Anthropology and impact assessment: Development pressures and indigenous interests in Australia

Abstract

In Australia's remote areas there has been considerable recent growth in development projects and plans. These mostly relate to extraction of natural resources and tourism. This situation has placed considerable pressure on resident Aboriginal groups that claim traditional attachment to the land affected. This article discusses the Australian situation, and examines a silica sand mining proposal in northern Queensland, where a local Aboriginal group claimed attachment to the proposed site. The article examines the shortcomings in the impact assessment process for that project, and then discusses the nature of consulting firms in Australia and the engineering perspective as it is increasingly brought to bear on the field of social impact assessment and analysis, through the historic growth of private consulting firms.