from white bosses that they would not tolerate from equals’ (Myers, 1986: 283).

While the overall funding for indigenous communities had risen substantially, the personal cash income of people in these communities, particularly after obligation, was very small. In 1975 it was estimated that the average disposable weekly income was approximately $30 (Australian) with an extra $10 (Australian) for income from selling crafted goods. The typical cost of items were $20 to $30 for food, $5 to $10 for clothes and bullets, and $10 to $15 for vehicles and relatives (Brokensha, 1987: 33). This income compares 11 years later where it was estimated that a household of eight people after costs would collectively be left with an average disposable income of approximately $63 (Willis in UPK, 1987: 74).

There has thus remained a general limitation to economic growth and activity in remote indigenous Australian communities. The sequence of events at Maningrida help illustrate the scale of economy in remote communities.

‘There are only two apparent avenues to regional economic growth: market oriented economic activity can be adopted or local specialities can be adopted for export. At Maningrida, the former avenue was pursued with no success in the 1960s when numerous enterprises were established with State capital. Local specialties also appear to have limited prospects. Artefacts and material culture manufactured in the Maningrida region are

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nationally and internationally renowned for their quality yet there appears to be an extremely limited market demand for them. The other possibility is that bush foods could be marketed, but this is constrained by seasonality ...[and the possibility of species extinction on mass harvesting]’ (Altman, 1987: 227).

Indigenous Australian remote communities generally functioned with a small cash economy. The small activity was characterised by a second economy based on subsistence. The capacity for communities to repair and maintain households was restricted mostly to the cash element of their economy. The larger economy communities were able to afford more maintenance employment and training and so contained more shelters that could be sustained.

Generally, however, government increased grant funding for the economy of indigenous Australian communities through its Aboriginal Affairs portfolio: Graph 3.1.1. The election of the Australian Labour Party in 1972 and again in 1983 correlated with consequential funding (note periods of acute funding rises in graph below) in remote communities with an increasing emphasis on housing, employment and training.

Income to communities relied on short term funding grants. A variety of State and Federal government sectors were essential sources for maintaining economic activity. Training programs, particularly in adult education and so vocational education were funded on the basis of short term and module specific schedules of training9.

9Policy of the Northern Territory Employment and Training Authority (NTETA), Northern Territory, Australia since 1993.

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Graph 3.1.1: Twenty year funding trend to the Federal government Department of Aboriginal Affairs (extracted from Altman, 1991: 10)

Funding for housing and infrastructure was divided among several government departments causing confusion and delays for many remote communities. Miles argued the view that, ‘... government departments cannot effectively transfer technology to these ... communities because of the lack of effective communication channels between them. This is caused in part by the bureaucratic nature of the government departments, and in part by the characteristics of ... remote Aboriginal communities’ (Miles et.al, 1985: paper 1.6).

The combined short term education and technology input funding in communities has contributed to neither the development of sustainable technical training programs nor programs and systems for sustaining shelter technologies and infrastructure (RCIADIC, 1991: 540; UPK, 1987; Foran, 1985: paper 1.8). It was likely that training grants were primarily attractive for their cash input to indigenous Australian communities, rather than for their skills input (Myers, 1986: 42): training was often valued as a source of income (while registered as a trainee) rather than as an investment in skill development.

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1.3. Socio-technical inputs

1.3.1. Education

‘Education should be seen as a necessary but not sufficient condition to improve the economic well-being of aborigines. Education alone will not bring well paying jobs to aboriginal towns or outstations in remote locations, nor automatically lead to employment opportunities elsewhere in a depressed economy’ (Altman, 1991: 152).

The majority of shelter and infrastructure technologies transferred to remote second indigenous settlements have often been placed in a social context lacking appropriate technical maintenance skills and social organisation structures. The effect of this lack of appropriate education input is apart from the issue of appropriate technical design: physical laws, such as with friction, suggest that even the most carefully designed technology will eventually succumb to lack of maintenance. The lack of available and appropriate technical training in remote communities has substantially contributed to an unmet need in general technical maintenance, design and technology selection skills. Recent research by the Human Settlements team for the national Australian study of the state of Australia’s environment found that, ‘The design requirements of settlements of indigenous people now seeking to define ways of life which bridge two cultures remain largely unknown territory. The Urban Design Task Force emphasised the need for “research and consultation” ... to avoid the mistakes of the past’ (SOERHS, 1995: 23).

In addition to implementing assimilation policies via permanent shelters and settlement technologies, the second prong of these policies introduced to indigenous Australians to institutionalised delivery of primary and adult vocational education (NTWB, 1961: 26). Attempts to re-socialise indigenous Australians through education, particularly through the displacement of traditional languages with English literacy and numeracy, has been considered a failure. The school curriculum was

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perceived, and for many remain, largely irrelevant in content and inappropriate in delivery and administration (Talbot, 1991; Dixon, 1980: 90). Much of these aspects of introduced Western education to communities, via both government and missions, have had limited impact on sustaining community functions, technologies and shelter systems. There was also a general impression among staff in some community schools that literacy and numeracy education were in themselves sufficiently time intensive that to focus on technology was impractical10. Most school and education facilities in remote central and northern indigenous communities were administrative and physical enclaves of government on indigenous land. Consequently the primary and adult education facilities and programs were generally controlled by State government agencies, particularly in regard to staffing, curriculum and funding, despite these schools functioning with local school councils. Thus, communities have not only lacked a grounding in technacy education, but were expected to participate in a curriculum and schooling system that was regulated by government. Literacy and numeracy education was taught at the expense of technacy education.

Traditional learning contexts and social organisational laws of knowledge control were largely undercut by Western schooling (Keeffe, 1992: 109). Influenced by the social-organisation structures emerging from the industrial and post-industrial age in Europe, the content and delivery of Western education focused on ‘subject matter’ irrespective of the physical and social context issues within which the practice of the subject matter was to have utility. Talbot (1991) argued that technical curriculum offered to indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory failed in its capacity to contextualise the technical task and learning process to the real life of the learner. He argued that this was the result of a Western scientific legacy that continues in contemporary adult technical education delivered to remote indigenous communities. The legacy includes only the empirical explanation for technical curriculum content.

10Field notes with indigenous school staff speaking to the Walungurru School Action Committee November 1991.

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It offered no place for spiritual, cultural and local material perspectives and knowledge so highly developed and valued in traditional survival (Talbot, 1991: 67).

The isolation and small population of most remote indigenous Australian communities rendered the idea of vocational education leading to local employment unrealistic.

‘If labour market cannot effectively integrate non-Aboriginal Australians into mainstream labour markets, their potential for disadvantaged Aboriginal Australians can be questioned ... there is no point in allocating resources to education and training if the locations where Aboriginal people reside lack employment opportunities. In such a scenario all that would be achieved is a larger pool of more educated unemployed’ (Altman, 1991: 156-158).

The link between education and employment in remote communities was not only constrained by perceptions of ‘work’ that did not accommodate indigenous community functions, but also by the sheer lack of cash flow in the economy of remote communities (Miller, 1985; Blanchard, 1987). As a direct consequence of government intervention since 1936 (since assimilation policies), the cash economies for remote communities were dominated by the input of administration, health and primary schooling programs (Meggitt, 1962: 26). Consequently, the most substantial adult education funding input to communities related to the training and employment of indigenous health workers, primary school education assistants and community administrative assistants (Nathan et.al, 1983: 149).

The emphasis on non-technical vocational education among remote indigenous Australians is consistent with findings by Cole (1993). Cole found that indigenous Australians in remote and rural communities in the Northern Territory over the age of 15 years were in 1991 four (4) times more likely to complete non-technical vocational training than technical vocational training: 1.939% completing non-technical training compared to 0.485% completing technical training (ibid: 85). Coles’ study also

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suggested that the attainment of higher qualifications above certificate11 were predominantly non-technical and dominated by indigenous women: 0.6% of indigenous men completed qualifications above certificate compared to 1.0% of indigenous women (ibid).

Technical expertise, training and moneys into the community remained sporadic by comparison targeting outcomes only to the end of particular projects. Housing, equipment and project funding provided the main source of temporary technical employment. The project funds would on occasions include short term technical training that was specific to the project and usually no higher than labourer or technical assistant in the level of skills planned for these projects12.

Introduced technical training was not only short term and sporadic leading to limited employment funding, it was also intrinsically unrelated to the way some tribal groups perceived learning to proceed. As most technical training was project specific, opportunities to develop the trainees abilities to relate to a broad variety of current community issues to a project or training course was rare. Introduced technical training for equipment, shelter construction and processes have been approached from different perspectives between training and construction work providers and many indigenous Australians in remote communities. The different expectations in learning has frustrated some technical specialists working for or attempting to transfer technical skills to remote communities. ‘While the technologist has a very defined set of professional values the community make their decision according to economic, social, political, technical and cultural values which are relevant and in currency in the settlement’ (Miles et.al, 1985: paper 1.7).

The learning expectation differences between cultures is illustrated with the Pintubi culture of the Western Desert of central Australia. Western technical training

11Certificate means certificate levels 1,2,3,4 in the current Australian Standards Framework (ASF) 12Authors observations while functioning in the area of training input to community housing projects sponsored by government grants between 1986 and 1995.

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programs specialised in mastering technical processes and production, the Pintubi expectation often included an emphasis in learning relationships and connections in knowledge and where an important goal was the development of maturity: these things constituted ‘proper training’. A key issue of education to some indigenous communities was maturation which ‘... depends upon the ability to recognise ones relatedness to others, and to subdue ones will in order to sustain relatedness. In Pintupi theory, this development is perceived as an increasing ability to “understand” ... the concepts of “thinking”, “understanding” and “hearing” are expressed as a single term, kulininpa, which means literally “to hear”’ (Myers, 1986: 107).

The current trend of government is ongoing funding and administrative support for adult education and career employment in health, schooling and clerical community functions. In contrast, the cost burden of funding employment following technical vocational training is on community councils. Technical vocational training and administrative support to the technical aspect of community functions is consequently sporadic rather than ongoing relying heavily on the ability of community councils to attract project based funding for technical employment, administration and equipment. Local council revenue, however, remains very small and welfare based. Consequently few technical employment opportunities tend to exist in communities that span the years of most trade qualifications. Further to this constraint, vocational education being project based is subject to competitive assessment against mainstream funding rates before these funds are released. The overall outcome is that technical career training in most remote indigenous Australian communities is historically disadvantaged compared to career training in non-technical occupational areas such as health, education, administration and religious work (Coles, 1993: 85; Brokensha, 1987: 33).

With ongoing government funding emphasising health, primary education and clerical functions in communities and where these functions have been traditionally

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associated with women’s roles, the employment, technical training participation and completion rate of indigenous men has been relatively poor. The general lack of continuous ongoing support for vocational training options valued by many men in remote communities is a possible factor underpinning sustainability problems of introduced shelter systems and shelter hardware. It is not surprising that some indigenous women have out of frustration or other factors, taken on technical house maintenance functions such as stove repair, clearing of blocked drains and window repair.13

1.3.2. Building materials

Pre-colonial indigenous settlements utilised the abundance of natural shelters and building materials known to be available at almost any location along which tribes would seasonally travel (Altman, 1987: 186). The materials in remote central regions included bushes, spinifex for thatching and tree branches (Ross, 1987: 59). The fire hearth also played an import role as a climate controller and tool shaper for shelter construction(Hughes, 1988). The natural materials enabled shelters to be constructed in a few short hours including the larger structures that would feature bough shelters (Ross, 1987: 59). The selection and design of buildings related to the constraints and lifestyle of people. Raw materials were, in general, not able to be shaped and processes for shelter construction beyond what was possible or necessary with a small collection of Palaeolithic tools.

The building material refuge of first and second colonial settlements were adapted for a variety of humpy construction styles across indigenous territories. The selection of building materials was based on ease of manipulation and arrangement, and for some, ease of portability. While introduced materials such as corrugated iron, tarpaulin and

13Field observations 1987-1994 in central Australian remote communities and interviews with women in the Arnhem Land community of Warruwi (November 1987).

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steel wire have been added to spinifex and branches, the skill of humpy construction and techniques have changed marginally (Myers, 1986: 42). Tie wire and chicken wire continues to be used to join materials together in replace of cord and string.

With the introduction of funding for the creation of first colonial indigenous settlements, some missions, as in the Milingimbi community, introduced mud brick and earth wall construction techniques14. Steel frame construction was observed by the author in more monsoonal climate communities than in central desert communities where cement block construction was more prevalent.

Consistent with the legacy of assimilation policies, most houses and structures in second indigenous settlements were based on only a very few varieties of plans. The options for utilising different building materials that may be more energy effective or appropriate for a climatic region or that may be easier to use for training purposes, was not evident in communities (Ross, 1987: 153).

1.3.3. Tools and equipment

The manufacture, possession and management of tools and equipment in pre-colonial indigenous settlements were developed to aid group survival and mobility. Particular tools were symbolic of gender identity as these tools were fashioned to assist divisions of labour in the range of functions undertaken in indigenous settlements (Rose, 1987: 87). Brokensha noted that the personal or domestic ‘tool kit’ most actively used by many central arid pre-colonial indigenous settlements differed little through the evolutionary phases to second indigenous settlements. This pattern was particularly evident in the digging stick manufactured by women (Brokensha, 1975: 83). The main design variation of Palaeolithic tools across Australia was essentially the degree of finish to ‘edges’ such as in the manufacture of stone bladed implements

14Author’s field observations and consultation notes for Milingimbi Community, December, 1987.

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and a few specific techniques and tool designs for hunting in coastal or arid inland regions. The stone blade of the Tasmanian indigenous Australian axe was roughly finished whereas mainland and Northern stone axe tools were finished smooth edges (Flood, 1983; Rose, 1987: 65-86).

Despite popular impressions, the effectiveness of hunting expeditions of men utilising spears and spear throwers was not substantially aided by the design of their hunting tools. Rose (ibid: 78) and Spencer (1914: 171) noted that the technique in the approach to game was the most critically developed aspect of the hunting function. Rose’s analysis of coastal and inland spear design, even with the aid of spear throwers, was inadequate for optimal balance. The socio-technical activity of hunting was thus effective for many tribes, not due to the physics of their tools or skill in handling them, but substantially due to the knowledge of flora and fauna behaviour and the technique of the hunter in mimicking and outwitting the game.

Brokensha’s summary of the Pitjantjatjara tool kit from 1904 summarises the small range of equipment used and the division of gender in the use of different tools: Table 3.1.6.

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Function Tool(s)men Tool(s)women

hunting rifle .22 N/A vehicle

fighting spear thrower nalla nulla club 3 x long spears, 1 x short stabbing spear

gathering N/A digging stick, iron crowbar, shovel, wira or (coolamon), billycan, 2 or 4 gal water containers

food billycan/mugs for tea preparation damper pot and grind stones

Food storage 2/4 gal drums with lid

Warmth both (m/f) 3-4 blankets per family

manufacturing. stone tools replaced by metal (men controlled the axe, tomahawk, rasp, adze, tools that made tools) small curving chisel

play marbles and cassette players children

Changes due to colonisation Completely new: blankets, clothing, billycan for boiling water Substitution: rifle/spear & thrower, axe-tomahawk/stone axe Material substitutions steel tools for stone tools for cutting, shaping, grinding steel for wood for carrying storage and digging

Table 3.1.6: Brokensha’s precolonial and post colonial list of the typical tool kit of pre-colonial indigenous settlements (Brokensha, 1975: 19)

1.3.4. Shelter stock

By the end of the assimilation years, government had created several first colonial indigenous settlements. In 1965 Long (1970: 189-204) estimated that the total numbers of remote first colonial indigenous settlements in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia were 45 with 27 administered by missions partly funded by government and 18 by government directly. Long (ibid) observed that hospitals, trade stores, administration buildings, housing for white staff, an airstrip and market gardens were among the shelter stock common to communities.

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The more remote second indigenous communities were however, the more they would normally receive small ‘transitional shelters’. Many of these shelters were constructed by the debris of abandoned houses and public structures.

The overall successful maintenance of shelter stock in remote communities was a disaster. In 1978, Nathan noted of the 1000 population size of Yuendumu that like most other settlements it was,

‘... visibly shocking. Widespread despair and negligence give the appearance of a bomb blast. In 1978 there were 90 temporary dwellings and 26 permanent dwellings for aborigines, and 25 permanent dwellings for the non-aboriginal population. Only 20 of the 26 permanent dwellings for aborigines had reticulated water, whereas all European dwellings were complete with water’ (Nathan et.al, 1983: 107).

Consistent with Altman (1991: 10) Meggitt observed that during the 20 year assimilation period before 1970, indigenous Australians in remote areas were attracting to their settlements more ‘huts’ as personal income increased (Meggitt, 1962: 60). Despite the move to ‘country camps’, there appeared to develop an underlying trend towards a shelter system based on a cash economy and a denser sedentary lifestyle.

1.3.5. Shelter amenities, appliances and accessories

While the goal to establish second indigenous settlements was described as a rejection of permanent settlements and dense population lifestyle the creation of second indigenous settlements over time started to develop the very same characteristics indigenous Australians were seeking to avoid (Nathan et.al, 1983). An observable trend was an increase in shelter amenities, appliances and technical accessories (Myers, 1986: 42). The trend was one towards an increasing consumer community. The increasing consumption of goods was made possible with consistent government funding avenues. These included training grants, pensions, child care and paintings.

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Mining royalties and other investment revenue while contributing to overall wealth in communities, were not normally accessible as regular sources of personal cash income.

With increasing consumerism developing in remote communities, many were also experiencing an increase in the wear and breakdown of the goods they were importing. Communities began to accumulate more domestic appliances and transportation technologies than they were able to effectively manage with the limited facilities, schools and maintenance systems in place (Nathan et.al, 1983: 121-122).

‘Aboriginal people in defining the way of life they think is appropriate to them, have acknowledged the value of certain European goods and services, for example health services, schools, motor vehicles, radio’s, rifles, a proportion of store bought food, water, ablution facilities and so on’ (Nathan et.al, 1983: 29).

However, the need for communities to be more equipped was moving at a rate beyond what government was prepared to respond to. Governments were constrained in policy to extending technology support only for ‘basic’ necessities in infrastructure such as water, shelter and communications. What constituted ‘basic’ was a constant point of debate in discourses between communities and government (Nathan et.al, 1983: 30).

1.4. Socio-technical processes

1.4.1. Indigenous and non-indigenous participation in technology maintenance

While the situation varied in degree, indigenous participation in the maintenance of introduced technologies to remote communities was not sufficient or consistent enough to sustain the functional value intended with those technologies. Participation was greatest between the 1950s and 1970s in mission and government settlements

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(Myers, 1986: 37). The drop off in participation appears to have occurred a few years after when local community councils were expected to manage their material assets and other community functions under the policy of self-determination. In most cases non-indigenous staff in communities either carried the management role or conducted most technical maintenance tasks supporting community functions (Altman, 1987: 6).

It is possible that the drop off of participation in technical projects was the result of indigenous Australians not being adequately empowered during the mission and government settlement years. Skills in technology were clearly conveyed, perhaps more effectively then than now in many communities, however, it would appear that what was not conveyed was technology management and social organisation skills: the cognition that most instructors, contractors and project managers would internalise before issuing indigenous work groups the days tasks and job list. Operational skills were emphasised at the expense of organisational and problem solving skills.

The above pattern of participation in settlement functions and technology maintenance placed considerable stress on the few non-indigenous staff expected to take carriage of those functions. The situation contributed to a high turnover of non- indigenous staff in remote communities. In some communities non-indigenous staff were perceived as a disposable commodity: self-determination was the simple task of replacing staff when they appeared to reach a point of dysfunction (Myers, 1986: 279- 281).

In an effort to alleviate the problems associated with maintaining sedentary community functions, primary community services and training programs were established. One of the more dominant services to be established was in local health care. Aboriginal Health Workers and Health Centres were created to assist in the task of communal care. However, it was soon recognised that traditional social- organisational systems in many central desert communities placed restrictions on

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health workers. Cultural values and social organisation expectations made it difficult for Health Workers administer health care to the broader communal context (beyond their extended family obligations). Communal service was an assumed social value that many remote desert tribes did not necessarily perceive as appropriate practice. This problem extended to other communal functions and public services. Community councils were essentially forums rather than regulatory authorities for ‘public’ functions. Myers observed the following about the social organisation of community functions in a remote sedentary Western Desert community in central Australia.

‘Settlements depend on community property that is not easily replaced (trucks, bores, water tanks), as well as on wages and store foods that cannot be procured by each individual. Sedentarism, larger population, and the effects of drunkenness on co-residents make conflict more difficult. These matters seem to demand communal regulation, but the Pintupi resolution of hierarchy and autonomy makes it difficult for them to produce binding consensus ... A call for support for the good of the community remains without persuasive force because individuals do not regard themselves as members of a joint undertaking to which they all have a responsibility’ (ibid: 268).

From a systems perspective it would appear that while government was increasing technological and educational input to remote communities under the policy of self- determination, remote communities were ill-prepared for reconciling the socio- technical and organisational expectations of such input. The problem of indigenous participation was known in most communities, but it would appear that there was no clear mechanism for this feedback to effect changes to the socio-technical inputs and processes of community functions. The socio-technical system of many remote communities was failing to respond to negative feedback in a climate of material and consumer growth since the mid 1970s.

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1.4.2. Indigenous gender participation in technology maintenance

Little appears to have changed in most remote indigenous communities in the division of labour according to gender. Many remote communities maintained the theme of tool to gender association (Berndt, 1974; Hamilton, 1980).

‘In the traditional subsistence pattern, an ideal division of labour by sex is symbolised by the contrast in mens and womens tools ... this division of labour is critical in defining gender identity with males often specified in ordinary conversation as “those with spear throwers” and females as “those with digging sticks”’ (Myers, op.cit: 74).

The general social pattern associated with technical activity was that men hunted and produced primary tools (tools that made other tools) and women gathered and mostly maintained resources such as shelters (Altman, 1987: 80). The traditional relationship that linked gender roles with community functions and specific technologies also carried into tool management and the maintenance of shelters.

‘In the past a women had no claim on the implements, weapons, and decorative and ritual objects that her husband made, or acquired in exchange, for his own use or for other men’s use. A man similarly had no claim on the implements his wife made, or acquired in exchange, for her own use or the use of other women. Each could dispose of surplus article made for him or her by the other, in order to meet kinship obligations. Neither was however, one entitled to dispose of the objects necessary for the efficient maintenance of the household without consulting the other ... a couple contributed equally to building the family shelter, but the husband determined where it was to be situated and when it was to be renovated and rebuilt, abandoned or destroyed’ (Meggitt, 1962: 93).

Self-determination policies increased government input to communities of resources in health and education at the expense of technology management. A pattern developed where most ongoing government commitment to community functions emphasised work and skills that women traditionally identified with more than men. There was a tendency for health workers and teacher assistants to be young women

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rather than men (Myers, 1986: 279; Nathan et.al, 1983: 30). Men were likely to be less specialised in their functions while women were likely to take on roles that were cross-cultural communication and organisation oriented (Brokensha, 1987: 20). While the situation varied among remote indigenous communities there appears to have developed and ongoing funding and support program for the non-technical community functions traditionally associated with women’s roles. There is little evidence of the same level and continuity of support in technical community function to which indigenous men traditionally relate to.

1.5. Socio-technical output

1.5.1. State of repair of shelter technologies

The introduction of sedentary shelter systems to indigenous Australian communities has been one of the most difficult technologies for communities to sustain at a functional and healthy level. A common theme expressed in indigenous shelter reports is a failure of communities to maintain introduced shelters and to develop more appropriate shelter hardware such as furniture and appliances. Much of the ‘failure’ of houses is described in terms of amenity and accessory breakdown rather than house structure breakdown though this also occurs in some cases. Morel and Ross recently concluded that,

‘The neglect of maintenance now appears to be the most pressing problem in central Australian Aboriginal housing. There is a chronic lack of maintenance owing to the absence of any system for inspection and reporting of faults, for carrying out and for financing repairs ... Failure to keep up with maintenance is very costly in the long run, as houses later need complete replacement or major renovations, and people reject houses in which essential parts are not working’ (Morel and Ross, 1993: 14).

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Fund raising in the form of house hold rent is difficult for many community councils as families often relocate to other houses in their settlement throughout the year (Pholeros et.al, 1994: 116). Relocation and shelter abandonment occurs for a variety of reasons with the main reasons being a cultural response to deaths of occupants associated with dwellings and the desire of young couples to move into their own shelter to raise families.

While there has been an emphasis on shelter maintenance and hardware amenities in many reports on the issue of sustainable housing, some evidence exists that suggests that shelter is not as high a priority as network technologies. Many burgeoning remote communities point to sustainable water supply, transportation and specific communication technology as more fundamental problems and needs. While a shelter may be unsustainable, or even the supply of water outlets within it, the consequences of failing transport, communication and potable water supplies are often of greater health and cultural concern to communities (Walker, 1993). The delays incurred with maintaining water bores and vehicles were usually greater and more absolute in their social and health effect than shelter failure and the failure of shelter amenities such as toilets (Nathan et.al, 1983: 133).

1.6. Socio-technical feedback

1.6.1. Perceived appropriateness of shelter technologies

During fieldwork on communities with the Centre for Appropriate Technology between 1987 and 1995 in central Australia, the author noted a consistent theme where remote communities expressed high aspiration for house designs and hardware that have had a general history of breakdown within the first 12 to 24 months of their existence in communities. Washing machines, stoves and 4 bedroom detached houses were typically desired even though houses were often contending with occupancy

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rates of zero to 30 during the year (Pholeros et.al, 1993: 30). Inappropriate technologies were often desired by many communities even though residents were aware that they were unsustainable or created social living pattern problems (Morel and Ross, 1993a). There is a consistent theme in the literature of introduced shelter systems and hardware not being sustained in remote indigenous Australian social organisation and community lifestyle. The mis-match between the social and introduced technical systems is persistent in the literature. Historical Northern Territory Government records noted that ‘... when ceremonies took place, settlement life was forgotten. Little concern was shown at the loss of pay or the fact that certain routine jobs must be done each day to keep the settlement functional.’ (NT Administration, 1966: 113)

An explanation offered by Myers indicates that indigenous Australians seek to extract only specific material value from Western technology and sedentary lifestyle (Myers, 1986: 41). Once the material value has served its immediate purpose the item ceases to have utility in its original form (Altman, 1987: 184). While Myers’ and Altman’s interpretations are broad, it is possible that most material resources, especially Western sedentary technologies, are perceived to have short term value in remote communities (ibid).

‘[Western Desert indigenous Australians] are inclined to do work or other payments for traditional ends, like travelling and visiting. Many individuals work to earn enough money for particular capital items (a motor car, a radio, fancy clothes) and then quit. A Pintupi man especially afflicted by the disparity between white and black culture described the contrast in these terms: “money is the main thing for whites, they don’t worry who will cry for them when they die”’ (Myers, 1986: 41).

The social response to introduced permanent shelter systems, hardware and economy appears to exist in a paradox. Many indigenous Australians in remote communities indicate considerable understanding and interest in the material need for and benefit

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of introduced technology and social organisation. However, the capacity for traditional indigenous social organisation to sustain introduced shelter systems, hardware and organisation was rarely apparent: a general theme consistent in remote communities since the intrusion of first colonial settlements in Australia. The pattern of communities being able to demonstrate short term technical and vocation skill sufficient for most preventative maintenance tasks and yet still not be able to sustain technologies suggests that more skills based ‘fix it’ training is unlikely to improve the situation whether it be multi-skill ‘fix it’ training or specialist skill ‘fix it’ training. It would appear that in many remote communities indigenous Australians have a broad understanding of the sustainability problem, their dilemma is what to do about it that is perceived as socially and culturally acceptable. From a systemic view point, the socio-technical systems in communities were failing to act upon feedback to effect appropriate changes to social and material inputs and process in communities. Communities were receiving more technical resources without sufficient evidence of congruous and contiguous negative feedback.

1.6.2. Perceived causes of shelter technology breakdown

At the operational level two themes emerged in the literature that suggested the main causes of technology breakdown in communities: incompatible local social values and inappropriate technology input. Propositions suggesting socio-cultural problems focus on solutions coming from within the community rather than from external technology providers. Propositions advocating technical causes alone have diverted attention from local social problems and solutions to external technical problems and solutions. However, most references suggest the underlying issues are ultimately solved from changes within the social organisation context of communities as this is consistent with empowerment philosophy. Myers and Altman observed that the following socio-cultural factors have affected the sustainability of technology in a

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remote Western Desert and Arnhem land communities respectively. Myers and Altman wrote that,

‘... optimistic government Advisers, administrators, and others seem to have expected that a local council of democratically elected representatives would come to express the collective will of the Aboriginal community. Yet the very idea of permanent corporate community as representing the welfare of its individual members conflicts with the Pintupi view of Aboriginal control. They stress individual autonomy’ (Myers, 1986: 262).

‘One rarely sees arguments about the abuse of property, for one does not argue with kinsmen [fellow indigenous Australian men] about such things, and it is rare to see children scolded for misusing or ruining goods. Also the maintenance of property is generally seen as the responsibility of the owner not the user’ (Altman, 1987: 184).

The counter interpretation suggests that most breakdown is due to technical inappropriateness: sometimes in relation to local environmental conditions and other times to installation failure by the provider of houses.

‘The major cause of hardware breakdown and the requirement for maintenance is not overuse or vandalism but rather poor initial construction’ (Pholeros et.al, 1993: xi).

‘All too often the shibboleth of culturally appropriate housing in fact provides a mechanism for service agencies to avoid their responsibility to ensure that housing programs provide functioning and maintained health hardware’ (ibid: 115).

Whether technical breakdown is socially or technologically based appears to be problematic. However, it is possible that both social and technical issues underpin the fundamental causes of technology break down in an inter-related way. To suggest one aspect to be more fundamental than the other negates at least half of the possible solutions for improving technology sustainability. To emphasise socio-cultural causes negates possible technical solutions, while to emphasise technical causes, as advocated by Pholeros and others (ibid) negates possible internal social solutions. A

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rational outcome would be to interpret the problem and solution as a socio-technical system. It is useful to consider ‘the problem’ from a systemic perspective for how community functions are performing in settlements. This would render cause-effect assumptions irrelevant in accord with equifinality principles of systems. At issue is whether communities are demonstrating adequate socio-technical adaptive behaviour. It would not be unreasonable to suggest that ‘the problem’ of maintenance is an underlying failure of community functions to demonstrate responsive negative feedback towards acceptable lifestyle and quality of material environment goals. The task facing many indigenous Australians is to develop a material lifestyle and shelter system that is both socially and technical sustainable in the remote areas they have chosen to live. It would appear that efforts to address social and technical factors have had limited long term success because programs and policies were, unwittingly, responding to individual symptoms of ‘the problem’ at the expense of overview. Not identifying more holistic solutions has therefore prevented other aspects of the settlement system from being addressed. It may be better to empower indigenous Australians to become more effective managers of feedback-to-input mechanisms ( such as technology choice, innovation and management skills) and to help clarify sustainable settlement development goals (including locally sustainable forms of settlement and feasibility/desirability lifestyle issues) than to maintain policies and programs that seek to regulate and standardise community inputs and processes.

PART TWO: EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF COMMUNITY FUNCTIONS - SUSTAINABILITY OF SHELTER SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE

The empirical analysis was conducted on data derived from 33 survey returns during 1988. This represented 18% of the total register of non-urban/remote indigenous

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communities in Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland/Torres Strait Islands according to the 1986 census. However, because the Northern Territory was the only state to have established a network of adult educators in most of their communities a Northern Territory bias was both expected and demonstrated in the distribution of returns. 85% of surveyed communities were Northern Territory communities. This outcome was accepted on the basis that field experience and literature review indicated that the Northern Territory contained a range of community locations, populations, economies and exposure to government policies similar to those in other states.

The survey distribution method targeted adult educators and community councils as these were assessed in a preliminary study as the most reliable and accessible sources for responding to the survey. Adult educators lived in their community, required a minimum three year tertiary qualification and liaised closely with all sectors of the community. Community council administrators were employed by the community to manage all daily operational matters and so were assessed to be well placed, along with the adult educator to respond to the survey questions credibly. At the time of the survey almost all adult educators and administrators were non-indigenous males approximately between 30 and 50 years of age based on field observation. Only 2 of the 33 returns were female respondents and these were adult educators.

A representative sample of participants were asked in a trial stage to contribute to the survey design from a feasibility and reliability perspective. An extensive battery of indicators addressing social and technical aspects of community technical activity was created. It is acknowledged that the survey data offers an analysis for many permutations and possible cross-tabulations. However, data analysis was limited to the permutations considered most relevant to the theoretical framework and research questions of the study. All statistical analyses were conducted with the aid of a statistical computer package for the Macintosh: Systat 5.2.1.

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2.1. Analysis of grouping variables

The independent (grouping) variables were initially analysed for possible relationship tendencies. The null-hypothesis tested (H0) was that there was no significant relationship (group interaction or bias) between the three grouping variables that represented different community contexts (ekistic context categories) of community functions. The alternative hypothesis (H1) was that the ekistic grouping variables were related to one-another indicating that they were insufficiently distinct concepts to be used as grouping variables. The analysis sought to fail in its attempt to reject

(H0) so that the grouping variables could be legitimately used to compare data in subsequent analyses. The grouping variables tested were:

1. community population (TWOSIZE$): SMALL (<500 people) LARGE (≥500 people)

2. community location (TWOZONE$): ARID (<600 ml median summer rainfall; predominantly inland communities) MONS (≥600 ml median summer rainfall; predominantly tropical northern river lands and coastal or island communities)

3. community economy (ECONOMY$): NON-CASH (substantial gift/traditional obligation economy evident in community along side the mainstream cash based economy) CASH (economy was essentially cash based with little or no evidence of a parallel gift/traditional obligation economy practiced in the community)

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Though not an ekistic grouping variable, survey respondent groupings were also tested to determine the existence of any relevant respondent bias or tendencies across data. Survey respondents were grouped on the basis of their function in communities. Only relevant and significant tendencies were presented. The respondent grouping categories are listed below and correspond to the two institutional groups that the survey was mailed to: the network of adult educators resident in communities and the indigenous president of the governing local council of each community.

1. respondent type (TWOPERS$): EDUCATOR (government employee (sometimes indigenous), resident in community and functioning as the community adult educator)

COUNCIL (local community council employee, resident in community and functioning as either the indigenous community president, community Advisor/town clerk, housing officer or maintenance/technical services officer)

In addition to testing respondent bias, two survey ‘check’ questions were included to detect acquiescent response sets and respondent disinterest to the survey questions (DeVaus, 1991: 86-103). While the survey design attempted to maintain variety in question formats and types to keep respondents interested, the ‘check’ questions were included to detect if respondents remained generally focused. The ‘check’ questions were placed near the beginning and the end of the survey booklet. They were designed to be simple in format and yield data that logically correlated with community population, a known variable. The two check questions asked respondents to:

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1. estimate, against a three step scale (coded 0, 1 and 2) the abundance in their community of a variety of listed technologies and structures: variable name PCCOMTEC; and,

2. indicate against a given list of community structures (including the council office, school, store on so on), the number of different facilities these structures had ( including gas connection, mains electricity, solar power, flush toilets and so on): variable name TLSHELFA.

The total responses for each of the check questions were recorded for each community. It was hypothesized that larger population communities were likely to score a greater abundance of technologies and building facilities and vice versa. If the two variables correlated strongly and positively with community population, it was assumed that respondents were generally focused when answering the survey questions. That is a weak correlation would indicate a likelihood that many respondents were not answering questions carefully or had considerable difficulty in answering the questions.

2.1.1 Grouping variable bias and likelihood of acquiescent response sets

2.1.1.1. Grouping variable bias

The grouping variables were tested against the chi-square (χ2) statistic for 2x2 tables except where the expected frequencies for more than one-fifth of the cells were less than five. Where expected cell frequencies were low, the Fisher Exact two-tail test was used (Siegel, 1956: 96). Significance was set at α=0.05. A statistically significant relationship was assessed to occur where the probability value (p) was calculated to be equal to or less than α: where p≤0.05. However, where the (p) value was not significant, but approaching α, the possibility of a relationship bias was

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noted: where 0.05

‘In reporting his findings, the researcher should indicate the actual probability level (p) associated with his findings, so that the reader may use his own judgement in deciding whether or not the null hypothesis should be rejected. A researcher may decide to work at the 0.05 level, but a reader may refuse to accept any finding not significant at the 0.01, 0.005 or 0.001 levels, while another reader may be interested in any finding which reaches, say, the 0.08 or 0.10 levels. The researcher should give his readers the information they require by reporting, if possible, the probability level (p) actually associated with the finding.’ (ibid: 9)

The analysis and associated p values (coded as 'PROB' by Systat 5.2.1) for testing grouping bias are presented below:

TABLE OF TWOZONE$ (ROWS) BY TWOSIZE$ (COLUMNS)

FREQUENCIES

LARGE SMALL TOTAL ------ARID 6 10 16

MONS 11 6 17 ------TOTAL 17 16 33

TEST STATISTIC VALUE DF PROB PEARSON CHI-SQUARE 2.443 1 0.118 FISHER EXACT TEST (TWO-TAIL) 0.169

TABLE OF ECONOMY$ (ROWS) BY TWOSIZE$ (COLUMNS)

FREQUENCIES

LARGE SMALL TOTAL ------NON-CASH 2 6 8

CASH 10 5 15 ------TOTAL 12 11 23

WARNING: MORE THAN ONE-FIFTH OF FITTED CELLS ARE SPARSE (FREQUENCY < 5) SIGNIFICANCE TESTS ARE SUSPECT

TEST STATISTIC VALUE DF PROB PEARSON CHI-SQUARE 3.630 1 0.057 FISHER EXACT TEST (TWO-TAIL) 0.089

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TABLE OF TWOPERS$ (ROWS) BY TWOSIZE$ (COLUMNS)

FREQUENCIES

LARGE SMALL TOTAL ------COUNCIL 8 10 18

EDUCATOR 9 6 15 ------TOTAL 17 16 33

TEST STATISTIC VALUE DF PROB PEARSON CHI-SQUARE 0.793 1 0.373 FISHER EXACT TEST (TWO-TAIL) 0.491

TABLE OF ECONOMY$ (ROWS) BY TWOZONE$ (COLUMNS)

FREQUENCIES

ARID MONS TOTAL ------NON-CASH 4 4 8

CASH 7 8 15 ------TOTAL 11 12 23

WARNING: MORE THAN ONE-FIFTH OF FITTED CELLS ARE SPARSE (FREQUENCY < 5) SIGNIFICANCE TESTS ARE SUSPECT

TEST STATISTIC VALUE DF PROB PEARSON CHI-SQUARE 0.023 1 0.879 FISHER EXACT TEST (TWO-TAIL) 1.000

TABLE OF TWOPERS$ (ROWS) BY TWOZONE$ (COLUMNS)

FREQUENCIES

ARID MONS TOTAL ------COUNCIL 9 9 18

EDUCATOR 7 8 15 ------TOTAL 16 17 33

TEST STATISTIC VALUE DF PROB PEARSON CHI-SQUARE 0.036 1 0.849 FISHER EXACT TEST (TWO-TAIL) 1.000

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TABLE OF TWOPERS$ (ROWS) BY ECONOMY$ (COLUMNS)

FREQUENCIES

NON_CASH CASH TOTAL ------COUNCIL 4 10 14

EDUCATOR 4 5 9 ------TOTAL 8 15 23

WARNING: MORE THAN ONE-FIFTH OF FITTED CELLS ARE SPARSE (FREQUENCY < 5) SIGNIFICANCE TESTS ARE SUSPECT

TEST STATISTIC VALUE DF PROB PEARSON CHI-SQUARE 0.608 1 0.435 FISHER EXACT TEST (TWO-TAIL) 0.657

2.1.1.2. Grouping variable interactions

No statistically significant interactions were found to occur between grouping variables at α = 0.05: H0 was retained. The grouping variables may therefore be regarded as measuring essentially independent and generally unbiased concepts in the course of further data analysis. However, compared to small communities, the data portrayed a near significant tendency for large communities to:

1. operate essentially cash based economies. Small communities tended to operate a more diverse dual economy based on both cash and a gift/traditional obligation system that was not cash based: (Fisher test, p=0.089)

2. be located in the northern tropical and coastal regions of Australia. The tendency for small communities was to be located in the arid to semi-arid inland regions of Australia:

(χ2=2.443, df = 1, p=0.118)

COUNCIL and EDUCATOR survey respondents were evenly distributed among communities of different population characteristics (χ2=0.793, df = 1, p=0.373),

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location characteristics (χ2=0.036, df = 1, p=0.849) and economy characteristics (Fisher test, p=0.657) in the sample.

2.1.1.3. Likelihood of acquiescent responses

The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was used to detect response acquiescent tendencies in the survey returns. Variable PCCOMTEC and TLSHELFA were correlated with population estimates for communities derived from local government records: variable POPN. It was hypothesised that if respondents maintained their focus and generally understood the check questions then the above two variables would correlate positively and strongly with each other and community population.

______PEARSON (r) CORRELATION MATRIX

POPN PCCOMTEC TLSHELFA

POPN 1.000 PCCOMTEC (near start15) 0.686 1.000 TLSHELFA (near end16) 0.588 0.693 1.000 ______

Table 3.2.1: Correlations of check questions for acquiescent responses

The above results (Table 3.2.1) show that the check question variables PCCOMTEC and TLSHELFA correlated moderately to strongly and positively with community population: r=0.686 and r=0.588 respectively. On this basis, it was concluded that there was minimal acquiescence in the survey data and that respondents generally understood the survey questions. It is possible, however, that some respondents experienced fatigue or lost a degree of focus near the end of the survey booklet as there was a slightly weaker correlation between TLSHELFA and POPN: the question variable TLSHELFA was placed near the end of the survey booklet.

15This check question was located near the beginning of the survey instrument. 16This check question was located near the end of the survey instrument.

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2.2. Component analysis of socio-technical systems

The descriptive analyses below responded to the contemporary/empirical context of the first of three sub-questions of this study and its components:

‘1.1 What are the main ... contemporary factors influencing socio- technical functions in remote indigenous Australian communities?

Question components System components to review include ... inputs, processes, output and feedback.’

The overall objective of this section was to identify ‘naturally occurring variations’ (DeVaus, 1991: 6) or patterns among the socio-technical items surveyed. Each survey item described a different aspect of the status of community functions at the time the survey was administered. Placed in the logical order of the theoretical framework, the survey items described the input, process, output and feedback components of community functions. Several techniques were used to aid the identification and presentation of ‘natural’ patterns in the data. Descriptive methods were utilised including sorting, mean scores, graphs and correlation matrices depending on the purpose of the indicator. Where several independent variables were used to describe indicators and where data satisfied the conditions, a common factor analysis computation was applied and presented in factor plot format.

Factor analysis was used as an exploratory aid, rather than as a hypothesis testing procedure. However, as an exploratory aid, the analytical technique was both useful and subject to misuse due mainly to the complexity of the procedure and its partial reliance on subjective interpretation. There is justification for expressing caution in the use of this procedure. A summary of the purpose, logic, benefits and cautions of

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factor analysis relevant to survey based studies was succinctly presented by DeVaus (1991):

‘[Factor analysis] is a mathematically complex method of reducing a large set of variables to a smaller set of underlying variables referred to as factors. Fortunately, computer packages can handle the complex computations ... The basic aim ... is to examine whether, on the basis of people’s answers to questions, a smaller number of more general factors that underlie answers to individual questions can be identified. For example, we might ask people about what attributes they consider to be important in children (e.g. good manners, obedience, neatness, imagination, independence and self-control). By observing the pattern of answers, we might see that some people emphasise good manners, obedience and neatness and placed little weight on imagination, independence and self-control and vice versa. In other words, some variables tended to cluster together. Factor analysis helps us identify this sort of patterning in the overall set of responses to these questions.’ (ibid: 257)

The factor analysis process was in part dependent on the researchers ability to attach sensible and relevant descriptions to the factors underpinning variable clustering patterns (ibid: 258-265). Field observations and respondent comments written in the survey returns assisted this process. However, to reduce the subjective element to a minimum, the following cautions, by DeVaus (ibid), were adopted:

1. Variables that were considered ‘causally related’ (ie. where one variable was essentially dependent on another) were not used.

2. Only interval level non-dichotomous variables were used.

3. Factors were rotated by the varimax method and based on correlation coefficients.

4. Variables with very low communality values, generally below 0.10, were excluded from the analysis to emphasise the total variance of factors.

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5. Factors with eigenvalues equal to or less than 1.0 were excluded as being weak factors in terms of the degree to which they were able to explain the total variance of clustered variables.

6. Identified factors were cautiously described as having an ‘orientation’ towards a specific underlying pattern rather than as being exclusively or absolutely this pattern. This convention acknowledges the interpretive role of the researcher in assigning appropriate labels to the cluster patterns detected in the factor analysis.

7. The explained variance, expressed as a percentage of the total variance, was noted for all relevant factors.

8. Where appropriate, a factor plot of variable clusters was presented to aid visual identification of patterns and tendencies.

2.2.1 Inputs

The status of socio-technical inputs to community functions was measured against several variables, each relating to different aspects of resource provision. These were: education, building materials, tools and equipment, shelters and shelter accessory provisions.

2.2.1.1. Education

The purpose of the education indicator was to identify the occurrence of expertise for different community functions (translated as occupations) and to gauge the proportion to which technical functions compared to non-technical functions were supported by a local pool of trained indigenous people .

Chapter Three: Findings page: 192

Graph 3.2.1 presents an estimate of the number of people in occupations in communities. The data were derived from survey questions S2G and S2H. In question S2G, communities were asked to estimate the number of indigenous Australians in their community known to have completed institutional formal training in different occupations. In question S2H, communities were asked to estimate the number of indigenous Australians without formal training but whom they assessed as having recognised skills in fields related to different occupations. Question S2H provided a measure of potential skill resource in communities: indigenous Australians who have not attained qualifications but who have demonstrated interest and some skills in the occupations listed. Education input indicators will also be compared to the output indicator that identifies the general repair condition of shelters (see part two, section 2.4 of this chapter).

Graph 3.2.1: Prevalence of education input to community functions

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The above graph indicates that there was generally a larger provision of trained expertise supporting non-technical functions than technical functions in communities. The last four items of the graph show that some communities functioned with no formally trained indigenous Australians in computer, video, plumbing and electrical occupations. In contrast, there is a relatively high occurrence of expertise in religious and clerical work, indigenous health and general (predominantly primary school level) education occupations. Field observations of these occupations suggest that a high general occurrence related to them being funded by centralised government or large institutional programs such as health departments, education departments and churches. This degree of support was not usually evident for technical occupations.

In order to identify whether the above pattern was evenly distributed among communities, a factor analysis on occupation occurrence was conducted. The results are presented in Graph 3.2.2.

Graph 3.2.2: Factor plot of occupation cluster patterns among communities

Chapter Three: Findings page: 194

Graph 3.2.2 shows that the two main factors underpinning the occurrence of different occupations with trained indigenous people were whether communities had an orientation to industrial technology occupations or to non-industrial technology occupations.

However, a few occupations clustered to their ‘opposite camps’. The power station attendant and video work occupations correlated with communities that had a high occurrence of non-industrial occupations; the occupations located towards the lower right corner of the graph. Clerical and church based occupations clustered more with communities that had a high number of people skilled in industrial technology occupations (the occupations located towards the upper left corner of Graph 3.2.2.).

Field observations suggest that the power station attendant pattern could be explained by the nature of the occupation. Attendants were trained less in the application of electrical power generation maintenance and more in its administration such as system monitoring. This could be perceived as non-industrial technology oriented but also not entirely oriented this way. This explanation would fit with the position that it was not strongly correlated with either factors suggesting a third factor. A subsequent three factor analysis isolated the power station occupation along with video work and grounds keeper occupations. It appeared that these three occupations were perceived as a third factor that may be described as semi-industrial or semi-technical occupations.

The clustering of indigenous church workers and office clerical workers in communities with a prevalence of trained indigenous people in industrial technologies is more difficult to explain than the power station attendant results. However, church and clerical or office workers are located in the lower edge of the industrial cluster and close to the non-industrial cluster. Field observations suggested that the nature of church worker and clerical or office occupations shared some qualities in common with industrial technology training and vocational circumstance. Among the specific

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skills and values common to the church, officer or clerical occupations were English writing, honesty, reliability, diligence and the ability to interface with non-indigenous Australians. These occupations were also usually single person operations as were most industrial technology occupations in communities17. Within the confines of the community, there was rarely dedicated administrative, resource or collegial support.

In contrast, teachers and health workers had schools and health clinic centres with other professional peers that they could refer or defer to. Where health and education occupations were supported by dedicated government organisations with administrative centres in communities and stable funding programs, industrial occupations were not operating in this context. Government technical support ,where available, was usually external and divided along technical specialisation areas such as housing, power and water and transport departments. Funding was not consistent from year to year. It was often project based requiring submission bidding and short- term (less than a year) schedules for achieving outcomes. It is possible that the occupational work environment, values and skills of church and clerical or office workers share more things in common with industrial and semi-industrial occupations than with health worker, primary school education worker and other non-industrial occupations.

2.2.1.2. Building materials

The purpose of this indicator was to estimate the variety and amount of different materials used to shelter people and to gauge the extent to which some materials were likely to be used in combinations with others in communities. It was thought that this indicator would suggest the general diversity of shelter types in communities. The

17The number of trained people in plumbing, electrical, video and computer occupations was very small in the sample taken and should be treated with caution in the factor plot.

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use of some materials implied a different skill base than others in dwelling construction, design and modification.

Graph 3.2.3 presents an estimate of the proportions of different shelter materials used in communities. The data were derived from survey questions S1D. Communities were asked to indicate from a list of 14 materials those that were used in shelter construction around their community.

Graph 3.2.3: Building materials input to community functions

Graph 3.2.3 ranks on percentage, the quantity of building material used in shelter construction. Consistent with fieldwork observations, the graph shows that most shelters in communities were made from materials that were often used to construct standard permanent houses usually made of cement blocks: typical government commissioned houses.

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When the pattern of material use was analysed among communities there appeared to be two main factors that determined which materials were likely to be used with one another. A plot of the two main factors is presented in Graph 3.2.4. Rather than all communities using a range of different materials within them, the plot grouped two distinct combinations of shelter materials used in different communities.

Graph 3.2.4: Factor plot of building material cluster patterns among communities

The two main factors underpinning the occurrence of different building materials in Graph 3.2.4 might be explained as materials used in two distinct shelter types: communities with a large number of non-traditional permanent shelters or with a large number of temporary traditional shelters. There appears to be a high correlation between factor 1 and materials that had both light weight properties and that were predominantly of locally available materials. This pattern suggests that there was a

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cluster of communities in the sample that had a substantial proportion of light shelter structures such as transitional shelters, humpies and traditional dwellings. The pattern existed even though Graph 3.2.3 indicates that on average permanent shelter materials are more common in most communities.

The temporary building materials in communities generally did not require the use of many, specialised or powered tools to shape, position or transport them. In contrast, the cluster of permanent building materials implies a more sophisticated collection of tools and equipment to construct, repair or modify them. The issue of tools was addressed in the following input indicator to community functions.

2.2.1.3. Tools and equipment

The purpose of this indicator was to estimate the general occurrence of different tools used by individual indigenous Australians and to compare this to the tools stocked by the three categories of agencies found in most communities. These being the community store, workshop and other centres including outstation resource and education centres. It was hypothesised that these indicators would relate to the capacity for individuals to undertake different kinds of maintenance and material manipulation projects.

Table 3.2.2 presents a correlation matrix of the range of tools possessed by individuals and those stocked by the different agencies in the community. From these agencies indigenous Australians were usually able to access tools on a loans basis or otherwise. The data was derived from the survey question S1A. Communities were asked to indicate from a list of 56 tools those tools that were usually possessed by individuals and those that were usually accessible from each of the three different agencies listed.

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The parametric Pearson’s (r) correlation coefficient was used as the data measured was continuous rather than ranks and that a linear relationship tendency rather than a curvilinear relationship was assumed. List wise deletion was used to enable legitimate comparisons of strength (r) between pairs. Significance was set at α=0.05 and tested against Bonferroni corrected probabilities (pb) for comparing multivariate correlations.

______PEARSON CORRELATION MATRIX (r)

INDIVIDUAL’S OTHER/LOAN COMMUNITY COUNCIL TOOLS AGENCIES STORE WORKSHOP

INDIVIDUAL’S TOOLS 1.000 OTHER/LOAN AGENCIES -0.208 1.000 COMMUNITY STORE 0.535* 0.430 1.000 COUNCIL WORKSHOP -0.258 0.741* 0.356 1.000

BARTLETT CHI-SQUARE STATISTIC: 96.478 DF= 6 PROB= 0.000

MATRIX OF BONFERRONI CORRECTED PROBABILITIES (pb)

INDIVIDUALS OTHER/LOAN COMMUNITY COUNCIL TOOLS AGENCIES STORE WORKSHOP

INDIVIDUALS TOOLS 0.000 OTHER/LOAN AGENCIES 0.744 0.000 COMMUNITY STORE 0.000* 0.006 0.000 COUNCIL WORKSHOP 0.332 0.000* 0.042 0.000

NUMBER OF OBSERVATIONS: 56 ______

Table 3.2.2: Correlation of tools possessed by indigenous Australians and stocked by in community agencies

The correlation matrix (Table 3.2.2) indicates two strong associations (noted with *): firstly the tools of individuals with the store; and secondly the council general workshop tools with other community agencies. The tools possessed by individual indigenous Australians correlated moderately with those sold in the store (r=0.535, pb=0.000), while the tools stocked by the general council workshops and other agencies correlated more strongly with each other (r=0.741, pb=0.000).

Another interesting association, though weak, found in the correlation matrix was that the tools possessed by individuals correlated negatively with the council workshop

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and other agencies essentially set up to service community functions (r=-0.208, pb=0.744; r=-0.258, pb=0.323). There appears to be a substantial difference between the domestic technical functions and corresponding tool resources of individuals and those of community technical service agencies. It was possible that the store, though initially and essentially established in remote communities to provide food, was increasingly being accessed by individuals to support their private/domestic technical functions.

In order to better understand the two main associations, two influence scattergrams were plotted: Graphs 3.2.5 and 3.2.6.

Graphs 3.2.5 and 3.2.6: Influence plots of main tool provision associations

Graph 3.2.5 shows five outliner tools and equipment items that distort the correlation between the tools possessed by individuals and those stocked by the store. Hale (1990: 115) has pointed to the importance of not ignoring or dismissing outliner cases as they often reveal important and interesting exceptions to common rules. DeVaus (1991) has also suggested that if after checking that the contradictions to the rule were not due to error, their investigation may yield greater depth to the issue being researched:

Chapter Three: Findings page: 201

‘some contradictions in results reflect real contradictions...Finding inconsistencies in data is often a positive thing: it helps avoid simplistic interpretations of data and can highlight the complexity of social life...These contradictions can stimulate curiosity and encourage different and innovative analysis to help resolve such puzzles.’ (ibid: 298)

The outliner tools in Graph 3.2.5 were identified as the spear, digging stick, rifle, garbage bin and 200 litre drum. Field observations suggested that these tools (pieces of hardware) relate to traditional food collection and domestic waste management functions. The correlation coefficient between individuals and the store for the remaining 51 tools listed increased considerably when the five outliner tools were excluded from calculations: correlation increased from r=0.535 to r=0.823. Similarly, Graph 3.2.6 displays four outliner tools that relate to education/entertainment functions. They included the film/slide projector, television, video player/camera and computer. When these outliner tools were excluded from calculations the correlation on the remaining 52 tools increased for workshops and other agencies from r=0.741 to r=0.879.

The results suggest that, with the exception of traditional hunting and gathering tools and bins, the community store could be used as an indicator of how technically equipped individuals in communities were to undertake such tasks as repair and maintenance in their domestic environment. Similarly, the stock of tools in the community council workshop could be used as an indicator of most other agencies in the community that also stocked tools, with the exception of specialist equipment such as education and entertainment technologies.

These results imply that individuals were not defining their tool collection by the tools and equipment accessible on loan or otherwise through the agencies initially established to service the technical and skill needs of the community: the outstation resource centres, adult education centres and the community general workshop.

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Instead, indigenous Australians defined their tool collection by what was available in the community store, and in most cases these tools related to hunting and gathering functions rather than shelter and water technology maintenance functions. There appears to be some disparity between what community agencies perceive as the main technical needs of the community and those perceived by individual indigenous Australians. This was in part supported when the 20 most prevalent tools possessed by individuals were compared to the 20 most prevalent tools stocked by the general council workshop: Table 3.2.3.

Occurrence of tools % Occurrence of tools % amongst individuals amongst council workshops

Axe/tomahawk 78.8 Shifting spanner 84.8 Spear 75.8 Screwdriver 81.8 Broom 72.7 Hacksaw 81.8 Garbage bin 69.7 Socket set 81.8 Digging stick 63.6 Tyre repair tools 81.8 Television 60.6 Oxy welding set 81.8 Fishing tackle 54.5 Hammer 78.8 Riffle/gun 54.5 Pliers 78.8 Utility Knife 45.5 Shovel 78.8 44-Gallon drum 45.5 Crowbar 78.8 Electric extension cord 42.4 Spanner set 78.8 Shovel 39.4 Measuring tape 78.8 Hammer 33.3 Tyre bead breaker 78.8 Screwdriver 33.3 Arc welding set 78.8 Shifting spanner 33.3 Vice grips 75.8 Video recorder/camera 30.3 Stilsons wrench 75.8 Pliers 27.3 Woodsaw 69.7 Wood rasp 27.3 Cold chisel 69.7 Boat 24.2 Nails, screws, glues etc. 69.7 Metal file 21.2 Electric extension cord 69.7

Table 3.2.3: Top 20 tools possessed by individuals and the council workshop in communities

The list supported the proposition that the most prevalent tools possessed by individuals related mostly to traditional functions such as hunting and gathering: axe, spear, digging stick, fishing tackle, rifle, utility knife, shovel, metal files and screw

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drivers. The metal files and screw drivers were often used in northern coastal communities for prying open molluscs and crustaceans. The file was also used in communities for sharpening axes and heavy bladed knives. The second most prevalent tools and equipment related mostly to social and domestic functions such as entertainment and solid waste management: broom, garbage bins, television, electric extension cord and video recorder. Some tools were also used for arts and craft enterprises: wood rasp, utility knife and axe. The remainder of the most prevalent tools usually supported transportation functions. These were mostly mechanical tools: hammer, shifting spanner, pliers and so on.

The general pattern was that indigenous Australians possessed a few tools that supported multipurpose functions beyond their conventional and designed purpose. The dominant functions supported by personal tools were hunting, gathering, food preparation and transportation.

Tools and equipment of least prevalence among individuals were those designed to be used with building or plumbing repair and maintenance: woodsaws, hacksaws, nails, screws and glues, insulation tape, spirit level, measuring tape, tap fittings, silicon (caulking) gun, pipe wrench, tekguns, power drills, angle grinder and so on.

2.2.1.4. Shelter stock

The purpose of the shelter indicator was to estimate the general occurrence of different shelter types in communities. Three shelter categories were listed in the survey: houses (serviced with electricity, septic toilet and hot water), transition shelters (transition shed shelters and shade structures with occasional fixed services such as water connection) and humpies (no fixed services). It was hypothesised that the different shelter types implied different shelter maintenance needs in communities as they related to different degrees of fixed services.

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Graph 3.2.7 presents an estimate of the average proportions in communities of houses, transition shelter structures and humpies. The data was derived from the survey question S1C. Communities were asked to estimate the number of shelters for each of the three shelter types listed above.

Graph 3.2.7: Estimate proportions of different dwelling types expressed as a percentage of total dwellings in the communities sampled

The results indicate that the average housing stock in communities are comprised of a high proportion of humpies and transition shelters (totalling 41%) compared to serviced houses (59%). These results are consistent with the pattern of building materials used in communities: Graph 3.2.4. To understand how the proportions varied across communities, the ratio of the number of houses to transition shelters and humpies was calculated for each community sampled and plotted in Graph 3.2.818. The ratios extended from -1 to +1. A positive ratio indicated that the community was estimated to have more houses than humpies and transition shelters. A negative ratio indicated the community was estimated to have more humpies and transition shelters than houses. The names of communities were replaced with their numerated codes to maintain their anonymity.19

18The technique to calculate the ratio plots in this thesis is demonstrated in Wilkinson (1992: 8-9), in the volume on Statistics. 19 A conversion table matching communities with their numerated code names was compiled. The coded numbers relate to the average community population for 1986 (1986 census data) and 1987 (local government records). The higher the code the higher the population of that community.

Chapter Three: Findings page: 205

Graph 3.2.8: Estimate ratios of humpies and shed shelters to serviced houses in communities

Graph 3.2.8 shows that many remote communities contained more transition shelters and humpies than serviced houses. The overall pattern of housing provision suggests that the shelter maintenance needs are likely to vary considerably across and within communities as the ratio of serviced to non-serviced shelters varies considerably.

2.2.1.5. Shelter amenities, appliances and accessories

The purpose of this indicator was to estimate how maintenance may vary between different shelter types based on the occurrence of technical accessories used within them to serve a variety of domestic functions. Technical accessories were defined as

Chapter Three: Findings page: 206

technologies and spatial modifications such as appliances and furniture that enhance the functionality of shelters.

It was hypothesised that the quantity of different technical accessories used with shelters varies according to the shelter type. It was assumed that domestic functions were essentially similar across different types of shelters; food storage and preparation were common domestic functions irrespective of shelter type. It was also assumed that the number of occupants in different shelter types did not predicably relate to the shelter type. Literature (Meggitt, 1962; Myers, 1986) and pilot study field observations indicate that socio-cultural factors usually define the number of occupants in a dwelling space: a humpy may be used by more people than a four bedroom serviced house and vice versa.

Table 3.2.4 presents an analysis of variance (ANOVA) of how four shelter categories in communities differed in the number of technical accessories they utilised. The shelter categories were serviced houses, transition shelters, owner built hut and humpy structures. The data were derived from the survey question S1E. Communities were asked to indicate from a list of 18 technologies and shelter accessories the ones that were usually used with each of the four shelter types noted above. Each community thus was given an interval score between 0 and 18 for each of the four shelter types that represented the number of technical accessories used with them.

The level of significance was set at α=0.05. The Scheffé post hoc test was used to identify which categories of shelters were similar or different to each other in the mean number of technical accessories each shelter type used. The Scheffé test was favoured over other post-hoc tests (Cooper, 1981: 188) because the four categories of shelters had unequal sample sizes due to missing data. The null and alternative hypotheses for the one-way ANOVA were:

Chapter Three: Findings page: 207

H0: That the mean number of different technical accessories used with

each of the four shelter categories were the same: µ1=µ2=µ3=µ4.

H1: That the mean number of different technical accessories were not

the same for each of the four different shelter categories: not H0 .

Significant differences were assessed to occur where p≤0.05.

______DEPENDENT VARIABLE: TECHNICAL ACCESSORIES N: 96 MULTIPLE R: 0.814 SQUARED MULTIPLE R: 0.662

ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE

SOURCE SUM-OF-SQUARES DF MEAN-SQUARE F-RATIO P(p)

SHELTER TYPE$ 21813.116 3 7271.039 60.030 0.000

ERROR 11143.391 92 121.124

BARTLETT TEST FOR HOMOGENEITY OF GROUP VARIANCES CHI-SQUARE = 18.336 DF= 3 PROBABILITY = 0.000

======

POST HOC TEST OF TECHNICAL ACCESSORIES

USING MODEL MSE OF 121.124 WITH 92. DF. MATRIX OF PAIRWISE MEAN DIFFERENCES:

Houses Humpies Huts Transition

Houses 0.000 Humpies -35.572 0.000 Huts -34.329 1.244 0.000 Transition -25.624 9.948 8.704 0.000

______

SCHEFFÉ TEST. MATRIX OF PAIRWISE COMPARISON PROBABILITIES (p):

Houses Humpies Huts Transition

Houses 1.000 Humpies 0.000 1.000 Huts 0.000 0.989 1.000 Transition 0.000 0.035 0.077 1.000 ______

Table 3.2.4: Difference in occurrence of technical accessories used with different shelter types.

The results indicate that at least one of the shelter categories significantly differed from the others in the amount of different technical accessories used with it: F=60.03, df=3, p=0.000. On this basis (H0) was rejected in favour of (H1).

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The Scheffé post hoc probabilities for simple contrasts between the four shelter types indicates that people living in serviced houses tended to use a greater number of different technical accessories than people living in any of the other shelter types: (p=0.000) for all pairwise comparisons with houses. The results also indicate that people living in transition shelters tended to use more technical accessories than people living in humpies (p=0.035) and used more than people living under shade (or hut) structures: p=0.077. People living in humpies and shade-hut shelters used the same number of technical accessories as each other: (p=0.989).

The overall pattern suggests that the more fully serviced the shelter was (with electricity, hot water and water borne toilet systems), the more the occupants acquired technical accessories to support their domestic functions and vice versa. It is possible that communities with more houses than other less technically serviced shelters had a greater demand for technical maintenance functions. This was not only because they operated with more built in technical services that required maintenance, but also because their domestic functions tended to utilise more supporting technologies that compounded the maintenance needs of these houses.

2.2.2 Processes

The status of the socio-technical processes underpinning community functions was measured against two variables, each relating to different aspects of indigenous participation. These were: ratios of indigenous to non-indigenous participation in technical maintenance for a variety of technologies and ratios of indigenous gender participation in a variety of community functions.

Chapter Three: Findings page: 209

2.2.2.1. Indigenous and non-indigenous participation in technology maintenance

This indicator estimated the extent to which indigenous Australians participated in technical repair and maintenance activity in their community compared to resident non-indigenous Australians and external maintenance agencies. At the individual level it was thought that, indigenous participation in successful maintenance was related to indigenous technical self-determination. It was thought that at the community level and when compared to external agencies, the more technical maintenance that was successfully done within the community’s human resources (either by resident non-indigenous Australians or resident indigenous Australians), the more technically self-determined the community was as a whole.

Table 3.2.5 presents a matrix of how resident indigenous Australians, resident non- indigenous Australians and external maintenance agencies relate to the occurrence with which they usually performed maintenance for a common sample of technical items and hardware. The data was derived from the survey question S2C. Communities were asked to indicate from a list of 39 items whether resident indigenous Australians, resident non-indigenous Australians or external maintenance agencies usually performed most of the maintenance on those items.

The survey question initially divided responses into ‘minor’ and ‘major’ maintenance problem categories. However, the ‘minor’ and ‘major’ maintenance response patterns strongly correlated with each other: indigenous minor/major repairs: r=0.873, pb=0.000; non-indigenous minor/major repairs: r=0.821, pb=0.000; and, external agencies minor/major repairs: r=0.899, pb=0.000. The correlations indicate that communities do not perceive a meaningful difference between minor and major scales of maintenance in determining who usually maintained the items listed in the survey. Accordingly, the average occurrence of responses between minor and major

Chapter Three: Findings page: 210

categories were used to summarise associations, if any, found between response categories.

______PEARSON LIST-WISE CORRELATION MATRIX

indigenous Non-indigenous Ext’l agent maintenance maintenance maintenance

indigenous maint’nce 1.000 Non-indigenous maint’nce 0.017 1.000 Ext’l agent maint’nce -0.372* 0.406* 1.000

BARTLETT CHI-SQUARE STATISTIC: 14.075 DF= 3 PROB= 0.003

______

MATRIX OF BONFERRONI PROBABILITIES pb

indigenous Non-indigenous Ext’l agent maintenance maintenance maintenance

indigenous maint’nce 0.000 Non-indigenous maint’nce 1.000 0.000 Ext’l agent maint’nce 0.050* 0.025* 0.000

NUMBER OF OBSERVATIONS: 39 technologies ______

Table 3.2.5: Correlation matrix of the technical maintenance usually done by resident indigenous Australians, resident non-indigenous Australians and external maintenance agencies in communities

Table 3.2.5 indicates two significant and moderately strong correlations. There was a tendency for resident non-indigenous Australians and external agents to service and maintain the same kind and range of technical items in communities: r=0.406, pb=0.025. There was also a tendency for resident indigenous Australians to maintain items different from those usually maintained by these external maintenance agents: r=-0.372, pb=0.050 (negative correlation).

To identify how much indigenous Australians compared to resident non-indigenous Australians usually conducted maintenance for a range of technical items in communities, a ratio of non-indigenous to indigenous participation in maintenance was plotted: Graph 3.2.9. The ratio extended from -1 to +1. The more positive the ratio, the more the technology was maintained by indigenous Australians. The more

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negative the ratio the more the technology was maintained by resident non-indigenous Australians.

Graph 3.2.9: Proportions of indigenous participation in technical maintenance in communities

Based on field observations and working from the top of the list of items down, Graph 3.2.9 shows that indigenous participation in maintenance was dominant where the technologies support domestic food preparation and transportation functions. For maintaining domestic food preparation (including hunting and gathering) the technologies with higher maintenance participation ratios included the spear, cooking equipment, digging stick, fishing equipment and rifle. For maintaining transportation

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functions the lower indigenous maintenance ratio technologies included bicycles, tyre repair equipment, cars, car battery and canoes. Where toilets were installed, indigenous Australians show a preference for maintaining specific toilet technologies, including ventilated improved pit latrines (VIP) and aqua-privies20, rather than conventional unventilated pit latrines and flush toilets. However, the latter two technologies were few in communities (see Graph 3.2.12).

The technologies usually maintained by resident non-indigenous Australians appeared to relate mostly to water, sewerage, power and house appliance technologies.

The extent to which both resident indigenous Australians and non-indigenous Australians were collectively able to maintain the listed technologies before external maintenance agents were required was calculated as a ratio of community maintenance to external agent maintenance. The results were plotted in Graph 3.2.10.

20Caution should be extended to the gas heater, aquaprivvy and potbelly stove result as Graph 3.2.12 indicates the sample size for these technologies was negligible.

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Graph 3.2.10: Estimated proportions of maintenance usually performed within community resources and by external maintenance agents.

The results in Graph 3.2.10 shows that external agents were usually required to perform repairs on electrically powered or government regulated technologies. These included telephones, solar electric power, two-way radios, televisions, refrigerators, electric hot water systems, solar (electricity boosted) hot water systems, electric surface water pumps, power tools and oxy-welding equipment. Other technologies usually repaired by external agents may be described as specialist technologies. These included specialist maintenance on rifles, gas hot water systems and aqua- privies. Both rifles and aqua-privies were also listed in Graph 3.2.9 as usually maintained by resident indigenous Australians. This result could be explained by a tendency for these technologies to be referred to external agents when substantial repair was required.

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Overall response patterns suggested that resident indigenous Australians were not usually participants in maintaining water, waste and electrical technologies. The breakdown of these technologies in domestic shelters were also identified as the major contributors to environmental health problems in remote communities (Pholeros, et.al, 1993; UPK, 1987). Given the general dependence on resident non- indigenous Australians (Graph 3.2.9) and external agents (Graph 3.2.10) for the maintenance of water, waste and electrical technologies, the results suggested that the rate of breakdown in some communities was often beyond the resources and skills of not only communities generally, but in particular, the few resident non-indigenous Australians usually maintaining the technologies in these communities.

2.2.2.2. Indigenous gender participation in technology maintenance

The purpose of this indicator was to identify indigenous gender participation in a range of 25 general categories of community functions relevant to domestic shelters. The data was derived from the survey question S2I. Communities were asked to indicate against a Likert scale the extent to which indigenous men or women usually performed different community functions.

To identify the proportion of particular technical functions which were usually performed by men or women a graph was plotted: Graph 3.2.11. The ratio extended from -1 to +1. The more positive the ratio, the more the function was usually performed by indigenous women. The more negative the ratio, the more the function was usually performed by indigenous men. Functions near zero may be interpreted as not usually gender defined and therefore were technical functions equally shared between men and women.

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Graph 3.2.11: Estimated proportions of technical functions usually undertaken by indigenous men and women in communities

Graph 3.2.11 shows a tendency for indigenous women in communities to dominate non-industrial technology functions, emphasising domestic care, health, formal education and clerical work occupational skills. Working from the top of the list down, women usually identified with repairing clothes, washing children, maintaining health clinic facilities and operations, maintaining the domestic yard (cleaning up), teaching formal courses (essentially primary school education), office clerical work and producing arts and crafts. The list for women suggests a general orientation to the humanities and semi-technical fields.

Functions dominated by indigenous men indicate a preference for industrial technology skills. Working from the bottom of the list and up, men usually identified

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with electrical wiring, fence repairs, water quality control (perceived as an aspect of plumbing), mechanical repairs, general plumbing, tool maintenance and technical tasks generally.

Several of the functions surveyed show no gender orientation, averaging ratios near zero21. These functions have been defined as non-gender defined functions and included maintaining humpies, teaching traditional knowledge, maintaining firewood supply, building humpies, cleaning community grounds, religion/church work, maintaining houses, operating radio communication equipment and tree planting.

Overall, Graph 3.2.11 shows a pattern where men identified with industrial technology functions while women identified with non-industrial/humanity functions. However, many functions with an industrial emphasis were also conducted by women, particularly building humpies and maintaining humpies.

It was important to note that when the occurrence of trained indigenous expertise in Graph 3.2.1 was compared with the gender patterns in Graph 3.2.11, the outcome suggested that most trained people in communities were women. Men had a lower rate of completion of training programs, particularly in the technical trade areas that were perceived by their general community as normally the training domain of men.

2.2.3 Output

The output indicator for community functions focussed on the general repair status of houses and the technical facilities that define the functional value of houses in communities. These included the status of various internal and external house components and spaces.

21Where the listed function in the survey received equal responses for men and for women the difference between the responses divided by the total responses for men and women is zero.

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2.2.3.1. State of repair of shelter technologies

This indicator estimated the general effectiveness of community functions. It was hypothesised that if socio-technical systems in communities were generally effective, key fundamental structures like domestic houses, were likely to be kept in a ‘good’ state of repair: insignificant physical damage with all connected services functioning.

The data for the output indicator was derived from the survey question S2F. Communities were asked to rate the repair condition for 26 internal and external house components. The rating scale extended from the house component being ‘totally unserviceable in most houses’ to ‘usually in a good condition in most houses’. Each house component was given a score from 0 to 4, where 0 was ‘unserviceable’ and 4 was ‘good condition’ respectively. The average score for each of the house components across the sampled communities was sorted and plotted in Graph 3.2.12. The percentage of sampled communities responding to each of the house components were included in Graph 3.2.12 to aid interpretation. Where sample percentage was less than 30%, the house component was excluded from further analysis.

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Graph 3.2.12: Average repair rating of house components

Graph 3.2.12 shows that the average repair rating was better for the structural components of houses compared to the accessory and access components of houses such as furniture and windows. While gas heaters, aquaprivvies and conventional pit toilets scored relatively highly, their scores were treated with caution as these items may not have a large sample base. Field observations confirmed that gas heaters, conventional pit toilets and aquaprivvies were rare in communities. Where aquaprivvies and conventional pit toilets were observed, the repair condition and general presentation would suggest an overall lower rating than for ventilated improved pit latrines.

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To identify whether the repair ratings conformed to an underlying pattern across communities, a common factor analysis was calculated. The analysis identified two main factors that together accounted for 67.7% of the variance among house components. House components whose occurrence was less than 40% of the sampled communities were excluded from calculations to improve factor analysis efficiency. The two-factor plot results are presented in Graph 3.2.13.

Graph 3.2.13: Factor analysis of house component repair ratings

Graph 3.2.13 shows two distinct clusters of house components in the sample. The cluster in the top left shows fixed structural components of houses while in the bottom right the majority of components was discrete items, elsewhere described in

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this study as technical accessories. On further analysis of the cluster pattern it was found that the bottom right cluster all had in common a higher standard deviation than the top left cluster. The bottom right cluster also had a lower average repair rating than the top left cluster.

The pattern suggested that, as indicators for assessing the general repair of houses, the condition of the non-structural/accessory components of houses were likely to be more sensitive and more likely to provide an indicative measure than the overall visual appearance and structural and fixed components of houses. As the bottom right cluster appear to form a tight group, accounting for 37.8% of variance, the establishment of a simpler scale referring to house accessories would probably be sufficient to record the general repair status of houses in future research.

2.2.4 Feedback

The feedback status of technical functions was measured by two descriptive indicators, each monitoring different socio-technical aspects of technology in communities. The first feedback indicator monitored the degree to which technologies were difficult to maintain and perceived as relevant to community functions. The second feedback indicator monitored the perceived causes of technology breakdown. Together the indicators provided a useful basis for identifying how community functions were perceived to be performing by the community educator and council representative. While the two feedback indicators are not exhaustive, their inclusion in the survey was based on them indicating important aspects of appropriate technology: technology choice based on sustainable maintenance and relevance to supporting community functions; and, awareness of technology breakdown issues based on a range of social and technical factors.

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2.2.4.1. Perceived appropriateness of shelter technologies

This indicator identifies the degree to which existing technologies in communities are generally regarded as technically maintainable and relevant to supporting community functions. The indicator provides a basis to identify communities with irrelevant and difficult to maintain technologies.

The data was derived from the survey question S2B. Communities were asked to rate a list of 42 technologies, on a Likert scale of 1 to 7, of how ‘important’ the technology was and, on another similar scale, how much ‘trouble’ it usually presented in the community when maintenance was required. A score of 1 indicates the technology is perceived as having low ‘importance’ on one scale and causing low maintenance ‘trouble’ to the community on the other scale. A score of 7 indicated the technology is perceived to have high ‘importance’ on one scale and causing extensive maintenance ‘trouble’ for the community on the other scale. The latter score (maintenance ‘trouble’ scale) represented a general measure of the technical maintainability of the technology. A low score suggested the technology was not usually difficult to sustain with community resources or outsources. The former score (importance scale) represented a measure of the general relevance of technologies to community functions. A low score suggested the technology was not perceived as essential to the overall viability of community functions.

To aid interpretation, technologies were described as falling within four general categories defined by a Cartesian plot of their importance and trouble rating. The four categories, while essentially arbitrary, provide a useful tool for describing communities and technologies. Graph 3.2.14 summarises the four categories as: appropriate technologies (functionally relevant and technically easy to maintain); useful technologies (functionally relevant but technically difficult to maintain); useless technologies (functionally irrelevant yet technically easy to maintain); and, inappropriate technologies (functionally irrelevant and technically difficult to

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maintain). As a feedback indicator it was assumed that the preferred outcome was for communities and technologies to have a predominance of appropriate technologies.

It was hypothesised that the more communities scored high with appropriate technologies (coordinates 1,7) the better the technical functions in these communities were likely to be performing. This was based on the assertion that irrelevant or difficult to maintain technology inputs were unlikely to yield effective outputs in community functions. The assertion assumes that technical functions generally conform to systems theory principles.

Graph 3.2.14: Summary of technology relevance and maintainability

Graph 3.2.15 shows that only (38%) of the communities sampled perceived their technologies to be appropriate for their community functions. The majority of the remainder communities (56%) perceived that while their technologies were useful to their community functions, they were difficult to maintain. One community (3%), perceived that many of their technologies were useless. This community was located

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near a major mining town that contributed to its resource base. Finally, only one community (3%) perceived that many of their technologies were inappropriate. However, this community’s plot was positioned near the centre of the graph which indicates that most of its technologies are evenly divided among all the technology categories.

Graph 3.2.15: Communities rated by the average importance and maintainability of the their technologies

Graph 3.2.16 shows how each of the surveyed technologies scored in the sampled communities. The appropriate technologies comprised mostly of traditional technologies (as might be expected) with some introduced technologies that related to supporting domestic food collection and preparation functions. An important observation with the graph was that several introduced technologies also scored well as appropriate technologies (see summary below).

In summary, the appropriate technologies, perceived as relevant to community functions and easy to maintain, were traditional and introduced cooking equipment, digging sticks, spears, rifles, fishing tackle, woodchip water heaters, ventilated pit and

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conventional pit latrines, oxy/arc welding sets, power tools, electric extension cords, trailers, grey water sewerage systems and tyre repair tools. Some technologies such as VIP and pit toilets had low response rates indicating low occurrence in communities. Their scores were assessed with caution. In total, the appropriate technologies list only represented (36%) of the technologies sampled.

The greater proportion (52%) of sampled technologies were perceived to be useful to community functions. No traditional/indigenous technologies fell into this category. Most of the useful technologies related to power, water, waste and heavy transportation technologies. The technologies perceived as relevant but difficult to maintain included two-way radios, radio telephones, telephones, electric hot water systems, electric water pumps, solar hot water systems, solar electric power, solar borewater pumps, refrigerators, computers, portable generators, car batteries, cars, mechanical tools/equipment, trucks/tractors, boats, diesel water pumps, wind powered water pumps, flush toilet systems, evaporative drains and water taps.

Graph 3.2.16: Technologies rated by their average importance and maintainability in communities

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Graph 3.2.16 also shows that 10% of the listed technologies were perceived as useless. These technologies were gas hot water heaters, lawn mowers, motor bikes and bicycles. However, the number of responses to these technologies were very low suggesting that they were not relevant to the majority of the communities sampled.

No surveyed technologies were perceived to be inappropriate. While the canoe plotted in the centre of the graph in the inappropriate technology quadrant, the result was assessed with caution due to its low response rate in the survey. Few communities in the survey had access to water ways where canoes would be useful.

2.2.4.2. Perceived causes of shelter technology breakdown

The purpose of this indicator was identify the degree to which technology breakdown was attributed to social or technical factors. The data was derived from the survey question S2A. Communities were asked to indicate from ten general factors which four factors they perceived to be the most common causes for technology breakdown in their community. Thirty nine technologies were sampled in the survey (same as shown in Graph 3.2.16). The ten factors were:

1. inadequate storage control (eg., child access) 2. loss or misplacement 3. abuse (incl. excessive use) 4. no training in use or care 5. no regular maintenance schedule kept 6. ‘normal’ wear and tear 7. power source failure 8. design fault (eg, material failure or device not functional) 9. environmental conditions (eg, dust, damp, heat, fire, flood) 10. parts difficult to obtain (leading to breakdown)

Factors one to five inclusive were categorised as social or social organisational factors that could cause technology breakdown. Factors six to ten inclusive were categorised as technical or physical factors that could cause technology breakdown. Graph 3.2.17 shows that most communities generally perceived that wear and tear and abuse

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(including excessive use) were the two most usual causes for technologies to breakdown. The least common reasons for technology breakdown were generally perceived to be technically oriented: power source failure, bad or faulty designs and difficulty in obtaining spare parts.

Graph 3.2.17: Perceived causes of technology breakdown

Overall, communities reported that technology breakdown was more related to social and social organisational factors than technical and physical factors. The most common social factors causing or perceived to lead to technology breakdown were, in order of prevalence, abuse, lack of regular maintenance schedules, lack of appropriate training in use and care, inadequate control of storage sites/facilities and loss or misplacement. The most common technical factors causing technology breakdown were, in order of prevalence, wear and tear, physical environment (including dust, damp, heat, fire, flood and high winds), spare parts being difficult to attain, bad or faulty design and power source failure. When the three most common factors are combined the social and technical operating conditions for technologies in many communities may be described as harsh. It is likely that neither an exclusively technical or social strategy alone will improve the operating environment of many

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introduced technologies in communities. An economically and ecologically appropriate technology may still fail to be sustained through a year of its operation due to any number of possible social factors in its operating environment. Similarly an introduced technology may satisfy social processes and meet the local skill base but fail to be sustained for any number of local ecological or economical reasons. This situation suggests that an integrated strategy of intervention for each technology introduced may be necessary to sustain the functional value of introduced technologies at least beyond a year. There is value to consider intervention, technology introduction and technology development projects as processes of learning and local adaptation that integrate social, technical and environmental factors: that is, to approach the development task from a technacy framework (Seemann and Talbot, 1995).

2.3. Ekistic context factors

The results summarised below respond to the second sub-question of this study:

1.2 What is the comparative standing of socio-technical functions operating in different remote indigenous Australian community contexts in regard to settlement population, location and economy?

Question components

Comparative context factors to review include settlement population, location and economy.’

The level of analysis requires only a test for the existence of differences in the status of technical functions operating in different community (ekistic) contexts. The different contexts were defined as community population (small or large), location (inland/arid or coastal/monsoonal) and economy (essentially a cash economy or a

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dual economy based on both cash and gift/obligation exchanges). In selecting an appropriate test statistic several practical and statistical issues were considered: sample sizes within groups, assumptions of normality, level of significance, independence of compared samples and kind of data. As not all data satisfied parametric assumptions, the optimum statistic was assessed to be non-parametric. This provided a universal measure to contrast the significance of all relevant comparisons.

The Mann-Whitney U statistic (two tailed, at α=0.10) was adopted for testing comparisons of two independent samples. Where the probability value (p) was less than α=0.10 the difference detected was assessed as significant. However, in some instances relevant and interesting differences occurred between groups where the p value fell in the range 0.10

For the research questions the common two-tailed null- and alternative hypotheses were:

H0: That the input, process, output and feedback components of

technical functions, as defined by the status indicators in the survey, were not affected by their ekistic context (community population, location and economy).

H1: That the input, process, output and feedback components of

technical functions, as defined by the status indicators in the survey, were affected by their ekistic contexts (community population, location and economy).

The statistical tests sought to reject (Ho) in favour of (H1).

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2.3.1 Population

The results suggest that community functions are generally affected by community population. However, some indicators were not affected. All the non significant findings that failed to reject (H0) are summarised at the conclusion of this section.

With respect to population, the following indicators rejected (Ho) in favour of (H1) at

α =0.10. Non significant but interesting findings were noted where relevant and could be identified by their p values: where 0.10

2.3.1.1. Inputs and population

Compared to small communities in their provision of socio-technical resources, it was found that large communities:

- functioned with a greater range of different occupational skills derived from formal institutional training (TLOCCQAL: U=71.000, p=0.019; AVEQUAL: U=94.000, p=0.130)

- functioned with a greater range of different occupational skills that were not the result of formal institutional training (TLOCCSKL: U=64.500, p=0.009; AVESKIL: U=51.000, p=0.004)

- utilised a greater range of different materials for dwelling construction (MATERIAL: U=91.000, p=0.101)

- contained a greater amount and variety of industrial tools and equipment in their local community store, of which there was usually only one store (SOLDSTOR: U=100.500, p=0.199)

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- contained a greater total (overall) of domestic dwellings including more houses fitted with electricity, a hot water system and indoor flush toilet (TLSHELTS: U=65.000, p=0.010, TLHOUS: U=88.500, p=0.060)

- contained houses and public buildings that were equipped with a larger range of amenities and technical services such as solar power, water borne and dry toilets, mains electricity and attended mostly decorative gardens (TLSHELFA: U=37.500, p=0.001)

2.3.1.2. Processes and population

Compared to small communities in their proportion of indigenous to non-indigenous participation in technical maintenance, it was found that large communities:

- had proportionally more technologies repaired by resident non-indigenous people than indigenous people whether the repairs were considered 'minor' or 'major' (AB_NABMA: U=193.000, p=0.040; AB_NABMI: U=174.000, p=0.171)

- accessed more external specialists or agencies to maintain a variety of technologies requiring 'major' repairs than small communities (EXTDEPMA: U=93.500, p=0.125)

2.3.1.3. Output and population

Compared to small communities in their ability to maintain shelters and shelter technologies such as appliances, amenities and fixtures, it was found that large communities:

- maintained their houses and shelter technologies in a better state of repair (AVSHREPA: U=61.000, p=0.012)

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2.3.1.4. Feedback and population

Compared to small communities in the evaluation of their technical functions, it was found that large communities:

- were less of the opinion that technology breakdown was usually caused by technical factors [implying that social factors were the main causes of breakdown] (S2A_TECH: U=176.000, p=0.133)

2.3.1.5. Non significant population effects

With respect to population, the following indicators failed to rejected (Ho) in favour of (H1) at α =0.10.

Inputs not affected by population

Community population did not significantly effect:

- the quantity and variety of tools and equipment possessed by resident indigenous Australians (INDPOSS: U=129.000, p=0.800)

- the total quantity and variety of tools and equipment accessible to resident indigenous Australians, through the local outstation, education resource centre or community council workshop/depot (PCACCESS: U=111.500, p=0.337; LOAN_EDN: U=128.500, p=0.787; COUNLWKR: U=147.000, p=0.691)

- the proportion of houses to humpies and 'transition' shed shelters in communities and the number of technologies and accessories used with shelters generally (HSE_HUM: U=142.000, p=0.829; TLHUMP: U=107.000, p=0.284; TLSHED: U=114.000, p=0.411; TSHEQUIP: U=117.000, p=0.678; A_HOUS: U=93.500, p=0.293; B_SHED: U=101.000, p=0.395; C_HUMP: U=31.000, p=0.249; D_HUTS: U=42.500, p=0.667)

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Processes not affected by population

Community population did not significantly effect:

- the degree to which external specialists or agencies were required to undertake 'minor' technical repairs (EXTDEPMI: U=130.000, p=0.829)

- the proportions that indigenous men and women participated in a variety of technical functions (TECHSEX: U=132.500, p=0.850)

Output not affected by population

Not applicable, significant population effects were observed as stated above.

Feedback not affected by population

Community population did not significantly effect:

- the degree to which social factors were usually assessed as the causes of technology breakdown in communities. Social factors were seen as the main cause of equipment breakdown in both large and small communities. (TLCAUSES: U=165.500, p=0.287; S2A_SOCL: U=158.000, p=0.427)

- the degree to which technologies were perceived to be important to community functions and in their ease being repaired (DIFIM_TR: U=123.500, p=0.880; AVIMPORT: U=98.500, p=0.273; AVTROUBL: U=113.000, p=0.584)

2.3.2 Location

The results suggest that technical functions are not generally affected by the ekistic context of community location. However, some indicators were affected. All non significant findings that failed to reject (H0) are summarised at the conclusion of this section. With respect to location, the following indicators rejected (Ho) in favour of

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(H1) at α =0.10. Nonsignificant but interesting findings were noted where relevant and could be identified by their p values: where 0.10

2.3.2.1. Inputs and location

Compared to inland/arid communities in their provision of socio-technical resources, it was found that monsoonal/coastal communities:

- functioned with a greater range of different occupational skills not derived from formal institutional training (TLOCCSKL: U=83.000, p=0.054)

- contained a greater amount and variety of industrial tools and equipment in their local community store, of which there was usually only one store (SOLDSTOR: U=87.500, p=0.079)

- contained a greater proportion of houses to shed shelters and humpies. Inland communities tended to contain more humpies than houses (HSE_HUM: U=95.500, p=0.144; TLHUMP: U=175.000, p=0.149; TLSHED: U=192.500, p=0.0.035)

- contained indigenous built hut shelters whose occupants used a lesser quantity of appliances, equipment and fittings. Inland communities used more appliances within and around their hut shelters (D_HUTS: U=67.000, p=0.177)

2.3.2.2. Processes and location

Compared to arid/inland communities in the proportion of indigenous to non- indigenous participation in technical maintenance, it was found that monsoonal/coastal communities:

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- had proportionally more technologies repaired by resident non-indigenous people than indigenous people for repairs that were to be considered 'major' tasks. (AB_NABMA: U=179.500, p=0.116)

- accessed more external specialists or agencies to maintain a variety of technologies requiring 'major' repairs than inland/arid communities (EXTDEPMA: U=59.500, p=0.006)

2.3.2.3. Output and location

Not applicable. The repair condition of shelters and houses did not differ with location. See non significant results below.

2.3.2.4. Feedback and location

Not applicable. The feedback indicators of perceived causes of technology breakdown and degree of difficulty to repair community technologies did not differ with location. See non significant results below.

2.3.2.5. Non significant location effects

With respect to location, the following indicators failed to rejected (Ho) in favour of

(H1) at α =0.10.

Inputs not affected by location

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Community location did not significantly effect:

- the quantity and variety of tools and equipment possessed by resident indigenous Australians (INDPOSS: U=129.000, p=0.800)

- the total quantity and variety of tools and equipment accessible to resident indigenous Australians, including those that were specifically accessible through the local outstation, education resource centre and community council workshop/depot (PCACCESS: U=111.500, p=0.337; LOAN_EDN: U=128.500, p=0.787; COUNLWKR: U=147.000, p=0.691)

- the proportion of houses to humpies and 'transition' shed shelters in communities and the number of technologies and accessories used with houses and shelters (HSE_HUM: U=142.000, p=0.829; TLHUMP: U=107.000, p=0.284; TLSHED: U=114.000, p=0.411; TSHEQUIP: U=117.000, p=0.678; A_HOUS: U=93.500, p=0.293; B_SHED: U=101.000, p=0.395; C_HUMP: U=31.000, p=0.249; D_HUTS: U=42.500, p=0.667)

Processes not affected by location

Community location did not significantly effect:

- the degree to which external specialists or agencies were required to undertake 'minor' technical repairs (EXTDEPMI: U=130.000, p=0.829)

- the proportion of indigenous men to women that participate in a variety of technical functions (TECHSEX: U=132.500, p=0.850)

Output not affected by location

Community location did not significantly effect:

- The general repair status of houses (AVSHREPA: U=117.500, p=0.692).

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Feedback not affected by location

Community location did not significantly effect:

- the degree to which social factors were usually the causes of technology breakdown in communities (TLCAUSES: U=165.500, p=0.287; S2A_SOCL: U=158.000, p=0.427)

- the degree to which technologies were perceived to be important to or difficult to repair when in need of service (DIFIM_TR: U=123.500, p=0.880; AVIMPORT: U=98.500, p=0.273; AVTROUBL: U=113.000, p=0.584)

2.3.3 Economy

The results suggest that technical functions are not significantly affected by the ekistic context of community economy. However, several indicators were affected at near significant levels. All non significant findings that failed to reject (H0) are summarised at the conclusion of this section.

With respect to economy, the following indicators rejected (Ho) in favour of (H1) at α

=0.10. Nonsignifiant but interesting findings were noted where relevant and could be identified by their p values: where 0.10

2.3.3.1. Inputs and economy

Compared to dual economy communities in their provision of socio-technical resources, it was found that cash economy communities:

- functioned with a greater range of different occupational skills and pool of indigenous people within them that were engaged in or had completed formal

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institutional training (AVEQUAL: U=29.500, p=0.049; TLOCCSKL: U=36.500, p=0.128)

- had a greater overall provision of tools and equipment that people could gain access to either informally or on a loans basis (PCACCESS: U=36.500, p=0.129)

- utilised a greater range of different materials for dwelling construction (MATERIAL: U=37.500, p=0.142)

- stocked domestic shelters (particularly houses and shed structures) whose occupants used a greater quantity of appliances, equipment and fittings. (TSHEQUIP: U=37.000, p=0.137; A_HOUS: U=32.000, p=0.147; B_SHED: U=25.000, p=0.146)

2.3.3.2. Processes and economy

Compared to dual economy communities in the proportion of indigenous to non- indigenous participation in technical maintenance, it was found that cash economy communities:

- accessed more external specialists or agencies to maintain a variety of technologies requiring 'minor' repairs than dual economy communities (EXTDEPMI: U=81.000, p=0.175)

- functioned with a greater proportion of women to men participating in technical functions (TECHSEX: U=74.500, p=0.121)

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2.3.3.3. Output and economy

Compared to dual economy communities in their ability to maintain shelters and shelter technologies such as appliances, amenities and fixtures, it was found that cash economy communities:

- kept their houses and shelter technologies in a better state of repair (AVSHREPA: U=27.000, p=0.072)

2.3.3.4. Feedback and economy

Compared to dual economy communities in the evaluation of their technical functions, it was found that cash economy communities:

- perceived that their technologies were generally of high 'importance' to community functions but that they also presented a high degree of 'trouble' or difficulty when attempts are made to repair them (DIFIM_TR: U=32.500, p=0.109; AVIMPORT: U=29.000, p=0.065; AVTROUBL: U=75.000, p=0.195)

2.3.3.5. Non significant economy effects

With respect to economy, the following indicators failed to rejected (Ho) in favour of

(H1) at α =0.10.

Inputs not affected by economy

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Community economy did not significantly effect:

- the number of different occupational skills in communities that were derived from informal training and experiences (TLOCCSKL: U=50.500, p=0.536; AVESKIL: U=64.000, p=0.796)

- the specific amount of tools and equipment possessed by individuals or their availability from particular agencies in the community (INDPOSS: U=50.500, p=0.536; LOAN_ED: U=46.000, p=0.365; SOLDSTOR: U=53.000, p=0.651; COUNLWKR: U=41.500, p=0.231)

- the proportion of houses to humpies and 'transition' shed shelters in communities and the number of technologies and accessories used with humpies, huts and public buildings (HSE_HUM: U=45.5.000, p=0.349; TLSHELTS: U=49.500, p=0.497; TLHUMP: U=54.000, p=0.693; TLHOUS: U=49.000, p=0.438; TLSHED: U=72.000, p=0.420; C_HUMP: U=24.500, p=0.546; D_HUTS: U=30.000, p=1.000; SHELTFA: U=45.000, p=610)

Processes not affected by economy

Community economy did not significantly effect:

- the proportion of indigenous to non-indigenous people usually undertaking 'minor' and 'major' repairs for a variety of technologies (AB_NABMI: U=68.500, p=0.583; AB_NABMA: U=68.000, p=0.605; EXTDEPMA: U=43.000, p=0.272)

Output not affected by economy

Not applicable, significant economy effects were observed as stated above.

Feedback not affected by economy

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Community economy did not significantly effect:

- the degree to which social factors or technical factors were assessed to be the usual causes of technology breakdown in communities (TLCAUSES: U=57.000, p=0.846; S2A_SOCL: U=51.000, p=0.560; S2A_TECH: U=69.000, p=0.552)

2.3.4 Respondent bias

The results suggest that community council staff and educators responded similarly for all but three variables. With respect to respondent bias, the following indicators rejected (Ho) in favour of (H1) at α =0.10.

2.3.4.1. Input indicator bias

Compared to council staff, it was found that educators:

- perceived that more technologies were being used by people living in indigenous hut shelters; council staff perceived that a lesser amount of technologies were being used by people in indigenous hut shelters (D_HUTS: U=75.500, p=0.050)

- perceived their communities to have more occupational skills not derived from formal institutional training; council staff perceived that there were only a small number of people with informal ( non-institutionally trained) skills (TLOCCSKL: U=36.500, p=0.128)

2.3.4.2. Process indicator bias

Not applicable. No significant differences were detected between respondents

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2.3.4.3. Output indicator bias

Not applicable. No significant differences were detected between respondents

2.3.4.4. Feedback indicator

Compared to council staff, it was found that educators:

- felt that the technologies in their community presented a greater degree of difficulty or 'trouble' when they required repairs (DIFIM_TR: U=73.500, p=0.041; AVTROUBL: U=194.000, p=0.012)

2.4. Total system analysis

The results summarised below are in response to the third sub-question of this study:

‘1.3 Which indigenous Australian community context factors, system components of socio-technical functions, or combinations of these, most explain the general sustainability of introduced shelters and shelter hardware?

Question components Tasks to undertake include developing an overview of context factors and system components and their combined influence on the sustainability of introduced shelters and shelter hardware.’

The purpose of this research question is to identify context and system component indicators that best determine the output status of technical functions. The identified system indicator variables and ekistic context factors were subjected to an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) model. The ANCOVA was used because it provided a method for determining the combined effects of several categorical and independent variables on the output indicator at one time. The procedure allowed statistical

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control of several independent variables that related to the output variable while testing the effect of the ekistic context factors. Significant combined effects on output were able to be detected with ANCOVA methods. The ANCOVA produced a regression analysis that enabled predictive models to be identified (Cooper, 1981: 279). The ANCOVA provided a basis for not only identifying the combined effect of factors and variables, but also a model that could aid in predicting the general output performance of technical functions in communities.

The use of ANCOVA’s, however, have constraints which limit them. Computations are usually sensitive to, and require that, a linear regression exists between the dependent variable and the covariates used. The assumption of regression homogeneity also had to be satisfied for every subgroup being tested. Curvilinear or logarithmic relationships were not detected. Another constraint was that while the procedure provided for multiple covariates and factors, the more covariates and factors used the more degrees of freedom were lost in the process. This could be particularly important where the number of cases within groups and overall were limited. This latter constraint was relevant to the present analysis as only 33 survey returns (cases) were able to be collected for the study. Given these constraints the ANCOVA was used as an aid for understanding how different aspects of technical function systems and their ekistic contexts influence the output performance of these systems simultaneously. However, qualitative, logical and theoretical considerations formed the basis for overall data interpretation.

Several preliminary processes were undertaken to first identify the best and most appropriate indicator variables (covariate candidates) and context factors that could be used in the ANCOVA. The process involved five broad stages summarised below.

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1. Selecting the best covariate candidates for the ANCOVA:

The purpose of this stage was to identify the system component variables that best determined the variance of the output variable in a linear relationship. A Pearson’s correlation matrix was used: Table 3.2.6. Where correlations with

the output variable was r ≤ 0.317 (where variance ≤ 10%) the system variables were excluded as being weak predictors.

2. Selecting best context factors for the ANCOVA:

The purpose of this stage was to identify the ekistic context factors that significantly influenced the output indicator. The comparative non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test for the effect of ekistic context on the output indicator shows that only population and economy factors were significant. However, the ANCOVA assumed parametric conditions (Hale, 1990: 163). The parametric t-test for independent variables was therefore used to verify the U statistic for testing the individual effects of community context on the output variable.

3. Testing for homogeneity:

The purpose of this stage was to test the assumption of the ‘homogeneity of regression coefficients’ (Cooper, 1981: 279; Wilkinson, 1992: 298-299) for each of the selected predictor variables (identified in Table 3.2.6). The test for homogeneity examined whether the candidate variables interacted with the selected ekistic context factors. The ANCOVA required that the covariates were both linearly related to the dependent variable while also being unrelated or independent of categorical factors. The parametric t-test was used to verify the previous U statistic results for detecting whether the candidate covariates were affected by the selected ekistic contexts. The covariates that showed no context effects were then tested in a regression analysis for interaction and

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slope homogeneity. Where a regression analysis identified significant

interactions at α=0.05, the candidate covariate was eliminated from the ANCOVA.

4. Calculating the ANCOVA model:

The ANCOVA model assumed that technical functions in communities essentially performed as socio-technical systems with the logical sequence of input to process to output. Input and process indicators were classified as concomitant variables or covariates that, in combination with each other, determined the output variable. The output variable was classified as the dependent variable. The feedback indicators were excluded from the ANCOVA model because while they necessarily related to the output variable they were not necessarily independent of the input and process covariates. The theoretical role of feedback variables was to both influence and monitor the input and process variables of the system. The ekistic contexts were classified as general external modifiers (categorical factors) to community functions. The ANCOVA modelling of community functions as socio-technical systems is outlined in Diagram 3.2.1.

Diagram 3.2.1: Schematic relationship between the systems model and ANCOVA model showing locations of factor, covariate and dependent variables

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5. Scheffé post hoc analysis

This final stage of the ANCOVA process was to identify, where significant interactions were found, how factors and covariates influenced the output variable in terms of direction and magnitude. The Scheffé post hoc test was used for this task.

Stage 1: selection of covariate candidates

The main task of this stage was to reduce the number of indicator variables to a manageable and useful few that represented the most influence on the output variable. The process had some level of inaccuracy. The use of Pearson’s correlation, ANCOVA and other regression based statistics were not sensitive to curvilinear or non-parametric relationships that may exist in the data. They were also subject to outliner distortions that may not be practical to detect where multivariables were correlated. The task of determining such relationships where many variables were collated can result in inefficient analysis in terms of detecting real and significant curvilinear determinants and outliners. This study therefore accepted that linear relationships existed between variables as there was no theoretical basis to assume otherwise and that anecdotal linear relationships were already detected in scatter plots earlier in this chapter. Table 3.2.6 shows the Pearson correlation coefficients between the output indicator AVSHERPA (general repair status of houses) and the other system indicators for input and process.

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COVARIATE CORRELATIONS WITH COVARIATE CORRELATIONS WITH CANDIDATES OUTPUT INDICATOR CANDIDATES OUTPUT INDICATOR (AVSHREPA) (r) (AVSHREPA) (r)

INPUT INDICATORS Shelter accessories input Education Input TSHEQUIP 0.301 TLOCCQAL 0.324 A_HOUS 0.363 AVEQUAL 0.333 B_SHED 0.434 TLOCCSKL -0.069 D_HUTS -0.357 AVESKIL -0.005 C_HUMP 0.061

Material input MATERIAL 0.175 PROCESS INDICATORS

Tool/equipment input Participation processes PCACCESS 0.170 AB_NABMI 0.067 INDPOSS 0.383 AB_NABMA -0.220 LOAN_EDN 0.022 EXTDEPMI 0.149 SOLDSTOR 0.205 EXTDEPMA 0.279 COUNLWKR -0.174 TECHSEX 0.128

Shelter input TLSHELTS 0.319 TLHOUS 0.081 TLSHED 0.366 TLHUMP 0.241 HSE_HUM 0.085

Table 3.2.6: Correlation matrix for detecting covariate candidates

Table 3.2.6 shows four variables (underlined) that in themselves explained at least ten percent of the linear output variance and represented the best variables for their respective aspects. No process covariate candidates emerged from the list. However, it is interesting to note that a negative correlation was found with AB_NABMA indicating that the repair status of serviced houses was generally better in communities in proportion to more maintenance being conducted by local non- indigenous Australians. Similarly, the higher positive correlations of the output with EXTDEPMA and EXTDEPMI indicates that serviced houses were kept in a better state of repair when proportionally more maintenance was conducted by external agents whether the repair was perceived as minor or major in magnitude. All covariates represented socio-technical inputs to the system:

1. AVEQUAL (r=0.333) This variable estimated the average number of indigenous Australians in communities with formal training qualifications. The variable represented the

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overall human resource input of trained persons in communities across occupations. The previous analysis showed that very few communities had a pool of qualified indigenous Australians in industrial technology occupations. As such, the variable was weighted to non-technical expertise that was predominantly female.

2. INDPOSS (r=0.383) This variable estimated the average quantity of tools and equipment usually possessed by individual indigenous Australians in communities. The variable represented the tool resource input to communities available to individuals to support a variety of community functions.

3. TLSHED (r=0.366) This variable estimated the average quantity of semi-serviced shelters in communities. The variable represented the input of transition shelters that were housing indigenous Australians in communities.

4. B_SHED (r=0.434) This variable estimated the average quantity of technical utilities and accessories used with transition semi-serviced shelters. The variable represented the input of technologies supporting domestic functions in and around transition shelters.

A scattergram of the correlations between the four main input variables and the output variable was plotted to verify that their relationships were generally linear and not substantially influenced by extraneous outliner cases: Graph 3.2.18.

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Graph 3.2.18: Scattergrams of selected input variables with output variable showing regression line and outliners

The scatter plots shows two cases (community’s 30 and 05) that substantially distorted the correlation coefficient. The cases represented the only fringe community (30) to a major mining town (bottom arrows) and the only inland community from Western Australia (05) (top arrow) that returned a survey booklet. The outliner communities were excluded from further analysis. With their exclusion, the Pearson’s r was recalculated and plotted below: Graph 3.2.19.

Graph 3.2.19: Adjusted scattergrams and correlation values.

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Graph 3.2.19 shows that the adjusted correlations increased for all variables except B_SHED. The B_SHED variable was excluded from the ANCOVA as it was only able to explain one percent of the output variance.

Stage 2: selection of context factors

The main task of this stage was to use the parametric independent t-test to verify the non-parametric independent U statistic for the effect that ekistic context had on the output variable. Significance was set at α=0.05. The null and alternative hypotheses were tested against the repair status of houses (AVSHREPA):

(H01): µs-small population repair status = µl-large population repair status

(H11): µs-small population repair status ≠ µl-large population repair status ------INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TEST ON AVSHREPA GROUPED BY TWOSIZE$

GROUP N MEAN SD LARGE 16 3.072 0.570 SMALL 14 2.550 0.614

SEPARATE VARIANCES T = 2.401 DF = 26.8 PROB = 0.024 POOLED VARIANCES T = 2.414 DF = 28 PROB = 0.023 ------

(H02): µc-cash economy repair status = µd-dual economy repair status

(H12): µc-cash economy repair status ≠ µd-dual economy repair status ------INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TEST ON AVSHREPA GROUPED BY ECONOMY$

GROUP N MEAN SD NO CASH 6 2.458 0.692 CASH 15 2.986 0.608

SEPARATE VARIANCES T = -1.632 DF = 8.3 PROB = 0.140 POOLED VARIANCES T = -1.731 DF = 19 PROB = 0.100 ------

(H03): µa-arid location repair status = µm-monsoonal location repair status

(H13): µa-arid location repair status ≠ µm-monsoonal location repair status ------INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TEST ON AVSHREPA GROUPED BY TWOZONE$

GROUP N MEAN SD MONS 14 2.901 0.653 ARID 16 2.765 0.639

SEPARATE VARIANCES T = 0.574 DF = 27.3 PROB = 0.571 POOLED VARIANCES T = 0.574 DF = 28 PROB = 0.570 ------

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The results show that:

1. the repair status of houses was significantly affect by the ekistic context of

community population at α=0.05. H01 was therefore rejected in favour of H11.

Larger communities rated their houses in a better state of repair than small communities (t=2.414, df=28, p=0.023).

2. the repair status of houses was not significantly affected by the ekistic context

of community economy at α=0.05. H02 was therefore retained. Dual economy

communities rated their houses in a similar state of repair to cash economy communities (t = -1.731, df=19, p=0.100).

3. the repair status of houses was not significantly affected by the ekistic context

of community location at α=0.05. H03 was therefore retained. Arid inland

communities rated their houses with a similar state of repair as coastal monsoonal communities (t=0.574, df=28, p=0.570).

Tested under parametric conditions, the ekistic context of community population emerged as the most consistent and significant external factor to have influence over the output indicator. The ANCOVA will therefore use community size (TWOSIZE$) as its main categorical factor. This outcome did not imply that the other factors had no effect on the performance of community functions. Previous comparative analyses already established the extent to which each of the ekistic context factors affected different aspects of community functions in the sample. The outcome merely ensures that the most likely context factor was used in the ANCOVA and that losses to the degrees of freedom were minimised.

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Stage 3: test for covariate independence and homogeneity

The above two stages helped reduce the initial number of possible variables and factors to three covariate candidates and one ekistic factor that could be used in the ANCOVA.

Factor: 1. Community population (TWOSIZE$)

Covariates: 1. Education input (AVEQUAL) 2. Personal tool/equipment input (INDPOSS) 3. Transition shelter input (TLSHED)

Before the above combinations of co-variables could be used in the ANCOVA, a parametric t-test to verify their independence and homogeneity of regression was applied. The initial parametric t-test results were presented below. Significance was set at α=0.05. A non-significant effect (failure to reject H0) was favoured as this would support the variable’s independence of the population factor use in the ANCOVA. The two tailed hypotheses for detecting population effects and their results were:

Education input (µ(small:large)e): AVEQUAL

(H01): µse = µle

(H11): µse ≠ µle ------INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TEST ON AVEQUAL GROUPED BY TWOSIZE$

GROUP N MEAN SD LARGE 16 3.538 1.523 SMALL 15 2.260 1.489

SEPARATE VARIANCES T = 2.361 DF = 28.9 PROB = 0.025 POOLED VARIANCES T = 2.359 DF = 29 PROB = 0.025 ------

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Individual tool/equipment input (µ(small:large)i): INDPOSS

(H02): µsi = µli

(H12): µsi ≠ µli ------INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TEST ON INDPOSS GROUPED BY TWOSIZE$

GROUP N MEAN SD LARGE 16 11.938 7.878 SMALL 15 12.133 7.918

SEPARATE VARIANCES T = -0.069 DF = 28.9 PROB = 0.945 POOLED VARIANCES T = -0.069 DF = 29 PROB = 0.945 ------

Transition shelter input (µ(small:large)t): TLSHED

(H03): µst = µlt

(H13): µst ≠ µlt ------INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TEST ON TLSHED GROUPED BY TWOSIZE$

GROUP N MEAN SD LARGE 16 9.625 11.224 SMALL 15 5.867 7.763

SEPARATE VARIANCES T = 1.090 DF = 26.8 PROB = 0.285 POOLED VARIANCES T = 1.077 DF = 29 PROB = 0.290 ------

The parametric t-tests shows that the education input variable AVEQUAL are significantly affected by the population size of communities at α=0.05. H01 was therefore rejected in favour of H11. Larger communities tended to have a larger variety of occupations with trained indigenous expertise than smaller communities (t=2.359, df=29, p=0.025). The preliminary analysis for this variable indicates that the majority of expertise are not in the field of industrial technology, but rather are dominated by health, primary education and clerical occupations. This variable was excluded from the ANCOVA because it was not independent of the population factor.

All other variables were unaffected by the population factor at α=0.05 (two tail) retaining H02 and H03: INDPOSS (t=-0.069, df=29, p=0.945) and TLSHED (t=1.077, df=29, p=0.290).

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A test for homogeneity of regression was calculated for the remaining INDPOSS and TLSHED variables with the population factor (TWOSIZE$) and the output variable (AVSHREPA): Table 3.2.7. This represented the final screening of variables for their use in the ANCOVA as independent covariates.

A preliminary general linear regression model was used to test for homogeneity of regression (Wilkinson et.al, 1992: 298). The model sought to detect an interaction between the population factor and the covariate candidates in relation to the output variable. Significance was set at α=0.05. It was hypothesised that if the assumption of homogeneity of regression held for each of the two covariate candidates, their separate interactions with the population factor would not be significant.

Chapter Three: Findings page: 254

TEST FOR HOMOGENEITY-INDPOSS ------LEVELS ENCOUNTERED DURING PROCESSING ARE: TWOSIZE$ LARGE SMALL

1 CASES DELETED DUE TO MISSING DATA. DEP VAR:AVSHREPA N: 30 MULTIPLE R: 0.581 SQUARED MULTIPLE R: 0.337

ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE

SOURCE SUM-OF-SQUARES DF MEAN-SQUARE F-RATIO P

TWOSIZE$ 1.418 1 1.418 4.710 0.039 INDPOSS 1.912 1 1.912 6.355 0.018 TWOSIZE$ *INDPOSS 0.366 1 0.366 1.217 0.280*

ERROR 7.824 26 0.301 ------

TEST FOR HOMOGENEITY-TLSHED ------LEVELS ENCOUNTERED DURING PROCESSING ARE: TWOSIZE$ LARGE SMALL

1 CASES DELETED DUE TO MISSING DATA. DEP VAR:AVSHREPA N: 30 MULTIPLE R: 0.528 SQUARED MULTIPLE R: 0.279

ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE

SOURCE SUM-OF-SQUARES DF MEAN-SQUARE F-RATIO P

TWOSIZE$ 1.063 1 1.063 3.248 0.083 TLSHED 1.176 1 1.176 3.594 0.069 TWOSIZE$ *TLSHED 0.023 1 0.023 0.070 0.793*

ERROR 8.510 26 0.327 ------

Table 3.2.7: Separate homogeneity of regression tests for INDPOSS and TLSHED

Table 3.2.7 shows that the assumption of homogeneity of regression for covariates INDPOSS and TLSHED held as their separate interactions with the population factor (TWOSIZE$) in relation to the output variable was non-significant: for TWOSIZE$*INDPOSS p=0.280; for TWOSIZE$*TLSHED p=0.793.

The results from the final screening of variables indicates that a linear model of the combined effects of the ekistic population, individual tool possession and transition shelter variables can be formed that may assist explanation of the variance in the general repair condition of houses in communities.

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Stage 4: calculating the ANCOVA

Stages one to three above provided a process for identifying a set of factors and survey variables that may be used in combination to predict the output indicator: average repair rating of domestic shelters. The ANCOVA and related multiple regression was modelled with the following variables.

Output: 1. General repair status of houses (AVSHREPA)

Factor: 1. Community population (TWOSIZE$)

Covariates: 1. Personal tool/equipment input (INDPOSS) 2. Transition shelter input (TLSHED)

The level of significance was set at α=0.05. The tested ANCOVA and related regression model hypotheses were:

H01: There is no community population affect on the general repair status of

houses.

H11: H01 is false.

H02: There is no relationship between personal tool provisions in communities

and the general repair status of houses.

H12: H02 is false.

H03: There is no relationship between the provision of transition shelters used

in communities and the general repair status of houses.

H13: H03 is false.

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H04: The combined regression of population, personal tool provisions and the

provision of transition shelters do not significantly indicate the general repair status of houses in communities.

H14: The combined regression of population, personal tool provisions and the

provision of transition shelters significantly indicates the general repair status of houses in communities.

ANCOVA TABLE ------LEVELS ENCOUNTERED DURING PROCESSING ARE: TWOSIZE$ LARGE SMALL 1 CASES DELETED DUE TO MISSING DATA. DEP VAR:AVSHREPA N: 30 MULTIPLE R: 0.644 SQUARED MULTIPLE R: 0.415

ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE

SOURCE SUM-OF-SQUARES DF MEAN-SQUARE F-RATIO P

TWOSIZE$ 1.191 1 1.191 4.481 0.044 INDPOSS 1.624 1 1.624 6.111 0.020 TLSHED 1.281 1 1.281 4.822 0.037

ERROR 6.909 26 0.266 ------Table 3.2.8: Analysis of covariance

MULTIPLE REGRESSION TABLE ------DEP VAR:AVSHREPA N: 30 MULTIPLE R: 0.644 SQUARED MULTIPLE R: 0.415 ADJUSTED SQUARED MULTIPLE R: 0.347 STANDARD ERROR OF ESTIMATE: 0.515

VARIABLE COEFFICIENT STD ERROR STD COEF TOLERANCE T P(2 TAIL)

CONSTANT 1.645 0.333 0.000 . 4.947 0.000 INDPOSS 0.034 0.014 0.372 0.993 2.472 0.020 TLSHED 0.022 0.010 0.335 0.968 2.196 0.037 TWOSIZE 0.407 0.192 0.324 0.961 2.117 0.044

ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE FOR REGRESSION

SOURCE SUM-OF-SQUARES DF MEAN-SQUARE F-RATIO P

REGRESSION 4.898 3 1.633 6.145 0.003 RESIDUAL 6.909 26 0.266 ------Table 3.2.9: Multiple regression model

Table 3.2.8 shows that if the effect of personal tool resource and the provision of transition shelters in communities were neutralised, the general repair status of houses in communities was significantly affected by the community’s population: TWOSIZE p=0.044. H01 was therefore rejected in favour of H11. Table 3.2.8 also shows that the

Chapter Three: Findings page: 257

covariates of personal tool resource and the provision of transition shelters were significant predictors of the general repair status of houses in communities: INDPOSS p=0.020 and TLSHED p=0.037. H02 and H03 were therefore rejected in favour of H12 and H13. Table 3.2.9 shows that the combination of community population, personal tool resource and transition shelter provisions significantly predicted the general repair status of houses in communities: REGRESSION R2=0.415, F=6.145, p=0.003.

H04 was therefore rejected in favour of H14.

However, the size of the standardised coefficients suggested that the provision of personal tool resources (INDPOSS: STD COEF=0.372, p=0.020) was a stronger predictor than the provision of transition shelters (TLSHED: STD COEF=0.335, p=0.037). Community population was the weakest predictor (TWOSIZE: STD COEF=0.324, p=0,044). The general regression model for the relationship between the output indicator and the two covariate predictors are summarised in Graph 3.2.20.

Graph 3.2.20: Regression model of the two input indicators (INDPOSS and TLSHED) to the output indicator (AVSHREPA)

Graph 3.2.20 suggests that the more tools people had and the more a proportion of the community was dispersed in transition/semi-serviced shelters the better the general repair status was for the remaining houses in these communities.

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However, the regression model was only able to explain 41.5% (R2) of the variance of the output repair status within the sample. The adjusted regression for estimating the output variable beyond the sample dropped considerably to 34.7%. These results suggested that the model, while significant, only represented a minority of the variance that was able to explain the general repair status of houses. The model excluded up to 63.3% of the output variance.

While the education input indicator was not able to be used in the ANCOVA, previous analyses suggested it to be an important factor for determining the output variance. It was found in Graph 3.2.19 that the general provision of trained indigenous expertise (in a variety of occupations) accounted for 33.8% (AVEQUAL*AVSHREPA, r=0.57) of the output variance.

Education must therefore be considered a relevant input indicator that substantially contributed to improving the general repair status of houses. On re-examination of the education indicator, it was found that communities with a larger provision of health trained indigenous Australians correlated strongest with having houses in a generally good state of repair: r=0.582. Table 3.2.10 lists the individual correlations between the output indicator and the sub-indicators (average number of trained people in different occupations in communities) that contributed to the general education indicator.

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Trained in House repair Variance Probability Occupation (r) status explained (p)

Health 0.582 33.8% 0.001 Mechanical 0.424 17.9% 0.019 Education 0.420 17.6% 0.021 Plumbing 0.406 16.5% 0.026 Power Stn 0.402 16.2% 0.028 Clerk 0.402 16.2% 0.028 Groundswo/man 0.300 9.0% 0.108 Church 0.280 7.8% 0.134 * Electrical 0.275 7.6% 0.141 other 0.272 7.4% 0.146 Computer/Word 0.227 5.2% 0.227 Videowork 0.204 4.2% 0.279 WorksLeader 0.187 3.5% 0.322 * Building 0.174 3.0% 0.357

Table 3.2.10: Education input to house repair status output explained by % variance and correlation (r).

Table 3.2.10 shows that of the few communities with trained indigenous Australians in industrial occupations, the provision of trained people in mechanical and plumbing occupations at best accounted for 17.9% of the output variance while the individual variances explained by electrical* (r=0.275, p=0.171) and building* (r=0.174, p=0.375) occupations were insignificant.

An interesting observation found with Table 3.2.10 was that health (r=0.582, p=0.001), education (r=0.420, p=0.021) and clerical (r=0.402, p=0.028) occupations correlated moderately to strongly with the repair status of houses. This outcome was surprising as the occupations had no or minimal relation to technical activity and reparation skills.

It was possible that the effectiveness of the industrial technology occupations were only detectable when they were considered as a collection of skills rather than as specialist or designated skills and where these collections of skills functioned with the support of a variety of relevant non-industrial skills in communities. If the variance explaining output from the non-industrial occupations increased when they were combined with the industrial technology occupations then this would suggest that a mix of essentially technical and non-technical expertise was more effective than any one expertise in explaining the output variance. To test this proposition, two multiple

Chapter Three: Findings page: 260

regression analysis computations were compared: (A) a multiple regression of all significant occupations in Table 3.2.10; and, (B) a multiple regression of significant non-industrial occupations in Table 3.2.10. If the variance (R2) for estimating the general repair status in regression (A) was larger than the variance in regression (B) and if both regression analyses were significant, then it followed that the increased variance was due to the combined effect of the input of trained indigenous Australians in the identified industrial technology occupations: not as specialist inputs but as the input of the combination of specialists, as the input of general skills. Integrated or general training input would therefore have been more effective than independent or specialised training input.

Significance was set at α=0.05. The hypotheses for the multiple regression analyses were:

H01: There is no combined significant effect with the input of trained

indigenous Australians in the identified industrial technology and non- industrial technology occupations on the general repair status of houses in communities.

H11: H01 is false.

H02: There is no combined significant effect of the input of trained indigenous

Australians in the identified non-industrial technology occupations on the general repair status of houses in communities.

H12: H02 is false.

2 2 H03: That if H01 and H02 were false and H11:R > H12:R , then the combined

effect of the input of trained indigenous Australians in the identified industrial technology occupations improved the general repair status estimate of houses in communities.

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2 2 H13: H03 is false if either H01 or H02 fail to be rejected or if H11:R ≤ H12:R .

Table 3.2.11 shows the results for the two multiple regression analyses testing the above hypotheses.

TABLE A: MULTIPLE REGRESSION ESTIMATE OF SIGNIFICANT OCCUPATIONS (FROM TABLE 3.2.10) ------DEP VAR:AVSHREPA N: 30 MULTIPLE R: 0.696 SQUARED MULTIPLE R: 0.485 ADJUSTED SQUARED MULTIPLE R: 0.350 STANDARD ERROR OF ESTIMATE: 0.514

VARIABLE COEFFICIENT STD ERROR STD COEF TOLERANCE T P(2 TAIL)

CONSTANT 2.219 0.173 0.000 . 12.795 0.000 Healthworker 0.128 0.055 0.583 0.364 2.348 0.028 Plumber 0.150 0.150 0.215 0.480 0.998 0.329 Mechanic 0.020 0.090 0.046 0.504 0.218 0.829 Clerk -0.069 0.072 -0.266 0.292 -0.958 0.348 Educator 0.018 0.031 0.107 0.649 0.573 0.572 Power Stn Attend 0.107 0.070 0.251 0.828 1.523 0.141

ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE

SOURCE SUM-OF-SQUARES DF MEAN-SQUARE F-RATIO P

REGRESSION 5.721 6 0.954 3.604 0.011 RESIDUAL 6.086 23 0.265 ------

TABLE B: MULTIPLE REGRESSION ESTIMATE OF SIGNIFICANT NON-INDUSTRIAL OCCUPATIONS (FROM TABLE 3.2.10) ------DEP VAR:AVSHREPA N: 30 MULTIPLE R: 0.598 SQUARED MULTIPLE R: 0.357 ADJUSTED SQUARED MULTIPLE R: 0.283 STANDARD ERROR OF ESTIMATE: 0.540

VARIABLE COEFFICIENT STD ERROR STD COEF TOLERANCE T P(2 TAIL)

CONSTANT 2.327 0.165 0.000 . 14.138 0.000 Healthworker 0.122 0.057 0.557 0.372 2.160 0.040 Clerk -0.020 0.061 -0.076 0.438 -0.318 0.753 Educator 0.025 0.031 0.153 0.715 0.821 0.419

ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE

SOURCE SUM-OF-SQUARES DF MEAN-SQUARE F-RATIO P

REGRESSION 4.220 3 1.407 4.821 0.008 RESIDUAL 7.587 26 0.292 ------

Table 3.2.11: Multiple regression estimates for the combined effect of main industrial and non-industrial education input on the general repair status of houses.

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Table 3.2.11A shows that the multiple regression variance for estimating the output indicator of general house repair with the combined effect of industrial and non- 2 industrial expertise input is significant: R =48.5%, F=3.604, p=0.011. H01 was therefore rejected in favour of H11. Table 3.2.11B shows that the multiple regression variance for estimating the output indicator of general house repair with the combined effect of identified non-industrial expertise input is significant: R2=35.7%, F=4.821, p=0.008. H02 was therefore rejected in favour of H12. The two multiple regression 2 2 variances show that H11:R (48.5%) > H12:R (35.7%). H03 was therefore retained.

Industrial occupations therefore accounted for 12.8% of the output variance in their combined effect.

An interesting outcome of the results in Table 3.2.11 A and B was that, with the exception of the input of trained health expertise, all other identified expertise inputs were not individually significant when compared in combination with eachother. Specialist contributions were not significant, but their general combined contributions to the repair status of houses was significant. The result suggested that the combination of industrial and non-industrial technology occupational skills was more effective for improving the repair status of houses than a dominance of one of these occupational skill domains alone.

5. Scheffé post hoc analysis

The post hoc analysis in Table 3.2.12 shows that larger communities (over 499 people) tended to rate their houses in a better state of repair than smaller communities (under 500 people).

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SCHEFFÉ POST HOC TEST ------COL/ ROW TWOSIZE$ 1 LARGE 2 SMALL USING LEAST SQUARES MEANS.

POST HOC TEST OF AVSHREPA USING MODEL MSE OF 0.266 WITH 26. DF. MATRIX OF PAIRWISE MEAN DIFFERENCES:

LARGE 1 SMALL 2 LARGE 1 0.000 SMALL 2 -0.407 0.000

SCHEFFE TEST. MATRIX OF PAIRWISE COMPARISON PROBABILITIES:

LARGE 1 SMALL 2 LARGE 1 1.000 SMALL 2 0.044 1.000 ------Table 3.2.12: Scheffe post hoc analysis of population effect on general house repair status

The ANCOVA and multiple regressions indicates that a general pool of both technical and non-technical trained expertise improved the repair status of houses better than any one occupation. Whether or not communities had a provision of trained technical expertise, the general repair status of houses was significantly related to the combined effect of community population, the personal tool resource of indigenous Australians and the number of transition shelters used.

It was found that a high provision of transition shelters correlated with an improved repair status for houses. This could be explained as reduced user pressure on remaining houses. Given that it was shown in Graph 3.2.9 and 3.2.10 that most technical repairs relating to houses were conducted by non-indigenous residents, and that there was a low prevalence of technically trained indigenous expertise in communities generally (Graph 3.2.1), it appeared that as communities had less people living in transition shelters and more in houses, both the non-indigenous and general indigenous expertise in communities were unable to cope with increased house repair demands. The provision of training in plumbing, mechanical, powerstation attendance, electrical and especially building trades was less effective than the other

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occupations listed in the survey for improving the repair status of houses. Even when the most effective of these occupations, mechanical and plumbing, were combined the regression estimate only increased by 12.8%. This result suggests that trade training had limited value in improving the repair rating of houses compared to semi-technical and non-technical training input to communities.

An interesting common outcome of the historical, fieldwork and quantitative findings was that the occupations to which indigenous women aspired were institutionally supported and provided long term jobs as well as dedicated administration staff and buildings in communities: these occupations were mainly teaching and health working. Men mostly aspired to technical industrial occupations. These were not usually supported by government institutions that maintained a dedicated administration base in these communities offering long term employment programs. Funding was also inconsistent and varied from year to year in such areas as housing programs. Housing and general maintenance programs and housing associations were often self-funded, with pressure to fund through the collection of rent rather than steady government funding. The technical services in communities have moved towards user-pays for service cost recovery; a move that, on the evidence found in this study, does not support the base maintenance costs of small population communities. The user-pays funding policy for technical services has also affected the already scarce employment options for indigenous men as they relate to traditionally male occupational functions in communities. User-pays funding was historically not required with community education and health services which related more to women’s rather than men’s functions and aspirations in communities. There is sufficient historical and empirical evidence to indicate that technical service programs and policies have detrimentally affected the employment and occupational options for indigenous men more than women, according to community perceptions.

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Technical development was dispersed among several government departments and administered on a short grant/specific project basis through the community council. Back to back submissions for short term technical training projects often provided the only funding support in the technical skill areas to which men mostly aspired.

In summary, the combined general trends were that:

1. larger communities sustained a greater number of trained indigenous expertise (in occupations generally) than smaller communities

2. most communities could not sustain specialist trades

3. general technical skills were more effective than specialised technical skills, but only contributed a small amount to improving the general repair conditions of houses. Semi-technical and non-industrial occupational skills, such as community health and primary-school teacher education assistant skills were the most effective in improving the general repair conditions of houses. This can be explained by the increased emphasis the training for these occupations place on work organisation skills and cross-cultural communication skills compared to the skills learned in specialist trade or industrial technology occupations. It was observed that more indigenous women than men participated in training that emphasised these organisation and communication skills. It was also observed that funding for technical occupations and associated opportunities for on the job skills development was inconsistent and that this had a social effect on the skills development and educational participation rate for indigenous men more than for indigenous women, particularly for small sized community populations.

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4. indigenous Australians tended to use a different set and multi-purpose application of tools than trade based agencies and occupations (Table 3.2.3)

5. most communities rated the majority of their technologies as useful rather than appropriate for their community situation (Graph 3.2.16). This result indicates that while functionally relevant or important to community activities, the technologies are generally difficult to maintain, often causing considerable ‘trouble’ during efforts to arrange their repair.

6. the causes of technology breakdown were mostly attributed to social rather than technical factors. The combined effect of the top three most social and technical factors suggested that the operating environment of many technologies in communities was socially complex and environmentally harsh (Graph 3.2.17).

7. the more that individuals possessed tools, the better the repair status of houses, and

8. the provision of conventional technical trades were unable to keep houses in a good state of repair particularly when more people moved from transition shelters to fully serviced houses. A low threshold appeared to exist for the number of serviced houses that most communities could sustain to a functional level of repair.

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CHAPTER FOUR: DISCUSSION

1.0 Factors affecting the sustainability of shelter systems and hardware

This chapter discusses the general systemic and ekistic inferences that may be drawn from the findings. Discussion proceeds with the system components of settlement development goals, ekistic context factors, and system inputs, processes, output and feedback. The chapter concludes with a general synthesis or ‘Gestalt’ of socio- technical systems in remote indigenous Australian communities (Kast and Rosenzweig, 1982: 102). The synthesis presents an integrated/holistic overview of the relevant factors found in the study to influence the sustainability of shelter systems and hardware in communities. Proposals for improved development policy, programs and technology management are discussed. The key principles proposed include enhancing technological empowerment and socio-technically appropriate development in remote indigenous Australian communities through the introduction of local problem-solvers that manage the feedback to input aspects of community resources. The proposal includes the need to develop community based technology administration support in a similar way as was done for many independent health and education centres in communities.

1.1. General goals and development in remote indigenous Australian settlements

There was sufficient evidence to suggest that a fundamental factor influencing the sustainability of almost all introduced social and technical programs and technologies in remote indigenous Australian communities was the disparity between the settlement development goals of indigenous and non-indigenous Australians since colonisation. The disparity was shown to have had at least two key aspects to it: social organisation and lifestyle; and, the technologies developed to support

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respective lifestyles. While both indigenous and non-indigenous settlements displayed similarity in their range of functions, such as tool production, food and resource gathering, transfer of skills, social administration, shelter technology and so on, the technologies and methods for maintaining and developing those functions were characteristically and historically different to each other. From a systemic perspective the difference in method, both socially and technically, for maintaining comparable settlement functions illustrated the principle of equifinality and the substantial influence that system goals have had on the development direction settlements have taken to try to achieve dynamic equilibrium (Kast and Rosenzweig, 1982: 102).

There appears to exist an interaction between the social and technical aspects of settlement functions in both the evolutions of indigenous and non-indigenous Australian settlements. The fundamental quality differentiating the way functions were conducted appears to have been the goal or motivation underpinning the overall purpose of a settlement. The development goals of indigenous Australian settlements have been substantially affected by displacement and disempowerment with the spread of first and second colonial settlements. The displacement of indigenous socio-technical systems was greatest with the creation of first colonial indigenous settlements and this prompted many indigenous Australians to establish their own second indigenous permanent settlements. However, sustainable physical development has been near impossible for many second indigenous settlements because most of the technical and educational inputs to those communities have continued to be controlled and influenced by government and external organisations. This has denied many communities access to informed and sufficient feedback to manage the technical aspects of community inputs.

The socio-technical system of pre-colonial indigenous settlements demonstrated effective adaptive characteristics to the environment based on continual movement of

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the group to essential resources and occasional ceremonial and trade locations. Settlement functions emphasised human prowess and skill adaptation rather than technological prowess and equipment adaptation. This development pattern assisted the mobility and sustainability of groups. Tribal bands were able to fashion and trade technologies fabricated from raw materials from almost any site allowing them to carry minimum equipment when travelling their defined pathways. Tool and shelter technology development were minimised while knowledge of the flora and fauna, the division of roles by gender and age and the social management of tools were highly developed.

The socio-technical system of first colonial indigenous settlements represented a substantial change in settlement development goals for pre-colonial indigenous settlements. The introduced sedentary settlement system attempted to displace and re-organised the development goals and dynamic equilibrium of pre-colonial indigenous settlements. The goal of the colonial government was to establish sedentary settlements that centralised social organisation and was prepared for higher population densities. Shelter systems and technology development worked towards larger scaled operations as the need for the settlement to consume resources grew with its population. This development pattern related to the doctrine of economic growth. Substantial technical and social inputs characterised the development goals that government and missions pursued for remote communities: hospitals, housing workshops and associations, food-halls, council offices, schools and market gardens were symptomatic of government and mission development ideals. Greater bureaucracy and social organisation was introduced in efforts to sustain the settlement. However, the capacity for these settlements to sustain themselves relied heavily on: people familiar with the social and technical management of sedentary settlements; government funding; and eventually the import of resources because the local environment was not able to naturally sustain dense permanent population centres.

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The socio-technical system of second indigenous settlements represented both a rejection of the introduced settlement development goals and the eventual entropy of many remote first colonial indigenous settlements: progressive breakdown of social and technical systems and organisation were observed (Nathan et.al, 1983). The exodus ‘back to country’ demonstrated by many indigenous Australians created a new form of settlement. Those living in these new remote settlements attempted to reconcile the perceived benefits of introduced sedentary settlement technologies and systems with traditional social and technical organisation that retained substantial value among many indigenous Australians. Second indigenous settlements formed with two, often opposing, settlement development goals. On the one hand there were general aspirations for the technological advantage of sedentary shelter systems and hardware accessories and the accompanying cash economy of those systems. On the other hand there were general aspirations for the traditional social systems that were highly developed to maintain the historical form of social organisation: something associated with past survival and mobility. Individuals, however, also had to resolve the two conflicting aspirations of their settlement development goals: the social organisation structures of sedentary settlement systems (Western administration, schooling and growth economics); and the maintenance and utility of indigenous technologies and technical systems. The conflict between traditional oriented social organisation and introduced technologies and sedentary organisation has not been resolved in the lifestyle of many remote communities.

It is possible from a socio-technical systems perspective, that the dual development goals in many contemporary remote indigenous communities have contributed to a dysfunctional settlement system; the manifestation of which appears to relate to the generally poor maintenance condition of introduced shelter, technologies and participation rates in introduced vocational training programs. Negative feedback was not functioning effectively while ever and where ever there continued to be unclear development goals for settlement systems to adapt towards. The current

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Australian Government policy of indigenous empowerment and reconciliation has the potential to clarify the development goal that feedback mechanisms could attune themselves towards. However, there is little evidence that the majority of current technical and educational options available to communities are likely to be of benefit while ever they are underpinned by replication assumptions of essentially urban social and technical development and lifestyle. The assumption of urban development is unlikely to be sustained without substantial and increasing import of social and technical resources to remote communities and without communities adopting substantial social organisational changes in relation to technology management. Within the policy of empowerment, it may be better for government to develop technology strategies in community development that support local innovations and methods for managing community shelter and hardware. It would be a challenge for government to resist imposing mainstream regulatory barriers such as conventional trade training or technologies where these things appear to fail at a health and maintenance cost greater than what communities can sustain. A worthwhile challenge for government would be to endorse development policies and practices that encouraged local expertise and administrative support in customised technology and shelter systems proposed by communities. Such a strategy would need to allow local project and innovation failure without the threat of funding removal. This would re-establish the links between the feedback to input and feedback to process components of community functions. Community functions would be established as mechanisms for community change and improvement. Housing and development projects and programs are unlikely to sustain benefits to communities until community functions are socially and technically institutionalised from both a lifestyle goals and resource and funding provision perspective. There is a need for policies and programs to evaluate the overall performance of community functions rather than the shorter term success or failure of specific housing projects or participation statistics in training modules. It is the establishment of ongoing

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technology management and service operations in housing and associate hardware that needs to attract the highest degree of policy and program attention in most remote communities. Current grant funding, repair and maintenance training and project evaluation has done little to sustain the benefit of introduced shelters and infrastructure system.

1.2. Ekistic context factors

Settlement population was found to be the most significant ekistic context factor influencing the components of socio-technical systems in communities. While location and economy (degree of dependency on cash exchange relations) also influenced aspects of settlement functions, these factors appeared to be secondary to the constraints imposed by the settlement’s population. An important aspect of population was a high degree of regionally contained migration and mobility between houses in communities. Place identity appeared to be with the region of the settlement rather than with any particular serviced block of land or shelter, though this also existed for limited periods.

The number of indigenous compared to non-indigenous Australian settlements in remote regions have grown since about the mid 1970s (SOERHS-draft 4, 1995). This appears to be associated with two main factors: the socio-cultural goal to establish second indigenous settlements of essentially similar tribal constituency on traditional lands and the geometric growth rate of federal government funding towards the establishment of services and shelter hardware in those settlements.

Population was found to affect the various components of settlement functions. While there existed a logical relationship between large communities and quantity of shelters and resources, there were other specific patterns that characterised this tendency. It was found that larger settlements had proportionally more maintenance tasks done by local non-indigenous Australians or external agents to the community

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than by local indigenous Australians. This result contributed towards a pattern where larger communities rated their shelter stock in a better state of repair. However, this finding was compared with the tendency for better house repair ratings being associated with communities having a substantial proportion of transition shelters. This pattern suggested that good house repair in large communities relied on the greater burden of occupancy being taken by far less developed shelters thereby allowing more focussed maintenance effort on the remaining fully services ones. The situation suggested that a threshold existed. Communities capable of sustaining serviced shelters could do so up to a limited number, after which the remaining majority of residents could only sustain shelters with considerably less technical services including domestic spaces with no structural cover.

The study revealed a number of interesting characteristics about the communities surveyed. Larger communities (communities supporting over 500 people) tended to stock a greater variety of tools in the local community store. It is possible that while large communities had more indigenous women with completed formal vocational training in non-technical areas, their number in the community had reached a minimum critical mass capable of organising and influencing many communal functions including general house maintenance. The total contribution of a small pool of qualified local expertise (in social organisation tasks) appeared to be greater than the actual number of expertise would otherwise imply in the community. This suggests that after reaching a critical minimum mass of pooled expertise, the relationship between the number of skilled local people in the communities pool and the total capacity of this pool is not a linear relationship. It was also found that small communities have the constraint of a typically lower adult vocational education completion rate. They were therefore less likely to sustain a minimum critical mass of qualified expertise to influence the social organisation aspect of technical tasks and house maintenance. Unlike large communities small communities have a lower range of tools sold in their local store and used a lesser range of different building

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materials with an emphasis on materials commonly used in temporary shelter construction. The above patterns suggest that conventional technologies and technical training programs were not generally performing in communities. Their failure was particularly noticeable in serving the needs of indigenous Australians in the majority of small community populations: under 500 people.

1.3. Socio-technical inputs

Education input heavily emphasised non-technical pre-dominantly female traditional occupational areas: health and teacher education followed by clerical training. These areas corresponded with major government funding and in-community administrative support not reliant on local community government revenue raising or grant bidding. In most situations grants to schools and health services were above base operational funding for their specific functions. The areas of health and education have had long term career training structures and work employment opportunities. These functions received a level of unified government support unlike technical functions that usually involved several government departments specialising in different areas of technology services. The ‘advantages’ of non- technical function support often was at the cost of minimal local control over the management of such functions. While the independence of technical functions in communities have potentially greater opportunities for local empowerment, the high reliance on project specific grant funding and lack of appropriate technical vocational training programs usually disempowered communities. A reliance would develop on external agents or local non-indigenous personnel to advise, manage and implement programs. Local non-indigenous personnel were often, however, inadequately informed or skilled in technology management and empowerment issues and processes. These people relied on conventional mainstream options .

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There was a pattern found in communities where more tool provision in the local store corresponded with better maintained houses. This pattern appears to be related to community population and so the probability of larger communities attaining a critical mass of vocationally qualified indigenous Australians mostly in non- technical areas. The improved repair of houses would appear to be the result of organisation rather operational maintenance skills in communities because critical mass competencies were bias towards aspects of health worker and remote teacher education programs. It was interesting to note that these programs usually attracted participation from indigenous women with usually no equivalent programs attracting participation from indigenous men.

1.4. Socio-technical processes

There is a consistent pattern in remote communities that indicates considerable reliance on non-indigenous participation in the social organisation and processes that convert skill and material inputs to the delivery and maintenance of community technologies. This pattern was evident in both historical and empirical findings. Where indigenous Australians were perceived to successfully sustain and manage technologies, these technologies related mainly to traditional oriented functions such as ceremonial, food collection and preparation and transportation (mobility) functions. Little participation was evident in maintaining technologies related to the repair of shelters, water and waste technologies and power supply utilities. These latter technologies were usually repaired in the first instance by local non-indigenous personnel or external agencies irrespective of whether the tasks were perceived to be minor or major repair jobs.

Of the range of technical tasks undertaken by indigenous Australians, there was a tendency to divide such tasks by gender. Art and craft, food, clothing, education and health tasks were reported to be predominantly women’s work. Tool production,

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fence repair, vehicle maintenance and general ‘industrial’ technology tasks were reported to be predominantly men’s work. There was a weak general trend for functions in larger communities to be less gender dependent.

1.5. Socio-technical outputs

The general repair rating of shelters was found to be related to the amount and diversity of hardware items that tended to accumulate in those shelters and the numbers of vocationally qualified people in communities. Hardware such as appliances, furniture, windows, doors and water borne toilets varied greatly in their repair condition compared to the fixed structural aspects of shelters. The finding reinforced the notion that the sustainability of shelters was primarily related to the sustainability of household hardware items rather than the fixtures and structures of houses and other shelters. The repair rating of houses increased with the settlements population and this in turn related to whether a critical mass in the number of vocationally qualified indigenous Australians existed in communities and the variety of tools sold in the community store.

1.6. Socio-technical feedback

It was found that at least 56% of communities were attempting to function with relevant technologies that were very difficult to maintain: USEFUL technologies in Table 3.2.14. The technologies that were considered easiest to maintain and relevant to community functions were mostly traditional and supported domestic food collection and preparation functions. The technologies that were considered most difficult to maintain were essentially introduced technologies including toilets, vehicles and water reticulation technologies.

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The predominant perception in communities was that technology breakdown was mostly due to social factors such as perceived abuse, lack of regular preventative maintenance and appropriate training in managing and maintaining technologies. The single most consistent cause perceived to lead to technology breakdown was noted as ‘...wear and tear’. However, when the top three reported causes were considered together it showed that their combined effect (wear and tear, abuse and lack of regular maintenance) indicated that many introduced technologies and associated organisational systems attempted to function in harsh and complex social and technical environments.

The findings suggest that despite knowledge of possible causes for technology breakdown, little of this knowledge influenced either the input of training or the selection of technologies for communities. The negative feedback component of community functions were known but were not used to modify community functions. This is a critical factor in the metabolism of remote communities as it suggests that negative entropy was likely to manifest itself while ever communities were unable to demonstrated adaptive characteristics.

2.0 Synthesis and proposals

Where communities showed evidence of disorganisation and instability, inconsistent and inappropriate inputs and conflicting settlement development goals, these indicators suggested that the community has entered a stage of advanced entropy: they were failing to adapt and manage the resources necessary to maintain a dynamic equilibrium. Ekistic and general systems theory suggest that these communities were struggling to function. Maximum entropy implies total dysfunction or settlement ‘death’. The general failure of introduced shelter systems, shelter hardware accessories and technical training programs appears to be symptomatic of socio- technical systems having:

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• unclear development goals for the form of settlement sustainable in their remote situation

• a constant import of more hardware, shelter systems and technical training programs which perpetuated inappropriate and unsustainable development goals, and

• erratic short term funding programs in technical training and operational delivery while having no in-community administrative support program dedicated to technology maintenance and management compared to the level enjoyed by most community health and education centres.

The collective affect of the above three characteristics are likely to perpetuate technological disempowerment in remote indigenous Australian communities while development input options are not actively pursued with long term establishment phases in mind. The development and housing maintenance problems being so broad and isolated from specialist resources invites the option for education and training that develops innovation, integration and organisation skills rather than current training trends that emphasis specialist standardised skills in technology. It is suggested that the technacy skills are likely to lead to improved shelter and hardware maintenance more than technical skills alone.

It is unlikely that government will be able to sustain the amount of development and shelter assistance estimated to be needed in most remote indigenous communities. Many community shelter systems emphasise a layout pattern that assumes the availability of local specialist trade skills and technology management expertise. However, it is equally unlikely that remote communities will be able to self-manage and sustain houses and hardware without these functions being supported in a manner similar to health and education programs: ongoing base funding and dedicated administrative support at the local or regional community levels.

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The situation suggests that communities, on the whole, were not functioning with adequate feedback, both positive and negative, to manage the inputs and processes of technical programs and resources. This constrained progress in the ability of communities to conceptualise appropriate settlement development goals. There is a need to reconsider the nature of development policy, program and technology management where the principles underlying a more sustainable future for remote communities is technological empowerment (technacy)and committed support to raise the minimal critical mass of local expertise in communities with appropriate input, process and feedback management skills. The situation suggests that remote community development policies and programs should not restrict its evaluated of project outcome to static success alone (house built, training certificate completed, and so on) but rather include indicators of how community functions have adapted to failed and successful projects and tasks. Energy and funding is likely to yield greater sustained outcomes for communities if it focused on establishing and sustaining community functions and technical services. Much of this approach raises the need to address early community education programs. An option to consider is a change from the current system based on literacy and numeracy with technacy as an adjunct to one based on cross-cultural science and technology as the tangible stimulus for learning literacy and numeracy.

In conclusion, there is a case to allow communities to fail without withdrawal of base funding and to evaluate programs and projects at a settlement systems level rewarding evidence of local innovation and creative solutions derived from negative feedback. Such a policy would require donors of development aid to relax some elements of their funding criteria while increasing assessment and support for local innovation and innovators. Development programs and policies require a focus on enhancing the feedback to input aspect of community functions (ie, technology management and work organisation) rather than funding isolated hardware based projects specific material outcomes as their main criteria for success. Such policies

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and programs would support the principle of community based technology empowerment and so the likelihood of communities being able to sustain and self- manage social and technical inputs.

The principles of equifinality suggest that even with development goal similarity among settlements, the inputs and transformation of inputs may take on different forms in different settlements. Equifinality also suggests that current policies resulting in similarity of inputs and processes do not necessarily yield similarity of outcome. The issue of empowerment becomes one of freedom and resource support to take on a diversity of methods, technologies and skills that will reduce entropy and help clarify feasible forms of settlement management. These forms would be expressed in the clarity of evolving settlement goals, local innovation developments and local social organisation in technology maintenance being established. The key to the system will probably lie in the freedom for communities to manage and implement their adaptive/feedback mechanisms where failure to adequately adapt and learn from errors is of greater concern that project failure. In summary, technology innovation, selection and socio-technical management are fundamental program principles required to enhance the development of remote indigenous Australian settlements and the technological empowerment of its inhabitants.

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CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS

1.0 Overview

The most tangible evidence of inappropriate social and technical processes and solutions is demonstrated through the negative effects of introduced technologies on remote indigenous communities. This study approached the problem of shelter and hardware sustainability in remote indigenous Australian communities using an holistic framework. It found that significant gains in knowledge and understanding were obtained when a holistic approach was taken to identifying the key factors that influence the capacity of remote indigenous communities to sustain benefits from introduced technologies. The study focused on the socio-technical aspects of technological activity as it pertains to the sustainability of shelter and hardware systems in remote indigenous communities. It was found that the lack of an appropriate theoretical framework for guiding a holistic approach to development policies and programs in shelter provision and training was a contributing factor to the poor performance of these provisions .

The literature review indicated that this study represents the first integrated analysis of the socio-technical sustainability of introduced shelter systems and hardware in remote indigenous Australian communities. While other studies have examined shelter and hardware at a case study level, this thesis has approached the task from a settlement group and regional perspective emphasising overview and detection of patterns among key indicators.

The theoretical framework demonstrated in the thesis produced practical information about the complex issue of sustainable development of remote communities. The thesis has demonstrated a method for enhancing the strengths and reducing some of the weaknesses of ekistic and general systems theory. The theoretical framework for this study was applied in an assessment of shelter and hardware introduced to small

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and remote indigenous Australian settlements. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used in the interpretation of findings.

The study has contributed to techniques which assist technology management and the formulation of development policy and programs within remote indigenous Australian communities. There is potential for the framework of the study to be implemented in development assistance programs wherever overview of settlement development programs is required; either for a region or a collection of settlements with similar climate, resource and population characteristics. The models and methods developed and the findings of the study are original and should make a significant contribution to indigenous Australian studies.

2.0. Conclusions

Chapter one concluded that a fundamental problem to selecting, implementing and evaluating development programs for remote indigenous Australian communities was the lack of an appropriate theoretical framework to guide policy formulation and program evaluation. In the past, emphasis was often placed on specialisation within development programs and projects without an adequate understanding of the relevant local or regional characteristics of communities.

The broad range and complex interaction of variables that could be reviewed in communities have been a major factor preventing the use of methods that seek to develop an appropriate level of overview in pre-program and post program regional evaluation of development policies. There was sufficient evidence to show that similarities existed between indigenous Australian development programs and outcomes and those of Third World communities. Both Third World and indigenous Australian development shared in common the influence of First World donor perceptions and permanent/sedentary settlement lifestyle and development ideals based on economic growth.

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The chapter discussed the re-emergence in recent years of an interest in the utility of systems theories in both First and Third World development programs. It was proposed that a theoretical framework based on systemic theories could be useful for research that evaluated the main factors affecting the sustainability of shelters in remote indigenous Australian communities. Chapter one concluded with three research questions. The methodology and answers to these questions highlighted what was required for there to be an improvement in current theory and understanding of the factors that influence the socio-technical sustainability of indigenous shelter systems and associated hardware. The main research question was:

‘What are the relevant social and technical factors that, in themselves and in combination with each other, substantially influence the sustainability of introduced shelter systems and relevant shelter hardware items in small and remote indigenous Australian communities?’

The sub questions were:

1.1 What are the main historical and contemporary factors influencing socio-technical functions in remote indigenous Australian communities?

1.2 What is the comparative standing of socio-technical functions operating in different remote indigenous Australian community contexts in regard to settlement population, location and economy?

1.3 Which indigenous Australian community context factors, system components of socio-technical functions, or combinations of these most explain the general sustainability of introduced shelters and shelter hardware in these communities?

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Part one of chapter two presented a brief history of development in First and Third World education and technology to provide a context for emerging trends. The work identified how ecologically and socially sustainable development has revitalised interest in the utility of systemic theories for program and policy evaluation. Part two of the chapter proposed a theoretical model of how communities may be conceptualised and evaluated. Influenced by previous research conducted by Walker (1976) and Emery and Trist (1971), a model was developed that integrated ekistic and socio-technical systems theory to guide a research proposal that would evaluate how remote indigenous Australian communities were responding to introduced shelter and hardware systems. The general theoretical framework and model of this study identified community functions as the central focus of investigation. Settlement functions were defined as socio-technical systems and as such they were subject to the principles of ekistic and general systems theory.

It was argued that socio-technical systems theory was limited in its capacity to provide reliable methods for defining the context of community functions and the effect the context had on those functions. However, ekistic theory was considered to be too general for modelling functions. It was proposed that ekistic theory offered a useful model for classifying the context of community functions while socio- technical systems theory offered a useful model describing community functions and their performance. The methodology proposed a model that combined ekistic and socio-technical systems theories where the former provided a theoretically compatible context for the latter. The utility of the ekistic/socio-technical systems model of this study may be summarised with the following points:

• it provided guidance for selecting, organising, classifying and interpreting data and relationships for the complex context of human settlements and their functions

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• it provided a mixed methods research framework that integrated historical /qualitative and specific time period/quantitative information, and

• it focused on selected target outcomes while maintaining overview to the problem addressed

Part three of chapter two developed a research methodology based on the ekistic/socio-technical systems model. The methodology was proposed for application in the context of evaluating development programs in shelter and hardware to remote indigenous Australian communities.

The vast distances and isolation of most of these communities presented logistic constraints for research. A combination of historical review, verifying field visits and the distribution of a comprehensive survey questionnaire constituted the research methodology. Both historical/qualitative and specific time instant/quantitative methods were employed. The study therefore used a mixed methodology that integrated qualitative and quantitative findings.

Chapter three presented a historical review and comprehensive empirical findings from the survey questionnaire returns. The historical and empirical parts of chapter three were organised to be consistent with the systemic model developed in chapter two. The study found the main factors effecting the sustainability of introduced shelter systems and hardware included:

• a history of technological dis-empowerment and displacement which had the effect of limiting the capacity of many communities from developing adaptive (learning) behaviours with introduced technologies

• unclear and conflicting development goals for what could be sustained in remote settlement locations. On this issue it was suggested that both

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traditional/nomadic and introduced/sedentary social and technical organisation contained legacies of development that were unlikely to sustain sedentary remote communities without ongoing external government assistance and promotion of local technological empowerment.

The study also found that:

• skills of social organisation, completion of vocational (non- technical/non-industrial) education qualifications, individual access to appropriate tools and a proportionally large number of transition semi- serviced shelters were reasonable indicators for whether communities were able to sustain houses and associated services of electricity, reticulated hot water and indoor toilets

• the communities which were better able to sustain houses and hardware items also reached a minimum critical mass of qualified vocational expertise. The group of expertise appeared to be small in number. Communities with an average minimum pool of 10 vocationally qualified health workers, education assistants and clerical assistants were able to sustain serviced houses better than communities that did not have this minimum critical mass of expertise. In general technical expertise was substantially under represented. However, where some communities had technically qualified expertise, sustainability was enhanced by the diversity of skills rather than any one specialist skill category and by a training emphasis on work organisation and cross-cultural communication rather than specific repairs and maintenance (or trade oriented) skills alone

Chapter Five: Conclusions page: 287

Chapter four presented an interpretation of the overall findings. The chapter discussed the technological and skill development problems facing many remote indigenous communities. It highlighted that two key themes permeated sustainability problems for development programs and policies in many remote communities: (1) settlement development and lifestyle goal clarification, and (2) technological empowerment to manage inputs and processes. There was a need for communities and government policies and programs to resolve explicitly confusing perceptions, assumptions and misconceptions of the development direction that most communities should or could take.

Shelter and hardware inputs to communities and the policies underpinning them replicated urban lifestyle: town layouts, urban economy, population patterns and procedures. These things at times were at difference with local remote indigenous community circumstances. Some of these local circumstances included high rates of within and between community population mobility, low cash economy, usually non- existent dysfunctional administration of technology services, erratic revenue collection for managing technology inputs and no or minimal representation of technacy in the curriculum of community schools.

There is also a need for policies to recognise project failure as being part of a positive component to a community’s technology management learning cycle. While ever communities are ill equipped to sustain technical services technology transfer projects such as housing, hardware and technical training courses, will not provide lasting benefits to these communities. This was found to be the case whether or not technologies were argued to be ‘appropriate’ health hardware designs, well constructed or presented with a maintenance training course. Project success such as achieving the planned number of houses built or enrolments in training courses are inadequate indicators for evaluating whether these technologies can sustain their designed benefit for the communities receiving them.

Chapter Five: Conclusions page: 288

3.0 Recommendations and further research.

The principles of equifinality suggest there are likely to be several paths that communities could take to improve the sustainability of their shelter stock and hardware items. In addition there are fundamental principles that may be recommended to government and communities in the areas of policy and program development. These principles are generally aimed at increasing ongoing support for technology management in communities that allow local innovations and time management even if these things sometimes conflict with local government authorities, regulations or expectations. The principles seek to promote local technological empowerment and innovation in a situation that recognises that most remote and small indigenous communities were likely to remain substantially dependent on base and grant funding for developing local technology management expertise.

3.1. Recommendations

The study recommends a policy of indigenous technological empowerment. Such a policy features support in appropriate technology, technacy education (rather than technical skills training alone) and technology innovation where communities are given extensive establishment support. There is a specific training need to foster and improve competencies in monitoring, adapting and producing functional innovations in response to inappropriate technologies or the social organisation required for useful technologies. The support would require recurrent base funding with the view to establish locally controlled technology management expertise to the level of the minimum critical mass of personnel as identified in the research to sustain the benefit of introduced technologies. The development of technacy skills as a holistic problem solving and technology management skill is well placed to assist many remote communities.

Chapter Five: Conclusions page: 289

The technology services in remote communities and the appropriateness of the skill range and levels developed should be funded and institutionally supported as ‘public services’ in a similar way as community health and education services.

The principle of technological empowerment contains social and technical elements. The social element includes social organisation skills and values, technology selection and technical communication, understanding of population patterns and vocational education and training. The technical element includes tools, materials, techniques, technical processes, design principles and technical communication hardware. It is recommended that expertise is developed that enables communities to enhance the social and technical management of technology while also enhancing local innovation, repair and technology selection competencies. The study supported the underlying thesis that holistic problem solving approaches to, and competencies in, technology transfer and development are better placed (than specialist approaches and technical maintenance skills alone) to improve the quality of technical training and so the sustainability of introduced shelter systems and associated hardware in remote indigenous communities.

The small scale of most remote communities suggests that specialist technical expertise is unlikely to be sustained or effective. Similarly, broad based multi-skilled programs are also likely to be of limited value as the need to establish and manage communities towards a more sustainable development path will require creative and organisational expertise. Technical expertise most suited to such an environment would demonstrate organisation and adaptive prowess and this suggests ‘holistic problem solving’ skills in technology maintenance and management. The situation suggests a need to increase the general level of technacy among remote communities (and government policy developers) rather than the traditional focus on technical skills alone. It is therefore recommended that policies and programs promote pathways in vocational training that develop local innovators, technology problem

Chapter Five: Conclusions page: 290

solvers and technology managers. This approach would restore a key aspect of community functions identified in the study: the need to reduce entropy by restoring the negative feedback-to-input relationships of community functions.

3.2. Further research

While the ekistic/socio-technical systems model offered a useful way to conceptualise and evaluate how communities were managing inputs from development projects, there remain a number of areas where the model would be improved with further research. These areas included efficiency improvements to the survey instrument, improvement of fieldwork observation and data interpretation techniques, and the development of a compatible theoretical framework relevant to smaller scale communities or specific projects. Positive steps should be taken to increase participation rates for women in vocational technical training. However, the study also found that indigenous male completion rates in vocational training generally lagged behind the rate of indigenous women in remote communities and that this issue requires further research.

With a lack of precedence, this study required an extensive battery of items in survey questions. It is possible that such a battery of indicators could be reduced as the result of further research. The use of a survey instrument had limitations. While the mixed methods approach helped to reduce observer bias in selecting and interpreting data, there was still a need for the observer to become sensitised to some of the methods and social organisational issues that were associated with the use of the technologies listed in the survey. There is potential for a community level ekistic/socio-technical system model to be developed that remains compatible with the larger settlement and regional scale model used in this thesis. Such a methodology would be a useful tool for small project situations and for situations

Chapter Five: Conclusions page: 291

where repeated rapid assessments were required to monitor how communities were adapting to introduced technologies or training courses.

The diversity of needs in technology development for remote indigenous Australian communities shares some similarity with remote communities in Third World and developing economies. There is a need to further research the methodology and theoretical framework of the present study to extend and develop the utility of this research beyond the indigenous Australian context.

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APPENDICES

• List of Acronyms

• Survey Questionnaire

Appendices page: i List of acronyms

Acronym Description

AAP Australian Associated Press: electronically accessible via NEXUS, electronic mail service regulated by the South Australian Department of Education, Australia.

AAS Australian Academy of Science

ABN Australian Bibliographic Network

ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics

AEC Australian Education Council

AEI Australian Education Index

AIDAB Australian International Development Assistance Bureau

APAIS Australian Public Affairs Information Service

ARCH Architecture database on AUSTROM Compact Disk

ASTEC Australian Science and Technology Council

AT Appropriate Technology

CAT Centre for Appropriate Technology Incorporated

CFAR Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation

CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

DECA Design in Education Council Australia

EDLINE Education database, Australia

HREOC Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Australia

IOPS Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific

IT Intermediate Technology

ITDG Intermediate Technology Development Group

NITC National Information Technology Council Incorporated, Australia

Appendices page: ii NSW New South Wales

Appendices page: iii List of Acronyms continued...

NTWB Northern Territory Welfare Branch, Australia

OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

RCIADIC Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody

SAGE Science and Geography Education database, Australia

SOERHS State of the Environment Report: chapter on Human Settlements-draft 4, 1995. The human settlements chapter was chaired by Prof. Peter Newman, Murdoch University, Western Australia.

UNDP United Nations Development Program

UPK Uwankara Palyanyku Kanyintjaku: Pitjantjatjara Council environmental health program: ‘a strategy for well-being’.

WCOEAD World Commission on Environment and Development

Appendices page: iv

Survey questionnaire

Appendices page: v

Appendices page: i