Wujal Wujal award celebrates resilience

Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council has been awarded the 2025 Queensland Resilient Australia Local Government Award for its Master Plan Review.

The Master Plan Review was started following the devastating floods that hit the town in 2023 which damaged homes, community buildings, and essential services.

Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council recognised that following this devastating event, they needed a methodology that placed community voices at the centre of planning.

Importantly, the project applied the Queensland Resilience Adaptation Pathways and Transformation Framework as a best-practice tool and because it directly aligned with community aspirations.

The framework supports a progressive transition that enables Elders to remain in their existing homes in the interim, while guiding the longer-term transformation of the township.

Future development will either mitigate known flood risks or adapt through safer land uses, ensuring a stronger and safer community for future generations.

The Master Plan was supported by detailed hydraulic assessments and land use suitability analysis validated by traditional knowledge and local lived experience validating the technical studies.

This approach has created a scalable model for disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The Department of Women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Multiculturalism (DWATSIPM), collaborated with the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council and principal contractor Meridian Urban and Water Technology to review the Wujal Wujal Master Plan.

Each Queensland Resilient Australia Award winner is now in the running for the national Resilient Australia Awards, which will be announced later this year.