Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ participation in political parties. This project aims to examine the participation of, leadership opportunities for, and challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians participation in Australia’s major political parties. Working with major political parties, this project encompasses both Australia-wide research and in-depth case studies. The project will provide evidence-based research and policy advice on factors affecting the adva ....Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ participation in political parties. This project aims to examine the participation of, leadership opportunities for, and challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians participation in Australia’s major political parties. Working with major political parties, this project encompasses both Australia-wide research and in-depth case studies. The project will provide evidence-based research and policy advice on factors affecting the advancement of Indigenous Australian party members into leadership roles and the recognised challenge of continued political marginalisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in party hierarchies, representative institutions and decision-making processes. This project is expected to understand and help redress a key issue for Australian democracy.Read moreRead less
Healing Country: integrating knowledge systems to meet climate challenges. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are currently experiencing severe environmental challenges related to a changing climate. Led by Aboriginal communities, this project aims to integrate traditional knowledges and environmental and health data to create community story-data maps. These interactive, online maps will be a unique and powerful blend of information, providing a rich evidence base, decision-suppo ....Healing Country: integrating knowledge systems to meet climate challenges. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are currently experiencing severe environmental challenges related to a changing climate. Led by Aboriginal communities, this project aims to integrate traditional knowledges and environmental and health data to create community story-data maps. These interactive, online maps will be a unique and powerful blend of information, providing a rich evidence base, decision-support and communication tool to inform the co-design of local climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience plans. The project aims to give agency to Aboriginal communities in leading a systems change process to reduce environmental risks and strengthen health and wellbeing.Read moreRead less
Developing a predictive toxicity model for metallic anions in plants. This project aims to develop competitive anionic toxicity models for antimony, arsenic, molybdenum and selenium supported by detailed speciation information. Available ecotoxicological models for inorganic toxicants have exclusively focused on cations such as zinc, and ignored anionic toxicants such as arsenic and antimony. For available models on cations to be applicable to contaminated environments, it is essential for equiv ....Developing a predictive toxicity model for metallic anions in plants. This project aims to develop competitive anionic toxicity models for antimony, arsenic, molybdenum and selenium supported by detailed speciation information. Available ecotoxicological models for inorganic toxicants have exclusively focused on cations such as zinc, and ignored anionic toxicants such as arsenic and antimony. For available models on cations to be applicable to contaminated environments, it is essential for equivalent anionic toxicity models be developed. This project will develop the first such model, which will provide new insights on ecotoxicological modelling for inorganic anionic toxicants. The project will transform ecotoxicological modelling approaches for metals and metalloids in terrestrial systems and directly improve our ability to assess risks associated with environmental contamination.Read moreRead less
Recirculating Indigenous traveling songs. This project aims to develop new understandings of how unrestricted Indigenous traveling songs have spread across vast geographic and linguistic boundaries in Australia, investigating ways these songs can contribute to greater social connectedness today. It intends to energise collaborative networks across Indigenous communities, language centres, and holding institutions around the world. Forging models to reinvigorate the performance of traveling songs ....Recirculating Indigenous traveling songs. This project aims to develop new understandings of how unrestricted Indigenous traveling songs have spread across vast geographic and linguistic boundaries in Australia, investigating ways these songs can contribute to greater social connectedness today. It intends to energise collaborative networks across Indigenous communities, language centres, and holding institutions around the world. Forging models to reinvigorate the performance of traveling songs across a wide and diverse range of interconnected localities, this project should advance the potential for Indigenous performance culture to contribute to language revitalisation, cultural identity, and the facilitation of cross-cultural diplomacy in national and international contexts.Read moreRead less
Fine Tuning: A Reconciliation of Indigenous and Western Musical Traditions. Focusing on central Australian song lines, the project strengthens our knowledge, understanding and application of the intricate tuning systems that underpin traditional Indigenous musical practices. Employing a unique methodology that combines Indigenous and contemporary Western musical performance practices with cutting-edge digital technologies, the project will show how the highly nuanced and sophisticated tunings at ....Fine Tuning: A Reconciliation of Indigenous and Western Musical Traditions. Focusing on central Australian song lines, the project strengthens our knowledge, understanding and application of the intricate tuning systems that underpin traditional Indigenous musical practices. Employing a unique methodology that combines Indigenous and contemporary Western musical performance practices with cutting-edge digital technologies, the project will show how the highly nuanced and sophisticated tunings at the heart of Indigenous music-making can be preserved when transposed to contemporary Western art music contexts. In so doing, the case is made for a more genuine, equitable dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous music-makers, to the mutual benefit of musicians, audiences, and society at large. Read moreRead less
Governing Aboriginal self-determination in NSW: 1980-2025. This project aims to examine how Aboriginal affairs governance in NSW has operated in the era of self-determination since 1980 to today. Using an ethnographic approach to study political power through time, it can develop a new understanding of the real practice of self-determination as policy. It expects to investigate whether governance processes have enabled improvements in the lives of Aboriginal people in NSW. Today, as policymakers ....Governing Aboriginal self-determination in NSW: 1980-2025. This project aims to examine how Aboriginal affairs governance in NSW has operated in the era of self-determination since 1980 to today. Using an ethnographic approach to study political power through time, it can develop a new understanding of the real practice of self-determination as policy. It expects to investigate whether governance processes have enabled improvements in the lives of Aboriginal people in NSW. Today, as policymakers negotiate co-design and partnership in Aboriginal affairs, this project can create new knowledge on the potential of resetting relationships between government and Aboriginal people. This will provide a significant contribution to crucial debates on advancing Aboriginal self-determination today.Read moreRead less
Indigenising the Built Environment in Australia. In 2021, Performance Criteria relating to Country and First Nations Communities and Cultures were introduced by the Australian architectural profession in the National Standard of Competency for Architects. This Indigenous-led research project will determine the efficacy of these criteria by interacting with key stakeholders to collect critical information for the 2025 iteration of Competencies and provide important observations for the profession ....Indigenising the Built Environment in Australia. In 2021, Performance Criteria relating to Country and First Nations Communities and Cultures were introduced by the Australian architectural profession in the National Standard of Competency for Architects. This Indigenous-led research project will determine the efficacy of these criteria by interacting with key stakeholders to collect critical information for the 2025 iteration of Competencies and provide important observations for the profession. This project aims to Indigenise discourse between Indigenous Communities and built environment professions, promote greater cultural competency and advocate for considerations of First Nations specific Performance Criteria in other registered built environment professions across Australia.Read moreRead less
Ngukurr to Newcastle: intercultural collaboration and influence. This interdisciplinary project will explore the intercultural contributions of residents from a remote Aboriginal community both on their own community and the broader Australian society. In doing so it aims to challenge dominant deficit-centred view points of remote Aboriginal communities and instead examine these communities as sites for lively intercultural exchanges. It will support community members to collect and document st ....Ngukurr to Newcastle: intercultural collaboration and influence. This interdisciplinary project will explore the intercultural contributions of residents from a remote Aboriginal community both on their own community and the broader Australian society. In doing so it aims to challenge dominant deficit-centred view points of remote Aboriginal communities and instead examine these communities as sites for lively intercultural exchanges. It will support community members to collect and document stories about the people who were an are influential and in doing to engage in Indigenous histories from an Indigenous perspective. Collaborative engagement with the community will ensure that these stories are preserved in accessible forms so that they are accessible for future generations and future leaders.Read moreRead less
Co-designing a Food Sovereignty Model with Indigenous Communities. Food sovereignty asserts the rights of people and communities to healthy and culturally appropriate foods through determination of their own food and agriculture systems. With food insecurity higher among Indigenous households; a food sovereignty approach offers the potential for sustainable long-term solutions that maintain human dignity and reinvigorate knowledge systems. Drawing on national and international perspectives and u ....Co-designing a Food Sovereignty Model with Indigenous Communities. Food sovereignty asserts the rights of people and communities to healthy and culturally appropriate foods through determination of their own food and agriculture systems. With food insecurity higher among Indigenous households; a food sovereignty approach offers the potential for sustainable long-term solutions that maintain human dignity and reinvigorate knowledge systems. Drawing on national and international perspectives and using Indigenous research methodologies, this project aims to co-design a food sovereignty model that will enable Indigenous communities to effectively address food insecurity according to their local contexts. Both the process and solutions will contribute to improvements in physical, mental and social wellbeing.Read moreRead less
‘Like the Thunder’: Seeing Stories in the Gulf Country. This project investigates the nature of relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in the Gulf of Carpentaria. It will generate imaginative understandings of how new relations might have been built through the historical marriage of a Waanyi woman and Chinese man in the late gold rush era; consider the challenges of contemporary Aboriginal advocacy; and examine how storytelling allows us to understand the nature of relation ....‘Like the Thunder’: Seeing Stories in the Gulf Country. This project investigates the nature of relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in the Gulf of Carpentaria. It will generate imaginative understandings of how new relations might have been built through the historical marriage of a Waanyi woman and Chinese man in the late gold rush era; consider the challenges of contemporary Aboriginal advocacy; and examine how storytelling allows us to understand the nature of relations. The outcomes will be presented in major works of fiction and non-fiction and a collection of scholarly essays. Cultural benefits include showing how storytelling helps reveal the essential nature of human relations, and how the capacity to remake relations is essential to intercultural reconciliation.Read moreRead less