Improving impact assessment methods: climate change and the health of indigenous Australians

Climate impact assessment has evolved as a range of tools, critical in evaluating potential impacts of climate change. This field has been driven by global concerns and is dominated by western scientific philosophies. Amid claims that it is failing in its role of informing policy, key issues implicated in application of assessment techniques are considered for the case of indigenous health in northern Australia. An argument is made for local scale studies which foster stakeholder involvement and focus on social, cultural and political landscapes; studies which produce outcomes of relevance to stakeholders and planners, as well as scientists and researchers. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.