The emerging field of rural environmental justice studies in Australia: Reflections from an environmental community engagement program

This article provides insights from a recent community engagement and research program of relevance to the emerging rural environmental justice field in Australia. Following a brief summation of the Australian policy context, we review health, education, social science and environmental scholarship, which indicate few studies have been undertaken explicitly on rural environmental justice in Australia. The voices of rural residents on environmental justice issues are rarer still. We then present findings from research conducted during 2013-14 in the NSW Riverina-Murray region of rural Australia. The results give voice to a rich vein of concern and understanding relevant to rural environmental justice amongst rural residents. Survey results (n=237) on residents views of environmental problems are explored with a focus on causes and barriers to change.