A comprehensive analysis of well-being frameworks applied in Australia and their suitability for Indigenous peoples

ABSTRACT

Purpose

Well-being is a complex, multi-dimensional, dynamic, and evolving concept, covering social, economic, health, cultural and spiritual dimensions of human living, and often used synonymously with happiness, life satisfaction, prosperity, and quality of life. We review the existing key wellbeing frameworks applied in Australia both for the wider public and Indigenous peoples. The aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of various applied frameworks, along with a critical analysis of domains or dimensions comprising those frameworks, and to analyse the role of nature in those frameworks.

Methodology

We conducted a critical analysis of the main frameworks applied in Australia to date to measure the well-being of the mainstream (mainly non-Indigenous) and Indigenous populations. This study is particularly timely given the Australian Government’s interest in revising the well-being frameworks as mentioned in the Government “Measuring What Matters” statement.

Results

The existing well-being frameworks in Australia either overlook or hardly consider the role of nature and its services which are important to support human well-being. Likewise, for Indigenous peoples “Country” (Indigenous clan land) is vital for their well-being as their living is imbued with ”Country”. The role of nature/”Country” needs to be considered in revising the well-being frameworks, indicators and measures to inform and develop appropriate policies and programs in Australia.

Conclusion

To develop appropriate welfare policies and programs for achieving socio-economic and other wellbeing outcomes, it is essential to evolve and conceptualize wellbeing frameworks (and related indicators and measures) in line with people’s contemporary values, particularly considering the role of nature and its services.

KEYWORDS:

• Human wellbeing
• socio-economic wellbeing
• Indigenous wellbeing
• Wellbeing measures in Australia
• nature and nature’s services

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2024.2321646.

Additional information

Funding

This work was conducted under a fellowship offered by the Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University, Canberra.

Notes on contributors

Kamaljit K Sangha

Kamaljit K Sangha is Assoc Prof of Ecological Economics at Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia, working in a trans-disciplinary field intersecting ecological, economics, and social sciences. Her work is focused on Indigenous communities across northern Australia linking ecosystem services with the well-being of remote communities. Her research includes developing nature-based economies, assessing the value of ecosystem services, and developing appropriate frameworks and methods, particularly suiting Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities context. She is Lead author of the upcoming IPBES Nexus Assessment, Co-Chair of IUCN-CEESP led Local Economies, Communities and Nature specialist group, and Executive Committee member of the international Ecosystem Services Partnership. She has published widely with >100 articles in various reputed international journals. Research profile: https://researchers.cdu.edu.au/en/persons/kamaljit-sangha https://researchers.cdu.edu.au/en/persons/kamaljit-sangha

Yonatan Dinku

Dr Yonatan Dinku works as Research Fellow at the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Otago. He has completed a master’s in International and Development Economics at the Australian National University. Yonatan worked as a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Bahir Dar University and taught Introductory Econometrics at the University of Otago. Yonatan has extensive expertise in quantitative modelling and analysis. His PhD project involved the application of quasi-experimental designs (instrumental variable estimation, propensity score matching and fixed-effects estimation) to large scale longitudinal and pooled-panel datasets to identify key determinants of child wellbeing and human capital. Since 2018, Yonatan’s research has focused on Indigenous life outcomes, such as employment, health and wellbeing. In his research, Yonatan has extensively applied advanced quantitative analysis techniques to Indigenous data sourced from survey and census collections. Yonatan’s research interests lie in the areas of Indigenous wellbeing, human development, development economics and applied microeconomics. Research profile: https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/dinku-ym

Robert Costanza

Robert Costanza is Professor of Ecological Economics at the Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP) at University College London (UCL). He is also currently a Senior Fellow at the Stockholm Resilience Centre in Stockholm, Sweden, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University, an Affiliate Fellow at the Gund Institute at the University of Vermont, and a deTao Master of Ecological Economics at the deTao Masters Academy in Shanghai, China. He is a Fellow in the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) and the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in the UK, and is an Overseas Expert in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Professor Costanza’s transdisciplinary research integrates the study of humans and the rest of nature to address research, policy and management issues at multiple time and space scales, from small watersheds to the global system. His specialties include: transdisciplinary integration, systems ecology, ecological economics, ecosystem services, landscape ecology, integrated socio-ecological modeling, ecological design, energy analysis, environmental policy, social traps and addictions, incentive structures, and institutions. He is co-founder and past-president of the International Society for Ecological Economics and was founding chief editor of the society’s journal Ecological Economics. He currently serves on the editorial board of ten other international academic journals. He is also founding co-editor in chief of Solutions a unique hybrid academic/popular journal and editor-in-chief of the Anthropocene Review. Research Profile: https://www.robertcostanza.com

Anne Poelina

Professor Anne Poelina is a Nyikina Warrwa woman from the Kimberley region of Western Australia. She is an active community leader, human and earth rights advocate, film maker and respected academic researcher, with a second Doctor of Philosophy (First Law) titled, ‘Martuwarra First Law Multi-Species Justice Declaration of Interdependence: Wellbeing of Land, Living Waters, and Indigenous Australian People’ (Nulungu Institute of Research, University of Notre Dame, Broome, Western Australia). Anne is the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) inaugural First Nations appointment to its independent Advisory Committee on Social, Economic and Environmental Sciences (2022), and member of Institute for Water Futures, Australian National University, Canberra. Anne was awarded the Kailisa Budevi Earth and Environment Award, International Women’s Day (2022) in recognition of her global standing. Anne is also an Ambassador for the Western Australian State Natural Rangelands Management (NRM) (2022). Research Profile: http://annepoelina.com