Babera dariadya yewing (Echoes of a flawed truth): investigating theory and practice on the interplay between bullying and racism. The negative impact of bullying and racism is being increasingly documented for Aboriginal youth, yet little attempt has been made to understand the differential impact of these stressors on the wellbeing and identity of Aboriginal Australian youth. This project will seek to address this issue, to guide future action-based research.
Social capital and the academic success of indigenous students. This project aims to generate new knowledge about high-achieving Indigenous students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This longitudinal study will provide evidence on success factors that are most effective in improving academic achievement and experience of Indigenous students, and inform government and Aboriginal communities in developing evidence-based policy and practice. The project is expected to provide a unique opportunit ....Social capital and the academic success of indigenous students. This project aims to generate new knowledge about high-achieving Indigenous students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This longitudinal study will provide evidence on success factors that are most effective in improving academic achievement and experience of Indigenous students, and inform government and Aboriginal communities in developing evidence-based policy and practice. The project is expected to provide a unique opportunity to unveil how Indigenous students’ network characteristics formed in family, school, and community interplay with their psychological constructs in shaping their academic success longitudinally. The project will also represent a significant advancement in the global research field of Indigenous education.Read moreRead less
Deficit Discourse and Indigenous Education. This project investigates the prevalence of ‘deficit discourse’ and its influence on Indigenous education. Deficit discourse frames Indigenous identity in a narrative of negativity and deficiency. Recent work indicates that deficit discourse is active in policy, public debate, pedagogy and practice, and its prevalence in Indigenous education influences student performance. By mapping the discursive environment and analysing education programs that reje ....Deficit Discourse and Indigenous Education. This project investigates the prevalence of ‘deficit discourse’ and its influence on Indigenous education. Deficit discourse frames Indigenous identity in a narrative of negativity and deficiency. Recent work indicates that deficit discourse is active in policy, public debate, pedagogy and practice, and its prevalence in Indigenous education influences student performance. By mapping the discursive environment and analysing education programs that reject the deficit model, this project assesses whether its removal improves outcomes for Indigenous students. This project provides an original approach to challenge entrenched perceptions, resulting in tangible benefits for the Australian education system and the communities that it serves.Read moreRead less
An Indigenous Australian Dictionary of Biography. The project will research Indigenous biography through collaboration between Indigenous researchers and the Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are significantly underrepresented in the ADB. The project will work with Indigenous communities to produce the Indigenous Australian Dictionary of Biography, a supplementary volume of the ADB on 190 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for use by ....An Indigenous Australian Dictionary of Biography. The project will research Indigenous biography through collaboration between Indigenous researchers and the Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are significantly underrepresented in the ADB. The project will work with Indigenous communities to produce the Indigenous Australian Dictionary of Biography, a supplementary volume of the ADB on 190 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for use by scholars, students, and the public, and publish research articles that reframe Indigenous biographical practice. The project aims to foster reconciliation, national knowledge and pride in the ancient and modern contribution of Indigenous Australians to the nation, and to facilitate Indigenous participation at all levels of research and production.Read moreRead less
The Great Exhibitions and their Lost Indigenous Objects . This project will rediscover the Australian Indigenous objects sent overseas to the Great Exhibitions of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Such objects acted as powerful forms of cultural, political and economic display, and a form of imperial and colonial projection. It will excavate the hidden histories of Indigenous people involved in these events and the many objects lost to Australia. Through collaborative work at communi ....The Great Exhibitions and their Lost Indigenous Objects . This project will rediscover the Australian Indigenous objects sent overseas to the Great Exhibitions of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Such objects acted as powerful forms of cultural, political and economic display, and a form of imperial and colonial projection. It will excavate the hidden histories of Indigenous people involved in these events and the many objects lost to Australia. Through collaborative work at community dialogues, the project will repatriate knowledge and remake connections between objects, museums, and Indigenous people. In doing so, it will bring contemporary Indigenous perspectives to global attention, generate new exhibition possibilities and influence international museum practice.Read moreRead less
Barriers and pathways to development of Indigenous traditional medicines. This project aims to explore how Australian regulatory systems can better support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Knowledge (TK) holders to commercialise their traditional medicines. Focusing on the mudjala plant and working with the Kimberley’s Nyikina people, the project should generate new anthropological methods for documenting TK related to traditional medicine, new models for regulating traditional ....Barriers and pathways to development of Indigenous traditional medicines. This project aims to explore how Australian regulatory systems can better support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Knowledge (TK) holders to commercialise their traditional medicines. Focusing on the mudjala plant and working with the Kimberley’s Nyikina people, the project should generate new anthropological methods for documenting TK related to traditional medicine, new models for regulating traditional medicinal products, and pharmacological insights into traditional methods of activating the plant. Additional expected outcomes include unlocking the significant, untapped potential for Indigenous Australians to benefit from the development of traditional medicine products regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.Read moreRead less
Aboriginal Economic Development: Impact of Indigenous Chambers Commerce. This project aims to assess the economic impact of recent initiatives in Aboriginal economic development. In the last decade, Aboriginal-owned small business has increased; Indigenous Chambers of Commerce have been established and have developed memorandums of understanding for procurement of goods and services with industry; and the Opportunity, Choice, Healing, Responsibility, Empowerment (OCHRE) project was implemented b ....Aboriginal Economic Development: Impact of Indigenous Chambers Commerce. This project aims to assess the economic impact of recent initiatives in Aboriginal economic development. In the last decade, Aboriginal-owned small business has increased; Indigenous Chambers of Commerce have been established and have developed memorandums of understanding for procurement of goods and services with industry; and the Opportunity, Choice, Healing, Responsibility, Empowerment (OCHRE) project was implemented by the NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs to stimulate economic development within Australia’s largest Aboriginal population. Using NSW as a case study, the project intends to assess economic development, job creation, new company creation, increase in the wellbeing of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal partners, and increase in social positivity. This may support the development of effective evidence-based government policy in the sector.Read moreRead less
Using genetics to reconstruct the peopling and diversification of Sahul. A recent landmark study has revealed that people who first arrived on Sahul (the landmass connecting Australia with New Guinea) remained largely genetically isolated from subsequent migrations. However, there is still little known about the route(s) taken into Sahul, or how adaptation has shaped the enormous diversity now observed across Indigenous Australians and Papuans. This project aims to look at these issues by applyi ....Using genetics to reconstruct the peopling and diversification of Sahul. A recent landmark study has revealed that people who first arrived on Sahul (the landmass connecting Australia with New Guinea) remained largely genetically isolated from subsequent migrations. However, there is still little known about the route(s) taken into Sahul, or how adaptation has shaped the enormous diversity now observed across Indigenous Australians and Papuans. This project aims to look at these issues by applying phylogenetic and population genetic tools to the largest genetic dataset yet analysed from populations across Australia, New Guinea, and Island South East Asia. The outcomes of the project should reveal both the route(s) taken into Sahul and how adaptation has shaped the diversity now observed in descendants of the colonisation.Read moreRead less
Has it always burned so hot? Fuel and fire in southeast Australian forests. Indigenous cultural burning has been raised as a way of mitigating against climate-driven catastrophic bushfires in southeast Australian forests. It is argued that returning an Indigenous style fire regime will keep landscape fuel loads low, thus reducing the frequency and intensity of bushfires and mitigating against large catastrophic bushfires. While based on enormous reservoirs of traditional fire knowledge in Indige ....Has it always burned so hot? Fuel and fire in southeast Australian forests. Indigenous cultural burning has been raised as a way of mitigating against climate-driven catastrophic bushfires in southeast Australian forests. It is argued that returning an Indigenous style fire regime will keep landscape fuel loads low, thus reducing the frequency and intensity of bushfires and mitigating against large catastrophic bushfires. While based on enormous reservoirs of traditional fire knowledge in Indigenous communities, this assertion needs empirical testing within these highly flammable forests. This project aims to empirically test how fuel loads, fuel type, fire frequency and fire intensity have changed over the past 500 years in southeast Australian forests, spanning the period of indigenous to British management.Read moreRead less
Western Desert speech styles and verbal arts. Verbal arts are central to social interaction. In the Western Desert Ngaanyatjarra and Ngaatjatjarra people use special speech styles to mark particular occasions and life transitions. Led by Ngaatjatjarra linguist, researcher and educator Elizabeth Marrkilyi Ellis, the research team aims to build on a corpus of these endangered oral traditions. Following in-depth linguistics analysis the project aims to implement strategies to revitalise these endan ....Western Desert speech styles and verbal arts. Verbal arts are central to social interaction. In the Western Desert Ngaanyatjarra and Ngaatjatjarra people use special speech styles to mark particular occasions and life transitions. Led by Ngaatjatjarra linguist, researcher and educator Elizabeth Marrkilyi Ellis, the research team aims to build on a corpus of these endangered oral traditions. Following in-depth linguistics analysis the project aims to implement strategies to revitalise these endangered styles through dynamic contemporary applications thus reintegrating them into the language socialisation framework of youth. The project aims to assist Aboriginal people to safeguard their heritage and contribute to a wider public appreciation of Aboriginal languages and cultures.Read moreRead less