Indigenous mobility and its impact on remote infrastructural needs: an exploratory study

Current and future housing, infrastructure and service delivery needs of Indigenous communities are greatly affected by settlement and mobility patterns. COVID-19 has acted as a significant disruptor to patterns of Indigenous mobility.

The project will examine changes to Indigenous mobility pre-and post-COVID, and the implications for future planning of remote housing, infrastructure and services. It will generate an enhanced understanding of current mobility patterns and improve policy strategies to support Indigenous people living on country.

The research will address three key questions:

1. What changes are occurring to Indigenous mobility patterns (both pre-and post-COVID-19)? What factors are driving these changes? How has this changed the demographic profiles of remote communities? 
2. What are the key infrastructure and service delivery needs of remote communities? What are the current and future infrastructure and service delivery implications of changing mobility patterns and demographic distributions? 
3. What types of programs and resourcing are required to ensure the future adequacy of remote infrastructure and service delivery? What governance requirements will be needed? 

The project will use both quantitative and qualitative research methods to explore changes to Indigenous mobility and its impact on the planning of housing, infrastructure and services within remote communities.

Lead Researcher: Dr Megan Moskos, University of Adelaide

Project Number: 31296